Running is Hard, but Breakfast is Good

I only have a few days left to sleep in because nursing school starts on Monday. Of course I am beyond thrilled about this, however, a sense of fear and nervousness has started to creep in. What if it’s too hard? What if I won’t be able to work and keep up with school? What if I’m not a morning person anymore? How will I find time to study and to run? What if patients hate me? What if the other students don’t like me? And worst of all…

…what if I’m not good at it?!

So, instead of letting all those crazy feelings consume my every thought, I decided to live it up one more day and sleep in. Is it sad that sleeping in is “living it up” to me? Or acceptable? I’m not sure. After I had enough coziness it was time to start my day…which in accordance with my week one New Year’s goal meant eating breakfast.

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I’ve now started my day with breakfast three days in a row, and it has been magnificent! Before I wasn’t anti-breakfast. In fact, most days in 2011 I did eat breakfast…that is until December hit. Sleeping in and having no particular running goals left me with no motivation to go toast a bagel…or pour a bowl of cereal…or blend up a smoothie. Cookie parties also had a hand in eliminating my desire to eat breakfast. Wake up at eleven, eat a chocolate covered cherry cookie (hey, it has fruit in it), and call it a day…until noon, that is, when it was time for lunch.

But three days in a row with a healthy, well-rounded breakfast has got me feeling energized! Throw in some vitamins and a cup of coffee, and there’s no telling how much I can accomplish!

Yes, breakfast is good.

Next on my agenda of “living it up” until nursing school hits…go for a run. Now, I don’t know about you, but I can say for a fact that when I sleep in I have a much, much harder time convincing myself to lace up my shoes and get out the door.

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But after some moseying around, I finally threw my hair up into a ponytail and set out for a sunny eight mile run…my longest run in quite awhile. And it was hard. The hills. The blisters on my heel from my new shoes. The distance. The hills.

Running is hard.

Once my watch clicked to eight miles I walked back inside and realized that yes, running is hard, but it is so rewarding. I just ran eight miles. Eight. That’s really quite a lot. And actually, I felt even more energized than before I left!

I find it so true that taking the first step is really the hardest…but with a good breakfast, I guess anything is possible.

ang

 

2012 Wish List

• Run two marathons.

• Run a sub-four hour marathon.

• Run a race that is not in Missouri or Kansas.

• Eat breakfast every. single. day. no. matter. what.

• Change my eating habits for the better…one small change per week.

• Raise money for a charity.

• Drink lots and lots and lots of water.

• Cook a new meal once a month.

• Pray everyday.

• Do an unassisted pull-up.

• Run a sub-twenty-four minute 5K.

• Keep up my blog.

• Spread some Operation Beautiful love.

• Take a road trip somewhere…hopefully Florida.

• Try zumba…and hopefully fall in love with it.

• Take a hot yoga class.

• Rock at nursing school.

• Stay in touch with friends and family.

• Make new friends.

• Smile, and not worry about these darn laugh lines.

Happy New Year!

ang

Two Thousand and Eleven, It’s Been Lovely

In two thousand and eleven I…

…started a blog! Never before in my life did I have the intention of writing and then sharing my writing with anyone and everyone on the internet. However, I’ve ended up absolutely loving it, and I credit my blog along with other blogs I read for being the fuel behind two thousand and eleven’s greatness!

…started out the year with a four mile race, Love 2 Run, in February. My blog wasn’t born yet so I wasn’t here to tell you about it, but I did PR (it was only the third race I’d ever done before in my life, and the second time in this race) with a time of 35:15.

…ran my first 10K…then my second 10K…then my third 10K…each one with a PR!

…trained my dog to give high-fives.

…won a local race! It was a small 5K race…a very very small race, since I won with a stopwatch time of 25:09. Nonetheless I won an awesome trophy, and it was for a super great cause to support a local little girl with osteosarcoma. The same little girl who happens to be my Make-A-Wish wish kid and who is a huge inspiration to anyone who knows her.

…greatly improved my body image.

…didn’t get into nursing school.

…got into nursing school!

…ran my first half marathon, which happened to be my one really big goal that I wanted to achieve this year! I also had a secret goal of running it in less than two hours…which I also achieved with a time of 1:59.10!

…went to Mexico with all my amigos!

…was a blonde for awhile. Literally, not figuratively. Well, maybe both.

…ran my second half marathon and PRed with a time of 1:52.52.

…got my husband to run a 5K with me…and my mom, sister, and stepdad! It was for the Susan G. Komen race in Kansas City, obviously a great cause, especially considering my mom kicked breast cancer’s booty.

…coached middle school volleyball with some of the sweetest girls I’ve ever met!

…tried mushrooms…grilled…and liked them.

…raised money for Girls on the Run as a SoleMate!

…ran a marathon. A MARATHON! A ridiculously hilly but beautiful nonetheless twenty-six point two miles all over Kansas City, Missouri, and I loved every single second of it…all four hours and fifteen minutes! I set out the year with hopes of finishing a half marathon…what I didn’t know was that I was going to fall in love with running. Once my half was completed in April I knew I needed more! Never before in my life did I imagine I’d run a marathon, but crossing that finish line was the proudest moment of my life.

This year has been amazing. However, it wouldn’t have been nearly as great had I not walked into the women’s restroom back in February and discovered a little post-it note on the mirror that said, “You are beautiful.” That’s when I discovered Operation Beautiful and the entire world of blogging…a world of inspiration, motivation, and support from some pretty amazing people.

Two thousand and eleven, it’s been lovely.

ang

Virtual Rundates Galore

I had a pretty exciting twitter conversation yesterday with some pretty awesome girls. It all started when the beautiful Jess mentioned me on her blog yesterday. You see, she has been thinking about running a marathon, and I think that she needs to go for it! I’m being completely honest when I say that feeling of crossing the finish line is unbelievable. If you have ever thought about doing it, even just a little bit, then you must try!

There’s nothing like a little peer pressure!

Ever since I started blogging sixth months ago, I have had the desire to meet these people that I sometimes spend several hours a week with, reading their blogs or chatting on twitter. Unfortunately, it seems as though none of you live anywhere near little ol’ mid-MO.

Then the conversation continued with this wonderful comment…

Best idea ever, maybe? I think so!

Then Samantha and Stephanie joined in the conversation…

This twitter conversation, by far, has been my favorite one since I got on twitter six months ago. Seriously…let’s combine running and blogging (two of my most recent favorite things) and talk about them with lots of smiley faces and exclamation points! LOVE IT!

Our conversation then took a turn at trying to convince each other to travel to our respective areas of the country to run this blogger marathon. I do believe that my argument was pretty solid and held a good chance…

After running the NorthFace Endurance Challenge which was ridiculously full of hills, flat definitely wins in my book!

In the end, Jess provided us with three words that say it all…

Virtual. Rundates. Galore.

(Well, I don’t know if “rundates” is an actual word…a hyphenated word, maybe?)

I do believe that much of this conversation may have been more playful banter than actual seriousness, but I love the idea of this virtual running-blogging-motivating-training for a marathon thing. I say let’s do it! If you’ve ever wanted to run a marathon or are crazy like me and Samantha and want to do it again or if you just want to join in as you train for any length of run, by golly, let’s do it together with virtual rundates galore. Are you in?

LOVE IT? I thought so!

ang

Racing Spur of the Moment

I’m not usually a spur-of-the-moment kind of person.

But I did just register for a 10K on Sunday. Yes, this Sunday!

That’s just four days away. Or, um, three days, twenty-three hours, nine minutes and twenty-seven seconds…according to the countdown ticker.

Have I been training? Well, kind of? (It’s probably not a good sign when my answer to that question has a question mark behind it.)

Have I been training enough to reach my new 10K goal of sub-50 minutes? Uuuuuhhh…probably not, but I will surely try my hardest! Since I haven’t had this goal in sight for all that long, I’m not going to be too hard on myself. If I achieve my goal, then it’d be amazing (and I’ll have to treat myself to some sort of frozen yogurt treat!), and if I don’t, well, I’ll have a great time regardless (and hopefully talk someone into getting a sweet treat with me anyway!)

What better way to jump start my motivation again, cross off one of my September goals, and prove to myself that life does go on after my marathon. Hopefully this is the start of a new race season that will include at least two other 5Ks (I have my sights set on this one…sub-24 minutes?) and my second marathon next spring (anyone in?!)

Now, speaking of the motivation…it’s time for me to go hit the gym for some strength training (and now, maybe some speedwork…)!

ang

A Serious Lack of Motivation

If you came here for motivation today, I am sorry to disappoint.

It’s after noon…

…and I still have my pajamas on. I just now finished my newest breakfast obsession, two slices of cinnamon toast. I still have a few sips of coffee left in my cup. I’m trying to decide if cleaning my car would count as a workout for today. I’m trying to decide if I even want to clean my car or if I’d rather snuggle up on my hubby’s new recliner and watch a movie. (Currently the latter is winning.)

Aside from creating a new snazzy blog header this morning, it seems pretty obvious that I am extremely lacking in the motivation department.

I’m trying to figure out the reason why I have no motivation today. I mean, it’s a beautiful day…the sun is shining and there’s a cool breeze. It’d be the perfect day for a nice run. I’ve had the biggest urge to do some strength training. Tia would love to go for a walk with me. I could start reading a new book, I could go to the library and find a new book, I could go to the store and pick up a few items that we’ve been needing around the house, I could do some designing, I could finish hanging decorations in my house. So why not just do it?!

I think part of my reason for having no motivation is because I am disappointed that I am not in school right now. I know this may sound crazy to many of you, but I love feeling like I am challenging myself by learning something new.

Even though I’ve dealt with the fact that I am not starting nursing school right now…a big part of me still feels like I should be.

I have such big dreams of being a nurse…and becoming a mother, and maybe someday building a house, and all these things…but for right now I’m just stuck where I am. I can’t move forward until I am in school…and until I finish school. I am twenty-six years old and I was hoping to be a mom by the time I was twenty-five. I know I’m still young and that I have plenty of time, but it is something that Matt and I have always known we wanted. It is harder than ever now because I can see how much Matt wants to start a family. He has always been the more apprehensive one…the one with the “five-year plan” and the one who needs all his ducks in a row. He is waiting on me now. Our future little curly-haired baby is waiting on me.

But I know that God has a reason for everything, and I really am trying my hardest to be patient. I know that our future will be beyond wonderful…that’s just why I want to be there already.

I’ve always had the most difficult time dealing with my not-so-happy feelings…just trying to cover them up with something more cheerful. I do have many positive things going on in my life…like my handsome and caring husband…but it does feel nice to get that off my chest. I do want this to be a motivational blog, but I think it can only be genuine if I am honest with my own feelings. It’s normal to feel disappointment sometimes. It’s okay to feel disappointment. Yes, Angela, it’s okay.

I think another part of my problem is a lack of a routine. And luckily, this is something that I can change right now! So what’s my plan? Wake up at a decent time and finish my workout (if I have one planned for the day). If I don’t have a workout planned or don’t feel like working out then I will take my pretty baby Tia for a walk. After working out then I will set aside time to blog and read blogs. This always makes for a nice, positive start to any day. After blogging I will do whatever needs to be done for the rest of the day.

I think a new planner is in order and would be a great way to turn this lack of motivation problem upside-down! Maybe I will go shopping today after all!

I need your help! How do you turn your lack of motivation upside-down?

ang