Agony of Da Feet

Trudge, trudge, trudge,

slog, slog, slog,

ow, ow, ow.


That's how I felt during the Tufts 10K today.


First of all, thank you, Mother Nature, for bestowing your menopausal heat flash all over Beantown today. I mean, seriously...since when is it 85 degrees in October? Today. Hooray. Who goes out for a run on that day? This idiot. Along with 7500 of her closest idiot friends.

Alright, so let's talk about the positives...
1. It was a great course, except for the fact that there was virtually no shade from miles 1.5-4.5. Any other day, that would've been fine...today, I was praying for trees and wanted to just lay under one for a quick nap in the middle of the race.
2. Pacman shirt is awesome.
3. It's really inspiring to be surrounded by 7500 other women, all shapes, sizes, colors, and all running for her own personal reason.
4. I didn't puke.
5. I didn't have to get hauled to the finish line in an ambulance.
6. I finished. Sure, I wasn't all that pleased with my time, but COME ON, if I was THAT concerned about it, I would've gotten my ass out to train a little more than the 3 runs I may have done in the last 2 months. (Although, I don't know if any training would've mattered considering how flippin' hot out it was today.)
7. I cried at the finish line. The lady announced my name as I came up to the booth, I waved, blew kisses, and started to cry, and crossed the finish line. No matter how I feel during the race, i get to the end and I keep flashing back to the old me who would've NEVER been able to do this. And I remind myself that, just like Virginia Slims, I've come a long way, baby.
8. I had an amazing friend waiting for me at the finish line. And just like me, GI Jane didn't really train that much either, and we were both beating ourselves up mentally afterwards...and then, because we were in a crowd of all of these WOMEN, we started crying. :-) Can you blame us? We're defenseless against all of those HORMONES....

Instead of going through a list of negatives, let's just chalk it up to the unexpected heat and lack of training. Note to self: train more and only sign up for races that occur from Nov-March. :-)

SO, GI Jane and I decided that the best way to celebrate our accomplishment today would be to go to the grocery store, purchase healthy food, and discuss how we could get back to performing, but ultimately FEELING, our best. Over a delicious, and probably NOT so healthy sushi dinner (hey, we were celebrating too!), we created THE PLAN. The napkin with said plan on it has disappeared, which means someone will gain all of our wisdom AND see me in the delightful Mermaid costume that I asked to be drawn in. (I looked more like a hooker, but hey, that's fine...) But, luckily, I have a great memory...sometimes...and will now try to reconstruct THE PLAN for your reading pleasure.

THE PLAN:
-4 days of exercise per week
-3 runs
-1 yoga (GI Jane)/ 1 tap class (me)

-NO Starbucks Pastries/Office Candy Jar visits
-Although, if you are so inclined, have a bite or two, then throw the rest out, if the need arises.

-1-2 Cheat Meals per week
-I decided an entire cheat day would be too much for me and I didn't think I should do that. I opted for the 1-2 cheat meals, because that way, it'll fit better into going out for dinner with friends, or making room for special occasions.

-1 new recipe per week
-We both love to cook and need to recapture our love for cooking, experimenting and creating fresh, healthy meals.
-This also may include trying to reinstitute our weekly dinners with JC and EOB or whoever is available that night.

-Get More/Better Sleep
-If your sleep isn't in line, then none of the rest of that can happen. We all know that the minute we get sleepy, we'd rather lay down than go to the gym or go out for a run. Our quality of sleep will be much better if we're eating better and exercising regularly. (We know this because we've done this before!!!)

-1 blog post per week
-And the masses rejoice.
-"Eloquently written about challenges and triumphs". Done and done.


I think that's all that THE PLAN contained. Pretty easy. Pretty self-explanatory. We're both trying to recapture the feeling we had about ourselves last year around Thanksgiving. We ran the Gobble Gobble Gobble 4 miler that morning and it was so easy. We breezed through it, laughing, talking. We felt good about our bodies. We felt accomplished on a daily basis by what we were doing for ourselves. And for whatever reasons, we've lost sight of those goals. Our job now is to recreate those feelings of happiness, joy, celebration, and I'll be honest, a little self righteousness. ;-)

We are recommitting to a healthy life. You should too. We have to remember that our bodies will only do so much. We have to help them do the best job they can. Life just feels better and easy when you're doing the best for your body. I truly believe that. As some of the weight I lost is creeping back on, I feel the difference. I'm certainly nowhere near where I once was, I'm not wheezing and sweating going up a flight of stairs, but things that were easier, aren't right now. I have to remember why I chose to do this in the first place and then set attainable goals for myself.

As for THE PLAN, this is to get us to Thanksgiving. We want to see what we can accomplish in the next 6 weeks. That seems doable...please check in...I need to be held accountable. I sometimes forget that this blog post is read by ACTUAL, LIVING people. It astounds me when people mention it and tell me that they've read it, and mostly, that they love it. I write for me, but I also write for you.

If I can do this, you certainly can...

What will you change in your life today that will make your future that much better?