Just Some Things

Today, I have an unofficial Friday Five to share.

1. Running is starting to feel a little "normal" mentally lately. What I mean by that is that the honeymoon is over. I'm remembering that my relationship with running is a love/hate sort of thing, and that summer running especially is incredibly difficult and frustrating. Even while I'm absolutely thrilled to be running, it feels hard right now.

Reconsidering my choices after 4 miles over the bridge.

I'm glad the nice weather and my recovery coincided, because I don't think I could have dealt with Florida summer while being newly post-op.

2. I have a race on Saturday. It's the Sup and Run 5k I did in 2016, where I placed 3rd in my age group and managed to set a 5k PR. It's supposed to storm the day of the race, so I don't have any particular goals in mind. I know I won't be running anywhere near 26:xx this year; I'm excited to race it, but I'm also ready to take a little break from racing for the summer to focus on building stamina.

Walk breaks have helped balance my stamina, but I'd prefer not to rely on them.

I am struggling with modulating my pace lately. My first mile of every run is around 8:45, and then by the end of the second mile I'm totally tapped. When I slow down, my legs get achy and my gait feels clunky. I can build in walk breaks to help ease the issue, but I'd like to get control over my pace again. I might have to resort to some treadmill running to help retrain my legs!

3. Speaking of summer, I have eight school days left until summer break. I honestly can't believe how this year has flown by! Over break, Matt and I will be traveling to Washington state for Robby and Scott's wedding; I am beyond excited!

I mean, how cute are they?!

4. We have finally begun work on the house to fix the damage done by Hurricane Irma. Things were tangled up with insurance, but now they've been mostly untangled (or they're at least in the process of being untangled...) so we no longer have holes in our living room walls!

I learned how to install drywall...kind of.

Of course, we still have some major leaks in our roof and hurricane season has started, and it looks like it'll be ongoing for awhile.

"Indefinitely"...I am not amused.

I realized the other night that Irma has ruined me for enjoying storms. I used to love sleeping while it stormed outside, but all this week I keep waking up paranoid that the house was going to flood or we'd lose the roof. I think I have a mild form of PTSD.

5. I watched Nicole DeBoom (the founder of Skirt Sports) talk about her struggle with alcohol abuse and was reminded that "real women move" is as much about growing and moving from one mindset to another - mental fitness - as it is about physical fitness.

I'm looking forward to a weekend of racing and relaxing - my two favorite pastimes! Happy Friday!

ABK