Just get home, just get home.

My mantra of the day to get me through my first ever 18 miles was "just get home." Today's run was started with a 3mile round trip route and then we headed onto the trails for a 9mile round trip route, and then went out on the trails again to do a 6mile round trip route. Originally it was supposed to be 3 then 6 then 9, but I asked Sarah if she would want to do 3, 9, 6 so that mentally it would be easier to get through it. If the last trip is shorter it is easier on the mind to say to yourself, its only part of the route, you can do it.

Sarah agreed and apparently a lot of others had the same thought because they were doing the same thing. There were lots of good hills and I did well on them so I feel like I am ready for whatever San Fran throws at me. The first two routes were great. Sarah and I chatted about my engagement and we shared proposal stories and wedding ideas and it really helped the time pass. We were both feeling really good.

Unfortunately, on the last route out both my mind and body were working against me. My body was sore and aching so I had to keep my mind focused but my mind kept trying to tell me to give up. I realized that no matter what, I couldn't get home without getting back to my car, so in order to get myself to keep going I just kept saying to myself, just get home. I started to cramp so I slowed down and was a few paces behind Sarah but I finished in under 4 hours and ran the whole time and I was incredibly proud of myself!

I went straight home and got in an ice bath and it went smoothly this time! I went back down to one bag and wore socks. My feet were a little numb at the end of the 20 minutes, but I lasted the whole 20 minutes and talked to Leah (and Josh) through it to make the time go faster. After I got out of the ice bath I decided to go down to the pool. It was magnificent, just what I needed and deserved. Now for the rest of the day!

Sarah and I are boot blocking tomorrow. Please come give us all your spare change!! Thanks for all your support!

Jambalaya

My future husband woke up early this morning because he had an early morning meeting to get to. So I got up with him, grabbed Atreyu and headed out for my 2 mile run. It was GORGEOUS this morning. The sun was out but not beating down, the air was cool, and there was the best little cool breeze ever.

Atreyu started out dragging again. At one point he dug his heels in and his collar slipped right off his head! So I put his collar back on and we didn't have that problem again. I just kept talking to him and he stayed at least right behind me. Then on the way home again he realized we were almost back and he shot out ahead of me and kept looking back like, "are ya comin'?". And then when we got home it was apparently run around time because he shot around the house like a pinball in a machine. He is so silly. Now he is conked out in his little bed.

The whole run my thoughts were everywhere. It was like a big pot of Jambalaya. I thought about wedding venues. I have all but 2 booked to view. I then thought about the fact that I need to ask the rabbi if women can hold up the chuppa at my wedding. And I also thought about the fact that now that I am engaged I seem to have stopped all normal thoughts and become obsessed with wedding planning. I have turned into one of those girls and I need to stop. So then I started thinking about how ridic excited I am that I got the internship with Sarah at AAF-KC.

I am so excited about learning all there is through this internship and gaining experience and growing. I am hoping that through meeting all the people that I will through this internship I can gain a full time position once the internship is over. I am hoping that this experience will open a whole universe of doors for me. The other great thing about this internship is that it is part time so I can still work for my dad when I am not busy with the internship.

Saturday is my first 18. I am a little nervous, but I know that Sarah will start me out slow and then push me in the end. I know I can conquer it! Then on Sunday Sarah and I are supposedly going to go boot blocking. If you are in our area and would like to join us and help us collect more money we would appreciate it!

Contradiction in mental states

I woke up this morning, put on my running shoes, leashed Atreyu and went out the door. Running today was a mental struggle. I started my cycle last night so I was feeling very sluggish this morning. There was a lot of, "keep going, it's a short run" going on in my head. Then at the beginning of the run I wasn't paying attention and shortly realized I started doing my route the hard way where the really steep hill is at the end, and I usually do that on my 2mile run and not my 3mile and def. not when I feel this way. So then I had to just keep encouraging myself because it was too late and I wasn't going to turn around.

So most of the run was filled with thoughts of just getting through it, but they other part of my brain was racing with excitement. I got engaged Saturday night so this morning I was thinking of all the things I need to get started on. Mostly my thoughts were about getting my ring sized today and trying on my mother's wedding dress. I have been thinking about this for 2 years now, and now that it is here it seems so surreal. It is very weird for me to realize that I am actually getting married to one of the most wonderful people in the world.

Basically my run was full of contradicting thoughts. My body and running mind were sluggish and a struggle, and the rest of my mind was racing with excitement. Thankfully though, I think the excitement got me all the way through my run even if I was slow.

I didn't get to go boot blocking on Sunday, 1) because I got engaged and ended up celebrating with family and 2)because I was unable to get in contact with Sarah. Hopefully next week we will be able to go out there together. Other than that, please still follow along and share my stories with others!