NEVER STOP MOVING

In the recent past those words have become a mantra of sorts. I’ve realized that for me to stay sane as a person I need regular exercise and physical activity (hence the ridiculous number of races I do). On days that I’m not feeling great I know that all I really need to do is go for a walk, hike, bike or run. Those words also helped get me through the toughest physical challenge I have undertaken, running a marathon. I set the goal of running a marathon probably seven years ago. I had watched my brother run in the Boston Marathon and several other races. I finally decided that I didn’t want to sit and watch anymore, I wanted to be a part of the race. Even with that decided it still took me years to even sign up for a race. 

Nervous and excited selfie to start the race!!

On Sunday May 24^th I stood in the starting line for the Vermont City Marathon in Burlington, Vermont. I was nervous and excited, standing alone with only the butterflies in my gut to keep me company. I had signed up for this race before – last year. I had followed my training plan to a T, but unfortunately got very sick several weeks before and wasn’t able to run. Leading up the race this year I was more nervous than ever. Every sniffle I got made me anxious that it was going to turn into something more. But as luck would have it, I stayed healthy and was as ready as I could be for my big day! 

I couldn't do it without my cheering squad!

Even though I didn’t finish in the time I wanted to (in the end time didn’t matter to me one bit) – I finished the marathon, all 26.2 miles of it. I may have cried at the end when I found my Mom and sister and asked why on Earth people ran marathons. Tears and the pain that followed the race aside, I finished.

Never stop moving!

There were a few moments (okay, more than a few) when all I wanted to do is give up, stop running, stop moving. But I didn’t. I kept going, even though my feet hurt and my legs ached; even though I had a hard time standing up straight and keeping my head up. I put one foot in front of the other, sometimes at a walk, sometimes at a shuffle and kept going.

Post-race smiles!

Don’t get me wrong, the beginning of the race was awesome. Even though I was more nervous than you could imagine, I was also pumped. The people cheering on the side of the road, my fellow runners, the music, the energy was amazing. I used that energy to get myself going. And like many first time marathoners, I get a little over excited about the first few miles. I was cruising, really cruising. I was on course to run a sub 4-hour marathon and that couldn’t have made me happier. It wasn’t until mile 10 that things started to hurt. I hit a wall, frustration central. That’s when the mind games started.

Finally!! The finish line!!

The games where you know that you can keep going, that your legs aren’t as tired as your mind says they are, but all your mind wants you to do is stop. The ability to overcome your mind is the key to be successful in the long run (get it, haha, “long run”). I battled my mind for 4:50:53 and won.

Never stop moving. It means as long as you are physically able, do it - run, walk, swim, boat, crawl, hike, dance, jump – as long as it makes you happy, keep going. Set a goal and do what you need to do to accomplish it. Finally reaching a goal is the greatest feeling in the world. And it doesn't matter if it takes 1 week, 1 year or 7 years to reach it. Just keep working at it until you do.

A well deserved beverage

So so many tears at the finish

So happy my family was there to support me!!

Another Year Gone..

In what feels like a blink of an eye, another year has come to an end. There are days and weeks that feel like they last forever, but then you look at the calendar and see that it is December 31st. Where on earth did the year go? Like a few of the past years, this one was more eventful than I could possible imagine. So here it is, my year in review.

January
I will openly admit that I am having a hard time remembering exactly what happened during January. For starters, I ran the Boston Prep 16 miler in Derry NH. It was the farthest distance I had ever run. I finished faster that I thought I would and luckily didn't lose any body parts to frost-bite! I was beginning to plan out my race calendar for the year. I was signed up for a handful of half marathons, the VT City Marathon and a few triathlons. I was on the right track in the fitness side of things and I was looking forward to a kick - ass year! In other parts of my life things weren't looking so great, my Dad had another surgery and I guess that is when things started to go downhill.

February
From the looks of my fitness journal, I didn't do too much this month. I kept up with my marathon training, but had no races on the calendar. I went snowshoeing and skiing a fair amount. I also spent a good amount of time at my parents house. My Dad wasn't doing that well, so I switched my work schedule and went home for 3 day weekends to keep Dad company and help out around the house. Sometimes family trumps fitness. Although I have learned that if I don't do something physical everyday I get irritable and depressed very easily. I wish I had figured that out sooner.

March
For obvious reasons this was the hardest month of the year. Dad passed away at home on Town Meeting Day (March 4th). The exhaustion and stress of his final days caused me to sleep a lot and really not have the motivation to get out and run. Really, running would have helped me more than the many naps I took. I needed to get the stress, frustration and sadness out. Inside I bottled it up inside. I never thought that I would lose a parent so young. He was 59. The only positive thing that came from his passing was my renewed goal of getting healthy and staying healthy. I know that I don't want to get cancer and I want to live a long life. To do so I need to get in shape and stay in shape. I also need to focus on feeding my body healthy whole clean foods. March didn't turn into the best fitness month for me. I know I continued to walk Odin daily, but aside from that my fitness journal is pretty blank.

SF was the escape I needed!

April
I started to get my butt back in gear during April. I got back into my running routine and did my longest run thus far (22 miles - solo!). At that point I was feeling good and was excited for the upcoming marathon. I also went to San Francisco and biked over the Golden Gate Bridge! Who would have guessed that I went from an awesome vacation, a kick-ass 22 mile solo training run to what happened in May.

my rock through it all

 May
Oh the month of May. This is when all hell broke loose. The month started out well. I ran the Middlebury Maple Half Marathon and although I didn't PR, I ran 19 minutes faster than the first time I ran it. I had been following my training calendar and was so pumped and ready to run the Vermont City Marathon, when I got sick. Really sick. I called it the plague. The doctors called it a virus of some sort. It wasn't Mono or strep throat. But I was in bed for close to a week. Too weak to even sit up or go to the kitchen. I had a fever and the worst sore throat of my life. I subsisted (barely) on Gatorade, jello and water. In that one week I lost 10 pounds. Although I was training for a marathon and was in great shape, I couldn't walk my dog around the block. When I started to feel better I still got winded and exhausted just walking my dog and knew that running was completely out of the picture. I was devastated when I finally realized that running the marathon was not in the cards for me. The rest of the month was devoted to getting to a place where I could easily walk my pup without getting winded and needing to take a nap. It was a hard lesson to learn, but I know now that I can't continue to push my body, it needs time to rest and recover.

Summit of White Rock

June
June was a month of recovery for me. I walked a lot and ran short distances. Toward the end of the month I was starting to get my legs back. I played a lot of soccer and rode my bike a fair amount. I was also focused on eating clean and healthy. I know weight loss while ill isn't the healthiest, but I worked hard to keep myself on the right track and kept some of it off.  

Kayaking in Maine with Mom!

July
Well, to start I turned 30! July was a definite re-building month. I ran almost 60 miles and was active almost every day. The start of the month was slow, I did a lot of walking and short runs to help build my stamina back up. I also got on my bike and did some longer rides (which during the hot summer days feels pretty good). I kayaked and swam a fair amount as well.  I was eating healthy and working hard to get out and have fun!
 
August
This way probably the best month of the year! I ran close to 50 miles this month, did a ton of hiking, got on my bike a fair amount and finished my first Olympic Distance Triathlon! I also started to add in more strength training to my workouts, which helped me get stronger faster. During one week of amazing weather I hiked/ran a new mountain each day; White Rock, Stowe Pinnacle and Spruce Mountain (ran up). I finally felt like I was back to my old self.

Nothing like a trail run in the rain!

September
I moved out of Montpelier and in with my sister M. Settling in was hard for me. I had to find new routes to run and new places to walk Odin. I no longer had Hubbard Park just a mile away where Odin and I could run on the trails or get lost for an hour or so. I still kept running consistently at lunch (the perks of having an hour long lunch break!). I had no races scheduled for the month, so just did my best to run, bike and play soccer consistently.


October
I quit my job! Yes, you read that correctly. After 5 years I decided that I was ready to move on. So with no real plan in place I left my place of employment, my health insurance, my vacation and sick days behind. For the next month I started substitute teaching (and loved it). Although the decision was hard, I don't regret it one bit! I felt such a weight lifted off my shoulders after leaving. Aside from my kick-ass finish in the Sumttynose Half Marathon in Hampton NH (1:54:27) my fitness journal shows much inconsistency. I used to get a run in almost everyday during my hour long lunch break. With the new job, new schedule and longer commute, this was no longer possible.
 
November
This month I PR'd at the RaceVermont Half Marathon in Shelburne (1:54:00!). I think the key to my having a good race is to go alone and not have any friends there to cheer me on. I'm not sure why, but I seem to run faster when I'm solo. Without even planning it, that was my last race of the year. I also joined a Master's Swim Team and fell back in love with the water. It is so nice to have people to swim with and a coach to help push you (a little). I also went to my first Master's Swim Meet and realized how much I loved to race.
At home it was also the first major Holiday without Dad. I would be lying if I said it wasn't hard. But we had a great meal and made it through. It helped to have my adorable niece there to entertain us!

December
Well here we are at the end of 2014! I haven't been doing much running this month, instead I've been swimming, riding my bike inside, playing indoor soccer and skiing whenever I can (living by the mountain does have its perks). I started a new job and have really had my life turned upside down. This may also be the first year I have maintained my weight during the holiday season!!

Looking Ahead
So what is on tap for next year? I am trying to keep my goals simple and not try to do too much. First and foremost I want to stay healthy. I am planning to do that by continuing to eat clean and take care of myself. If I learned anything over the past year its that rest is OK and necessary. I also need to give myself a break once and a while and not overfill my race calendar. I am signing up for the Vermont City Marathon again and hope that I can stay healthy enough to hit the pavement on race day. I am also planning on signing up for another Olympic distance triathlon and maybe knock another few states off my half marathon map. And who knows, maybe I'll find someone special to run, swim, bike, hike, etc. with.

This post is dedicated to my Dad. I will love and miss you forever!

A little a bit of this, a little bit of that

Portrait of me by kindergartener Abby

It has been a month and a half since I left my full time job. As soon as the job ended I knew that I had made the right choice. I felt a huge weight lift off my shoulders and even though I didn't have full time work lined up, I was feeling confident, excited and optimistic for what lay ahead. And what that was I had no idea. I planned on piecing together work that made me happy and helped to pay the bills. Just as the saying goes, "Variety is the spice of life!"

Now, forty five days later I am doing well, keeping myself busy with a variety of different jobs. I am working at an after school program with middle school students, cleaning houses and substitute teaching. My favorite by far is being a substitute teacher. I have been lucky enough to have plenty of work and be working in an awesome local elementary school. I gotten to sub as a classroom teacher, as a para-educator and as a one on one support staff. The one thing I can say, even though I haven't been doing this that long.. is that I LOVE IT! The days are long and sometimes stressful, but working with kids makes me so happy. Does this mean I am one step closer to figuring out the rest of my life.. maybe? But you'll just have to stay tuned to find out!

Photo from: www.collegeswimming.com

www.beachbody.com

In other aspects of my life I am also trying to increase the amount of variety, namely in what I am doing for exercise. Not only am I continuing to run (and kicking ass at it I may add), but I am adding in biking inside on my trainer, PiYo and kettlebell workouts and I have joined a Master's Swim Team. I think the most beneficial workouts for me this winter are going to be the PiYo (a workout DVD program)  is a mix of pilates and yoga. It should help me increase my flexibility, strength and will hopefully help me loosen up my muscles more. The other exercise that I already know is beneficial is the Master's Swim Team I joined at Norwich University. Practices are 4 days a week (1.5 hours long), but you just go as little or as much as you can. So far it has been awesome. Even though it is pretty laid back I find myself pushing hard to keep up with the other swimmers. When I push hard, I improve. Even though I have only been swimming a few days a week I (as well as my coach) as already seen improvement.

Yes, I do still have lazy days and am learning that with my new crazy work (and commuting) schedule, that I need to start waking up earlier to get my workouts in before I head off to school rather than waiting to do them in the evenings. I'm also setting goals for winter that will hopefully keep me on track during the cold winter months. Unlike last winter, I no longer live near my old running group and haven't found a new crew of runners in my new town to team up with.

We all know it!

My health and fitness goals for winter include:

The mountains are calling!

• Go to Master's Swim Team pracitce at least 2 days a week
• Complete the PiYo Program
• Hop on the bike at least 2 days a week (for 45 minutes minimum)
• Run at a minimum 2 days a week
• Sign up for one race each month to keep me moving (5k, 10k or half marathon)
• Get out and enjoy winter! Tele ski, XC ski, snowshoe, sled as much as possible!
• Continue to eat healthy foods
• Enjoy holiday sweets and treats, but only in moderation
• Do not gain weight!

It may seem like a hefty number of goals, but they are all pretty common sense and very attainable. With these goals I should be able to keep myself on track and in race shape. And, since I am renewing my goal of running a marathon next year, staying in shape through the winter is not only important, it is imperative. Plus, winter is one of the most fun times of year! If I want to tear up the slopes this winter (and not pay for it the next day) I need to get my legs, core and back ready now! So, here's to a kick ass winter of health, fitness and happiness!!