Big Girls Don't Cry

One of my favorite sayings when a friend is having a difficult time is to tell them to "Put on your big girl pants & ..... (insert appropriate verb)". Pretty good advice, I'd say. Since my mom's death (October 10. 2011 - yes, Chicago marathon weekend for all you runners out there) I haven't been able to follow my own advice. I have not found joy in the things that I love to do, like running, cycling, yoga, eating well, & keeping fit. Everything has been hard. I'm working through it though, & every day it gets a little easier. I have felt as though I went from an infant, to a child, & am now in my "adolescent" phase (if that makes sense) & am able to get out more & even do some things for myself that I enjoy again. It feels pretty good to have "me" back again. We don't have very deep snow here, so I've been running in it no problem with my YakTrax. For those of you who know me IRL, I LOVE to run & play in the snow. It's so much fun charging & jumping on top of the snow banks, hurdling the small ones, & just having a good time. When the snow first begins to fall I have to get out there for a run just so I can run & sliiiiiiiiide :-) So much fun!

I've been running (a little), doing some yoga, & doing easy trainer spins on the bike (sometimes). Things are going pretty well & I'm excited to be able to say I have "base miles". Not quite yet though. It's sort of hard for me when I don't have a focus. My husband & I are doing the Innsbrook triathlon in July, but other than that I've had no idea.

My cousin (who is brilliant) has decided that we should run a marathon. I never thought that I'd ever want to run another one of those (terrible) things (haha), but I am excited to say that we are running Indianapolis Monumental Marathon on November 2, 2013! Yay! For those that have read my blog in the past, I have run this before & it didn't go well. I tore a muscle in one leg, & severely injured the lower part of the other leg. Yep -- I came home on a walker. Humbling. I ran 4:03, which is my PR for the marathon. Now I'm not saying I want to try to run sub-4:00 or anything this time. In fact, I don't plan on taking a watch. This is such a pretty course, & I plan on just enjoying it for the pure fun of running. Imagine that! Here I am running in Indianapolis in 2010, I believe.

I'm looking forward to getting back to the things I love, & now that I have a focus it has truly lit that fire in my belly again that I thought was forever burned out. Time for me to "put on my big girl pants". :-)