Self-Doubt Before Race Day | Rock N Roll Half Marathon Nashville

So, as I type this I should really be packing for my trip to Nashville, since we'll be out tonight.  My flight leaves at 6am tomorrow, so I have an early wake up call.  Anyhow, I'll get to it before I have  to get into mommy-driver duty! 

I'm super excited to be running the Rock n Roll Half Marathon in Nashville this Sat. Not so much because I love country music, hilly courses, and humidity, but because I'll be running alongside my BFF since high school! This will be her first half marathon and I'm thrilled I was the one who motivated her to sign up.  I was asking if maybe she'd like to run the 5K, but she surprised me and said she'd join me in the half marathon! You can imaging my excitement!!! She's been training for about 12 weeks and I've been supporting her via text messages and phone calls. This got me thinking about my own first half marathon and how my cousin, who's an avid marathon runner, came to run alongside me for my first half marathon.  I remember how happy I was to have someone with all of her experience running with me and supporting me.  It really helped make my first half marathon experience such a good one! As excited as I am to now be the one paying it forward and being the "experienced" runner, I'm also nervous about my own performance.  Hills aren't my jam, I mean, let's be honest, they aren't anyones jam! I'm also not as fast or fit as I was a few years ago and it's messing with my head (see what I did there?).  I've put in the miles and ran hills in my training, but I'm afraid I'll be seen as a fraud.  Like, yea I call myself a runner, but then I'm huffing and puffing at mile 10.  I'm afraid I won't be the best support for her or worse yet, that she'll be the one supporting me! Won't that be embarrassing!?! 

I'm working on keeping a positive mindset and trust that I won't fail.  I need to trust that it's going to be a fun experience, no matter the outcome.  I admit, this is hard to do.  It's hard to feel your best, when you know you could do better because you have done better.  Ok, I know I am overreacting to a hypothetical situation and it's silly, but it's the truth and I can't be anything but honest.  Have you ever felt this way before? Be it running or another aspect of your life, I bet you have. I can also say from experience that things aren't usually as bad as you think they're gonna be.  Am I right? So, I am leaving it all here on the blog.  I'm typing it out here but then I'm going to think of how happy I'll be seeing my best friend, who I haven't seen almost 5years.  I'm going to focus on how awesome it is that I'll be running my 14th half marathon in 2 days.  I'm excited to visit and explore a new city and eat some pretty good food too!! And, I'm gonna go pack...

Who's been to Nashville? Any recommendations on must-see or must-eats? I'll be back next week to let you know how it went and if you are struggling with feelings of self-doubt too, stay strong and know you aren't alone. XO 

April 2018 Training + Fitness Goals

Better late than never! I have been super busy working on a new project that I''m really excited about, but it's left me with little time to update the blog.  But, I figured I need to keep accountable for my training goals and I made a commitment to continue to share my goals here.  So, here goes! My goals for March were simple, continue training for the Rock n Roll Nashville Half Marathon, cross train 2 days a week, and stick to a paleo diet.  How did I do? Well, I am happy to say I ended March with a total of 64 miles for the month.  I feel like I'm getting my running groove back and I love it! Sadly, cross training didn't happen twice a month, but I did manage to go to Body Pump Class once a week, so progress! YAY!! As for paleo diet, it's not been 100% but I have definitely been cleaning up my eating and I'm feeling a lot better, so again, yay for progress!

Here are my goals for April:

Yes, they are still very similar to last month's goals because there was still room for improvement and I really want to stick to getting this workout schedule right and make it a routine again! 

What are your goals for April? How's it going?  

Whole 30 | Weeks 3 + 4 Recap

Well, yesterday was officially my last day on Whole30.  Was I successful in the traditional sense of completing a Whole30? The "official" answer would be NO! But, I'm ok with that.  Here's how weeks 3 and 4 went down...

Week 3 was going as planned.  I knew I was hosting our monthly book club meeting that Friday and I actually created a menu that was Whole30 and was relevant to the book's story. BOOM!  However, I made one dang good charcuterie + cheese board and there went all my will power! Well, that and wine.  And by the time I got to dinner, I was like, oh well, I'll have the regular rice too and not the cauliflower rice I was supposed to have.  And, yes, you guessed it? I might as well have the dessert too! Add to that a few additional glasses of wine and nachos on week 4 and no it was not a successful Whole30. 

But, it was not all for nothing! I still feel I benefited greatly from Whole30 and that I succeeded in a lot of areas.  Starting the Whole 30 program really got me out of my rut.  I was cooking the same boring foods, which just made me crave tasty and not-so-good-for-me foods on the weekends.  It was a bad cycle. I've made some really good dishes that I will continue to make and to add some variety, I'm planning to make a few new dishes a month.  So, if you have any yummy Whole 30/Paleo recipes you love, send them my way, please!  I've also been way more consistent on my running and workouts, which is so important for me and helps me not just physically but emotionally! At the end of the 30 days, I weighed myself and I'm down 5 lbs.  Could I have done better? Do I need to lose more? Yes and Yes. But, it's way better than keeping them or gaining even more.  

The plan is to continue with my Whole30/Paleo meal planning and prepping each week.  I know that helps keep me accountable to myself and I'm way less likely to "graze" and snack on tortilla chips jus because they're available.  And on that note, I'm also not buying my "trigger foods" (ie. foods that I have a super hard time resisting!) I was buying these for the kids (wink, wink!) I am really feeling better about myself and my food choices and starting to feel like myself again.  

I'd definitely recommend the Whole 30 program to anyone who wants to feel better about  the foods they're eating and in turn feel better about themselves.  It's a lot of work and commitment and yeah, I'm not the best example but I learned a lot and it's helped me a ton too! I recommend checking it out and giving it a try for sure! 

Have you ever started something and even though you didn't complete it perfectly, still feel good about the results you got or where it left you? I'd love to hear about it and what you learned from it.  Doing Whole 30 taught me that sometimes, it's not about perfection.  It's not always about saying no 100% of the time.  It's not about beating yourself up because you ate a cookie.  Sometimes, we have to be ok with doing what we can and forgiving ourselves when we fall short of our goals.  There's grace and beauty in living our lives fully and with balance.  Balance is about knowing when to say no to the junk food and going to workout even when you don't feel like it and knowing when that glass of wine or slice of pizza is going to be good for your soul and totally worth it! XO