Non Scale Victory Friday!

It’s Friday! I may or may not be singing the Rebecca Black song in my head. Don’t worry, I won’t make it a habit, I’m just excited for the weekend!

I’ve been to the Baltimore Running Festival before, for work. My previous job would have runners raise money and run for us in the race. It always seemed like a fun event as a participant, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t dread waking up before the sun on a Saturday, so I could stand shivering while we waited for our runners to arrive and then finally leave.

Well tomorrow I’m going to be waking up before the sun on a Saturday, except this time by choice! I’ve heard so many good things about this race, so I’m really excited, but also really nervous. This will be, by far, the largest race I’ve run in. Plus I’ve never done a relay race. I know once I get started running I’ll be fine, but I keep having nightmares about the exchange points going horribly wrong.

Anyways positivity is key! So non-scale victory Friday it is!

1. I had a bad run on Wednesday, which isn’t a victory, but the way I handled it is. I managed to make myself stop stressing about the bad run, and stay positive so that I’ll have the right outlook going into the relay tomorrow!
2. I signed a lease on a new place that I’ll be moving into in December! I’m super excited. It’s much closer to work (five minutes as opposed to the hour I’m doing now) and it’s cheaper!!!
3. I started my Whole30 on Monday and aside from some headaches on Tuesday and Thursday it’s been going really well! I only have 25 more days to go!

Don’t forget to share your non scale victories below and have a great weekend! To anyone running in the Baltimore Running Festival, or any race for that matter, this weekend GOOD LUCK!!

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I Can’t Let a Bad Run Get Me Down!

Yesterday morning I got to go in late to work so I was excited to get in a morning run to start off my day! Then I started running and I knew it was going to be rough. In hindsight it was a perfect storm of incidences that meant my run was less than stellar.

My goal? Run 5-6 miles, to get myself ready for the relay I’m running in the Baltimore Running Festival this weekend. The result? I ran/walked a little over four miles, my legs felt like lead, and towards the end I felt like I was going to be physically sick if I pushed myself any harder. I definitely did not feel amped, I felt discouraged and disappointed, and started doubting whether I would be able to finish my leg of the relay.

Which is ridiculous! I can’t let one bad run get me down! It’s true that I’ve had a lot on my plate yesterday. Buying a car, going back to school for the first time in five years (meaning my first midterm in five years eek!) and looking for a new place to live means that I’ve been busy! It also means that there have been nights where I’ve prioritized each of these things over running, who can blame me there’s only so many hours in the day and I have to sleep at some point as well! Couple that with a change in diet that left me with an awful headache on Tuesday as my body yelled at me for giving up sugar, it’s no wonder my running suffered on Wednesday.

Still I’ve managed to get at least one or two runs in a week and last week I ran a full five miles. So I am prepared for this weekend. I’m definitely more prepared than I was for the Arbutus Firecracker, where I was coming off a sprained ankle and hadn’t run at all for three weeks. If I can do that (with a pretty good time considering!) then this is definitely doable.

That’s what I keep reminding myself of. One bad run where I felt miserable is not an indication of how I will do on Saturday. Besides I got my bad run out of the way for the week, that means I can only go up from here right (it’s all about that positive thinking)? I wouldn’t want to have my best run on Wednesday and then my bad run on race day!

My plan is to stay positive, have whole30 compliant food options available before and after my race so I’m properly fueled and run my best on Saturday. Plus I’m going to stop thinking about my Wednesday run after I publish this post!

Have you ever had a bad run or work out? What do you do to get past it?

 

Whole30 Day 2!

My eating has gotten lazy recently. Granted it could be a lot worse, at least I’m still practicing moderation. Still, my sweet tooth has managed to win more often than not recently and I’ve been eating out a lot more than is normal for me.

This past weekend, for instance, I had fried chicken and a milkshake in one meal. It was delicious, and I don’t regret it. I can’t remember the last time I had fried chicken, and this was definitely the best I’ve ever tasted. Still, definitely not the healthiest of choices.

About a year ago I learned about this diet called Whole30 I was intrigued but thought there was no way I’d have any interest in doing it. I decided to learn about it and everything in entails. It sounds daunting, you spend 30 days eating no added sugar, no alcohol, no grains, no dairy. It makes eating out next to impossible, and means you’re reading so many labels. In practice, however, it’s not nearly as bad as it sounds. You eat, a protein at every meal, vegetables (SO many vegetables), and then a fat. Three meals a day with no snacking, and as long as you’re choose good recipes, of which there are many, you’ll find you’re eating tastier food than you did before, and definitely a lot more of it.

I’m not, by nature, a label reader. I try to be healthy, but I’m not a health nut. I don’t try to convince people to follow my version of healthy. I’m not one to participate in fad diets, and believe that when it really comes down to it, moderation is key. I still believe that.

However, as I was running more and more I became more concerned with what I was putting into my body. Whole30 isn’t something you do permanently and its focus isn’t on weight loss (You’re not allowed to weigh yourself, or count calories while you’re doing it), but it does force you to take a serious look at what you’re eating and focus on adding more whole foods into your diet.

It’s definitely restricting while you’re doing it but, overall, I loved it. My headaches went away, and I definitely wasn’t as tired. Well it’s been almost six months since the end of my first Whole30 and I started my second yesterday! So far so good, but then again it’s only the second day haha. I’m hoping to reset my eating habits just in time for the holidays that are just around the corner!