Motivate Me Monday: Your Body, Your Faith, Yourself

I'm borrowing Running To Be Skinny's "Motivate Me Monday" title because well, it just sounds cooler than "Motivational Mondays."  Not only does it sound better, but because my readers (that's you! :) ) motivate me just as much as the photos, quotes, and links that I post here every Monday.  So motivate me, please!  Please share what motivates you.  I really appreciate all your comments, tips, advice, stories, and encouragement you give me daily.  Thank you!

I found these post-it notes (see below) on Things We Forget.  A post by Another Mother Runner led me to these post-it notes of encouragement, inspiration, and motivation.  They are such a great way to start off a new week!  If you're not following them already, you must!

I picked these post-its after my very lousy 7-Miler yesterday.  I was stepping down to 7 from doing 10 last weekend, so I was looking forward to a good "shorter" run.  Well, I guess you never know how your run is going to be until, well, at the end!  I went slower in the beginning (Mile 1 - 11:58; Mile 2 - 11:15; Mile 3 - 10:46), after so many reminders from runner friends & training plans, that long runs are suppose to be slow.  Like 1  to 2 minutes slower than your race pace (depending on your source).  Seasoned runners can go 30 seconds slower than race pace.  My long run race pace is 10:30 min./mile, so technically, I'm suppose to do my long runs somewhere between 11:00 - 12:30 min./mile.

My big rookie mistake this year is doing most of my long runs at race pace.  Really, Marie?  Really stupid, huh?  So bad.  So if you've been running for just a year, like me, or just starting, make a note of this and don't do what I just did:  Do not do your long runs at race pace.  Long runs are suppose to be slower than race pace.

Clearly, I should have been doing this too: 


Listen to my body.

Souce

Yes, my body is obviously smarter than me.  It's been telling me to slow down weeks ago after PF showed up right before my Virginia Is For Lovers 14K (race recap coming soon! I promise!).

So during my 7-Miler yesterday, PF was trying to poke its ugly head through my foot again with an ache at Mile 5, enough of an ache that it slowed me to a walk.  Then my SI Joint on my right started to ache!  I ran the rest of my run MUCH slower just to finish, and I iced and massaged the crap out of my foot and calf.  Again.  So more resting is in store for me this week!  The only saving grace from that run was running with my friend, F.  It was our first run together and if it wasn't for her, I probably would have just quit at Mile 5.

Best advice I've received was just that - listen to your body - even from those little aches and pains,  before they magnify to an injury that could side-line you for months.


Have faith.

Source

Aches, pains, soreness, and injuries can really discourage me to the point where I start to doubt whether I have the body to train for my first full marathon in October.  I really like this post-it above:  "Let Faith Be Bigger Than Your Fear."  I have to remind myself that I had the courage to sign up for my first full marathon because I know that I CAN finish that distance as long as I follow a training plan and be smart about training along the way.  I know that if I let that fear of getting injured get in the way, I will never get to that finish line.


Run my own race.

Souce

I think I'm insecure about my running pace when I run with friends.  I'm slower, and I find myself apologizing for slowing my friends down.  I need to get over that and realize that if my friends wanted to go faster, they wouldn't invite me.  Right?  It's so easy to be swept away by faster friends, and I find myself trying to keep up.  Last time I did that, I got PF.  So now, I'm trying to stay true to myself and my friends.  I'm much more relaxed on my runs as a result because I am running my own race.


Ben Comen, Runner.
Finally, how can you not be inspired by this kid?  Meet Ben Comen.  He was a high school kid when this video was recorded.  He was in his school's cross country team.  He has cerebral palsy, but watch him run a 5K.  I just LOVE how passionate he is about running and his strong determination to finish even after falling down so many times.




UPDATE on my aches and pains:   PF is gone as of this morning, knock on wood.  Enough for my workout today.  I've been self-correcting my SI Joint, something I learned from Physical Therapy, so this morning is good so far!  Crossing fingers!

Thanks so much again to those who gave me tips on running my first full marathon!  Reading your blogs motivate me everyday.



What's your week's motivation?  What motivates you to keep running?

When You're Sick And Can't Run, You Find Your Feet...

Source

Since I'm sick and can't run or work out, all of a sudden I have all this extra time in my hands!  I'm trying to be a good girl by taking THREE full rest days, so I can do my long run (8-miler) this weekend.  I've got this bug that reduced me to a shivering, coughing, "hit-by-a-truck" mess on the couch.  I hate being sick.  Everything takes a back seat - the house, the laundry, and it's like survival mode over here, just feed and care for the kids, don't worry about anything else, just let the house explode.

Still haven't shaken the bug off of me completely, but I am feeling better. We're having this unusually warm spell today, 60-some degrees outside!  I want to run so badly!  But like I said, I'm trying to be good, trying to be good.  So instead of a run, I treated myself to some breakfast at Panera (after dropping off Little Man at preschool) - whole grain bread with a slice of ham and eggs!  YUM!  I'm easy to please.  For one hour I let myself "be where my feet are" and it was awesome - much needed "me" time that doesn't involve running.

I "met" Maggie Bahnson from my couch through Another Mother Runner's "Follow That Mother" post which led me to Maggie's own blog, A Slice of Wife, which brought me to her wonderful post about being where your feet are.  In my own frenetic days, I admit I am somewhere else but here most of the time.  Sometimes, while I'm cooking, I'm thinking about the laundry that needs to be done.  While playing with Little Man, I think about what to cook for dinner.  Maggie's post was my much needed reminder to be in the present and just relish whatever it is I'm doing.  It's something I am constantly trying to be better at.

Source

So instead of thinking about what I'd rather be doing (running) or what I needed to do (groceries), I watched people in Panera.  I realized there were lots of moms like me - waiting for preschool to end, taking a "me" break, or working - in groups, alone - some on laptops or on their cell phones.  There's the solo Dad with his daughter, struggling to keep her from screaming her head off again.  Most interesting is this lady whom, I swear, took 30 pics of herself on her cell phone!  Ok!  Yeah, so this is what it's like when you don't run while your preschooler is in school - you get to hang out at Panera, chill, and take pics of yourself!

I realized then that I needed more of that kind of time.  I feel like I'm constantly rushing going from one thing to the next.  I need to just chill, "be where my feet are," like now.  Thanks so much, Maggie, for helping me find my feet.

Three Things Thursday: Celebrations

This girl's been so BUSY over here, and there's so much to blog about!  I feel horrible about giving an "in an nutshell" blog post, but it's going to have to be that - a synopsis - a should-have-been-3-separate-blog-posts, instead, condensed into my three things for Thursday:

 I WON!

 
I was one of 3 winners from Another Mother Runner's Video Contest!  I made a short video on how "I Run Like A Mother."  I got the pink running hat on the right and I LOVE it!  Can't wait to wear it on my next run!  If you haven't seen my little vid yet, check it out below!  ;)

I RAN for the first time in a month since my injury!

No walking, no jogging!  Ran 3 miles last Saturday and another 3 miles Monday!  It feels SO GOOD to be back to running again!  So grateful for my Physical Therapists for helping me out and so thankful I am finally healed (knock-on-wood).  In addition to graduating from Physical Therapy, I had an epiphany last weekend.  After another frustrating attack of plantar fasciitis on my left foot towards the end of my first 10K race, I finally took the time to google "arch pain and running shoes."  I was so ready to go back to Saucony Pro-grid Ride shoes (my first pair of running shoes) since they never gave me issues, but I really did not want to go back to traditional running shoes.  (Yes, I'm stubborn).  Well, can you believe I figured out the cause of my PF?  My left shoe is too big for my left foot!  When I doubled my socks on my left foot, I felt no pain!  Yay!  It worked on the 2 days I ran 3 miles.  So excited!  I am just hoping and praying I'm finally on the road to running again with no injuries.  Yay!

MY BOYS GOT STRAIGHT A's and S+'s!!!!

Proud Momma moment!  My boys brought home amazing report cards!  Cannot help but be proud of them, of course!

Thanks for "celebrating" with me!  I still need to post a Part II to my first 10K race.  I will be able to come up for air more and blog more once this week is over.

When You're Injured, You Suddenly Have Time To.....

.....make a video for Another Mother Runner's Run Like A Mother book's (RLAM's) Anniversary.  If you haven't already, you can check out my video (Entry #1 from Marie) along with 9 other mother runners' videos HERE and see the many ways we run like a mother!

Oh and please don't tell my PT that you saw me "running"...since (ahem) I'm not suppose to...?  (notice the slow and careful jog and the way I was dragging my ITBS-ing right leg).

Inspiring Runner: I am a Runner

I have to share this powerful and courageous story about a mom who was in a very dark place in her life.  It's an amazing and honest story of how running rescued her and healed her.  While I cannot imagine what she went through, I can honestly relate to being rescued and healed by running, and to being grateful for having friends like hers for getting me out there to run for the first time.  Please check out her story at Another Mother Runner's blog.  You will be inspired.

ITBS and Weak Hips

The outside of my right thigh is STILL bothering me.  STILL sore.  I roll it and it feels a little better, but then it comes back the next day.  I just want it to be better so I can start running again, now that I have a 10K race in my future.  There are days when I want to saw my leg off and throw it away.  Desperate, I limped over to Run Like A Mother: The Book's Facebook page and vented my frustrations.

Within minutes I got many comments from moms who feel my pain, offering many suggestions on how to iron out my IT band.  One mom in particular, offered this advice, "There is some evidence that weak hips contribute to itbs. Maybe you can feel like you are working towards your race if you do hip strengthening exercises while you wait. http://www.runninginjuryclinic.com/media/Hip_Strengthening_Exercises.pdf."  If I could give her a big hug if I could.  I plunged into researching ITBS and weak hips and many sources concur - weak hips lead to ITBS.  I'm going to try these exercises out religiously if I can help it.

Thank you, RLAM community!  You saved me again!