I did it!!!!!

  

 

That's right little birdies.  I did it.  You might be asking yourselves, what, lauren, did you in fact...do. Well, this week, I have really stayed on top of my training goals, even though it might not be the fastest week of my life.  Since friday, I have run every single day and still feel strong and injury free.  Friday, 4 miles.  Saturday, 10 miles.  Sunday 3 miles (before the southie st. patty's day festivities), and now Monday, 5.5 miles (at the gym.  It snowed, first day of spring.  I couldn't bear going outside.  Oh man, its that question of bear or bare again.  Bear. Its bear.)  So what if every mile I had to stop and reset my brain.  Because I know its not my body that needs help, its my brain.  So, what did Lauren do to get out of her funk....or at least to stay in the moment and be mindful of her funk...let's review, shall we?

1.) Get back on top of your eating habits.  Below is my typical long run breakfast: toast with strawberry organic cream cheese with real strawberries, almonds, cranberries, and a banana.  Let us not forget my big glass of water and think fondly of the gummy bears I consume post run every week.

2.) Listen to really good music.  Right now my pandora can't get enough of the Adele radio station I created.  It plays hits from Adele, Ray Lamontagne, and Etta James.  BE still my beating heart!

3.) Enjoy yourself when life presents itself in fun and lasting memories.  AKA, the parade day in Southie.  Good treats, thanks to my friends Lindsey and Anya (Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes, as well as peanut butter rice krispie treats!!!!).

 

After the food and before the parade, a Southie tradition of high fiving your friends on their lawns and roofdecks was certainly in order.  Here, we have me, my love Jeffy, and Olivia my bestie. 

 

Next, we have my two favorite ladies, Megan and Kristy.  Both SUPER athletic super heroins. Kristy runs marathons like it ain't no thang and Megan is a gymrat that could kick your butt at boxing and yoga, AT THE SAME TIME.  Oh, and please don't mind my rogue staph infection aka cut on my hand.  It mysteriously showed up at the end of a school day, with no pain involved.  I have no idea where it came from. 

4.) Last but not least, when you are in a funk...write yourself a love letter.  Send it to people if you need to.  I did...and I know everything. So, in my love letter, I promised that I was going to be more mindful of the moments I am in.  I promise to be appreciative of where I am in life, even if its been a little trying at times, and that I am exactly where I am meant to be.  I also need to make sure I don't always run myself ragged to say that I'm awesome and that I can do everything, because.... I found out the other day that I'm human? or something...so I have the same limitations as everyone else.    

I also promised to start loving me for me.  I mean, I repeatedly tell people I'm awesome, but, I'm not sure if I believe it half the time.  I told myself I'm going to repeat a daily mantra and that I am to love the me I am through thick and thin.  Marathon or no marathon, Boston or no Boston, Blonde hair or no...blon...de..ha..aghh.  Yes I'm me blonde hair or no blonde hair.  I am always me.  I also promised myself that I deserve healthy relationships with everyone in my life. 

Aren't you excited to be experiencing all of this with me?  I told you it would be the ups and downs of training for a marathon.  Like, listen to this...

I was on the phone today with GomomGo and she was like, I'm worried that after this marathon, you will be right back to where you started...that you'll have to set some other goal that you feel like you need to accomplish, in order to feel like you are living your life.

Um, goMoMgo.  Why did you make my brain think so hard?  But, she has a point.  I know I signed up for the marathon to be like, BAM, I just ran a marathon.  However, I had to reassure her that while pushing myself to the extreme in athleticism, I have also discovered some wonderful things along the way.  Maybe I do thrive on proving to people that I can accomplish anything I set out to do, and that she has a point that sometimes and somehow I just need to learn to be happy with my everyday life.  Yet in the process of all of this learning and doing, I've discovered that I am a strong and beautiful girl, who enjoys going for a run and enjoys focusing her life on healthy living instead of living for saturday nights.  Maybe I will need to readjust myself at the end of all of this, but for the time being, I'm going to live in the moment of where I am, and appreciate every second of it.  Like, how I get to eat more carbs.