WTF body?!?! I say that to my body because dang... yesterday my legs felt like they were filled with concrete on my run. Part of this is because I ran late in the afternoon after a day of not drinking enough water and therefore, being slightly dehydrated. The run went ok, at this point in time I am trying to get in my routine and get regular runs in during the week. It does take some time for your body to become accustomed to the outdoor running, the high impact nature of the exercise does cause more muscle damage. There is significantly more muscle damage running outside than running indoors on a treadmill. And since most of my running this year has been on the hamster wheel I am going through an "acclimatization phase" with my outdoor running. I felt like the tin man this morning getting out of bed, yes complete with the sound effects (eeh er, eeh er...).

Have you ever looked around and recognized how many Opportunities for Success we have in this world? There are so many things that can be done or completed that would be recognized as success. These can be community volunteer acts, career goals, family and relationship goals or personal fitness goals, etc. However you look at it there are so many things that we can accomplish in our lifetimes if we want to. I have decided that this really kind of explains my philosophy and my outlook on all the 'random goals' I set for myself. Looking back I have always been this way. My goals have been focused on athletics and on education/career. Those who have mentored me in my life have said two things, "you are too hard on yourself" and "you don't need to push so hard all of the time". I think I am just wired this way, and besides if I wasn't pushing so hard would I have accomplished all I have up to this point in my life? Probably not, I may have just decided to settle for complacency. The odd thing is each accomplishment leads me to believe I can do more and do better. I think the momentum to this way of thinking came from graduate school. For one, graduate school can really test your abilities - especially in the program I was in and for two, it was a point in my life where I had just picked up and moved across the country on my own to pursue a new adventure. Wow! Looking back I am not even sure how I did that on my own! This has lead me on a journey to set totally random goals for myself. Each goal I accomplish that is new proves to me my mental capacity.

Here's the interesting "flip side" to this perspective. Some people see the world as offering many Opportunities for Failure. They may not outwardly recognize this but they feel this way inside and therefore don't attempt to accomplish things. I find myself seeing things this way when I am scared or unsure of myself. Each time I push beyond these feelings of reservation I find that I grow beyond what I could imagine and am grateful for the experience. There are times along all journey's that I feel this way, but the more I overcome them the less frequent they come up.

For me the "physical goals" I set for myself are the ones that aren't necessarily physical. Yes, they are "athletic" but it is more mental than physical. Anyone who doesn't see that has a very limited perception. I think it is a gift to see beyond the carrot of a "time" or "looking good in a bikini". I am grateful I see the other perks to these type of goals. I don't know how long I will be able to set these types of goals for myself but as long I as I can I will enjoy being able to do these types of things. I hope to never limit myself in what I can accomplish by questioning my mental capacity. TJ tells me I have the strongest "mentals" (this is a TJ phrase) of anyone he knows.

Here are a few things I have accomplished that I see as significant to my life:
*Graduate School
*Running marathons
*Climbed several Rocky Mountain "14ers"
*Run a High Altitude Race (at 10,000 feet)
*Completed a Figure Contest

Here are a few things I would like to accomplish:
*Run THE Boston Marathon (working on this now)
*Complete an Ironman Triathalon
*Write a book (starting to outline this now)
*Open my own business (still have yet to decide what this will be completely)

Of course these goals don't include my entire life and the list isn't comphrensive but it does feel good to look back and forward and see the excitement my life has had. I am just very grateful that GOD has given me the abilities and opportunities to make these things happen and I am thankful for my perspective every day, it is a healthy, positive and balanced perspective I am grateful for.

I completed a long run this morning... well I don't really consider anything a long run unless its over 12 miles but for the sake of my training calendar this was considered my 'long run' day. I did just under 8 miles today... with an average pace of 8:45 min/mile. This pace is right on target with where I would like to be - your long run pace is should be somewhere between 30 sec and 1 min slower than your marathon race pace.

Oh the memories this run brought back today! Of course most of my runs are done on the Centennial Trail, which runs right along side the Spokane River (beautiful course really). I use the trail because it is so darn close to my house, has no traffic, bathrooms at some mile markers and its easy to do an 'out and back' run. I have probably logged 2,000 miles on that trail... so I know it like the back of my hand! The curves of the pavement, the smells of certain plants (or Krispy Kreme which is conveniently located at mile ~9.25), the "regulars" and the feel of the river air all brought back soooo many memories! That part of the trail is definitely my stompin ground and this is my jam! Holla!

I have had very tight muscles since last weeks race, so my goal this week to do a lot of stretching and keep everything loose so that I can get some good miles in. The funny thing was I was so used to doing "cardio on an empty stomach" in the morning that I almost forgot to eat before my run this morning. This is a complete 180 deg change in training philosophy. I savored a gel just prior to my run and one about 45 mins in. Ohhh gels... I've missed you so much!

Right now I am still kinda acting like a hybrid of a figure competitor and a marathoner. This is mostly attributed to my protein powder craving and continual consumption. I made a new thing last night... High Protein Guiltfree PB Oatmeal Raisin Cookies! These have NO flour, white sugar, butter or oil in them! See below for the ingredients:

*1 3/4 cup traditional oats
*4 scoops vanilla protein powder
*2 tbsp ground flaxseed
*6 egg whites
*1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
*2 tbsp Splenda brown sugar
*2 tbsp natural peanut butter (I decided on this at the last minute for some extra "pizazz")
*dash cinnamon
*1/2 cup raisins (optional)
*1 tbsp sugarfree maple syrup
*1 tsp vanilla extract

Mix together and bake and you have a "cookie". They look pretty similar to a cookie, but have a slightly different texture - honestly I think they are legit! They have ~15g of protein per cookie! Yes, my perception may be warped, but heck I don't have to feel guilty eating these!

You may have thought you clicked on the wrong website when you first re-entered my blog! I gave it a face lift! Figured why not?! I am turning a new leaf over... now on a new adventure and it's time for a change. This is partially due to the fact that I finally had enough time to sit down and make some changes!

Here is my newest discovery... more choices = more temptation! The more types of food I have around me the more 'willing' I am to sample the flavors. This is a serious dilemma for a foodie like me. I love to cook and experience great foods, but I am concerned at this point with how this will affect my waistline - especially because my running hasn't settled into a regular pattern yet. The honest truth is that my body has changed since the show (of course a few lbs was expected) but I don't want this to turn into a feeding frenzy. I have really come to this conclusion that too many choices is not a good thing. I am planning on picking up my running regimen, but have taken a couple of days off because I have been sore from Sunday's race. My goal for the next couple of days is to settle into my "new routine"... this "new routine" is TBD - if anyone out there knows what it is or has it, please let me know :) Just kidding! I know what my new routine is - I just have to tweak a few things and then actually stick to it! Ahhh the journey's of structured nutritional regimens... I will post more later.

Well, Bloomsday weekend just passed. This is the largest road race... approx. 51,000 people finished the race this year - that's a crapload of people! I ran Bloomsday this year, the Y had a corporate cup team. I didn't know how my body would respond to running a race of this distance (it is a 12K, 7.46 miles) in lieu of my past few months training and diet regimen. My past few months have consisted of a workout that one would not consider "runner friendly"~ lack of carbs being the major culprit. However, I was pleasantly surprised, I had a good race. My Garmin clocked me at 59'36" (my official race time on the website was listed as 59'49" or something like that). I will go with my Garmin time :) Either way I was pleased with my race - this will be a great kick start into my training for Portland. I have decided to continue this blog to talk about my marathon training.

What a whirlwind! Sorry for my delay in posting but this week flew by. So... the show was last weekend - mission accomplished! I have just completed my first figure show!!! The night after the show I was almost in shock that it was over and that I had done a show. I woke up the next morning feeling as though I was in a dream, or that I had done the show a LONG time ago. I still feel like it was so long ago, but it was only last saturday! It was a great week, it felt good to get back in the gym and not feel the pressure of show prep - but to just enjoy my workouts and feel good about where I am at physically. I didn't place at the show, I got sixth in my height class. At first I was a bit bummed and somewhat frustrated feeling like some of those that had placed didn't have the 'figure' look but that they had only placed because of the politics of the industry (they looked more like bodybuilders but had been competing for some time and knew the judges). On Monday this feeling quickly left, and I was able to just be proud of my accomplishments and what I had done.