12 Things I've Learned Training for a Half marathon

Half marathon training has been a life changing experience.  I've been forced to find time for myself in a schedule jam packed with my kids' activities.  I never thought running for over two hours would be something I would choose to do, but it's taught me about perseverance.  Every run is different, some of them starting great and ending horrendously, others starting slow and ending phenomenally. 

The key is to get out there, get going, and keep going. 

Here are twelve lessons I've learned while training.  So much of them mimic real life.  

1.  Runner's high is a very real, addicting feeling. 

2.  Hydrate. Hydrate. Hydrate.  Water is your friend.

3.  Just because you feel like shit at mile 3 does not mean you will feel like shit at mile 8. 

4.  Sleep is vital to health and energy.

5.  You can't run on empty. Fuel is just as important as hydration.

6.  Don't skip workouts. If you do, get back on track as soon as possible.

7.  We all have bad days. get up the next day and try again.

8.  The hardest part is getting started. Every. Single. Time.

9.  When you run twenty five miles a week (or more) your feet get very ugly. Buy good shoes. 

10. When you feel like you can't, keep going.  There is more in the tank than you believe to be there. 

11. Take a rest day. We need them.

12. Don't compete against anyone but yourself.

Hello August...

Last week I was on vacation.  It was lovely in every sense of the word.  Time spent away from the hustle and bustle regular life brings is necessary.  We all need to rejuvenate and last week was my rejuvenation for the summer.  Even if I was doing laundry it wasn't the kind of laundry I despise.  It was beach laundry.  

Damp towels and sandy bathing suits. Smelly football gear and barely worn school clothes have a different vibe.

Now it's back to work. And back to the kind of laundry that doesn't suit me.

The alarm went off too quick Monday morning, and nights are quickly becoming more hectic as school looms ahead.  I'm already running the boys to football practice which is like a huge slap in the face.

How can we almost be in full blown football season?

While I adore the fall and all it brings...summer is definitely the speed I prefer.  It's taken me awhile to appreciate it, but as a thirty six year old mama of four I'm here.  I'm appreciating the break from lunches, homework and school anything.

Cheer to the last few weeks of summer sun.  Catch some fireflies.