90 days until Big Sur

I sort of lost motivation after Goofy and took some much needed time off from running.  12 marathons in a little over 4 years, I think I earned a break.  Plus, New England has been stuck in a deep freeze for about a week.  I still prefer this over hot and humid, but it does make it REALLY hard to step out the door and go for a run when the couch and my pajamas are so cozy and comfy.

So, anyway, since Goofy I haven't done much.  I went to my acupuncturist the Tuesday after I got back.  She is seriously a magician.  She did micro-electrical current treatment on my legs and pretty much erased all muscle soreness.  It was amazing.  I mean I know I didn't run as fast or as hard as I have in previous marathons, but I was still sore.  She fixed me right up and reduced the recovery time for me for sure.

The weekend after Goofy I did a nice easy 6 mile run with Kim and Ryann.  Technically, I had zero miles on my plan, but it was ridiculously windy and we were barely moving so it was kind of closer to a long walk than and short run.  Sunday, I decided to be lazy and stay in my PJs.  I made some lentil soup and relaxed.  I continued that pattern for the week, partly because I had a Dentist appointment and because it got ridiculously cold out, like single digits and dangerously low wind chills cold.  I call it "tourettes cold" because it's so cold out that as soon as you walk out the door you start swearing.

Work was a little crazy after I got back from Florida.  I had a mountain of work that had piled up from the end of the year and I had lots of meetings for beginning of the year goal setting.  It was overwhelming and on top of that there were some organization changes announced too.  My boss took a new position within the company, I absorbed all of his responsibilities, and my role got added to another group with various areas of expertise that I've always been interested in learning more about.  All really great opportunites for my boss and me to grow and develop, but a lot to digest and deal with after coming back from running a marathon and a half.  It was exciting and stressful all at the same time.

I'm really looking forward to being part of a team.  My role has been kind of isolated up til now.  I work with a lot of different groups, but I'm not PART of any group.  Anyway, last week there were a lot of meetings to discuss transitions and whatnot and I'm still working on my mountain in the meantime.  I had to facilitate a pretty big meeting with all the Vice Presidents and Directors to talk about priorities and goals and the discussions got a little heated at times with me stuck in the middle.  I went home after that LONG day and had TWO glasses of wine with my dinner.  I normally don't drink at all.  I probably should have just gone for a run.  The next day there were a lot of emails flying around about the meeting and information people needed to gather and present for the next meeting, some constructive and helpful others less so, all directed at me. 

Thursday, I had planned on going for a run after work.  And I really should have because I was wicked stressed out from work.  I even brought my running gear with me, but when I looked at the weather app on my phone and it said something like 7 degrees, but "feels -13 degrees" I decided another rest day might be better.  I ended up just going to visit with my friend Jenine's daughters and telling them all about Disney and showing them my medals before meeting a friend later for some really cools plans.  We had registered for a 'Zombie Preparedness' class at the local REI.  It sounded interesting and we hadn't hung out in a while so we signed up.  It was pretty cheesy, but entertaining. 

Friday work went by really fast.  I had a few meetings and scrambled to get information together for everyone that was requesting it and then went out to lunch with my new group.  After lunch, one of the VPs came over to my desk and asked me to add a few more columns to the table of info I had created, then said "just kidding, it's perfect!"  Totally made my week.  I had been working so hard and trying to please everyone and not overload them with useless info so we can all make informed decisions and finally someone recognized my efforts.  It felt really great.

I kick started my motivation and momentum to get my butt off the couch over the weekend.  Saturday morning it was really cold out AGAIN, but I was determined to get out there and get in some miles.  I took my time getting ready, drank some tea, made some pumpkin pancakes for breakfast, watched some TV, then Beverly Hills Cop came on and I realized it was a marathon of back to back to back movies and I was going to get sucked into it.  So I had to get out before I was stuck watching the Eddie Murphy movie marathon.  I had a REAL marathon to train for.  It was really cold, but I have run in single digits before.  The roads were clear and the sun was out so it was actually a really great day aside from the wind and the temperature.  I did my favorite 7 mile loop and got home, warmed up and showered just in time for Beverly Hills Cop 2 to start.

Sunday, I got up and moving a little faster and decided to do the same loop and add on if I felt good.  I felt great so I added an extra mile and made it 8.  Perfect start to my Big Sur training.  Easing into it with some shorter long runs.  I know they will quickly climb into the distances that I love the most 14, 16, and 18 milers.  But for now while it's painfully cold outside I'm ok with getting my miles in and done in a shorter time frame than the longer miles require.

Speaking of climbing, next weekend it the Fight for Air stair climb in Boston. I'll be running up 789 steps, 41 floors, 82 flights - TWICE! Maybe 3 times if I feel like it.

Click here to donate to my fundraising page: Fight for Air Climb