Happy Fall Y'all!

I just looked at my blog! Can't believe the last time I posted was August! I've been busy! Too busy to blog! (I guess that defeats the purpose of the blog since I guess you're supposed to blog about whats going on in your life and that type of stuff, so anyways..I digress). What have been busy doing? Running of course! (and starting a new job, and traveling, and trying to get back on track with my eating, after eating too much junk food while traveling, and just trying to keep up with life in general).

 After the potato to tomato 5k training this summer I decided that I would keep running and train for another half marathon. I have been training to run the Las Vegas 1/2 marathon in mid November. I'm super excited but nervous at the same time. I've never run Vegas before, nor have I ever ran a half marathon at night! This past spring when I ran Country Music 1/2 marathon, I had run that course so many times I knew it like the back of my hand! Vegas is going to be completely new! So look out for the post Vegas 1/2 blog post! I may be crazy...but im considering running the Savannah GA 1/2 marathon the weekend before, I would really love the giant blingy medal that comes with doing 3 rock n roll series half marathons, but we'll see. Why do these dang runs have to be so expensive! Running 1/2 marathons is hard to my budget! Geez!

I have had a love hate relationship with the half marathon training so far. I don't know why but the pace of this training and the number of miles we do each week seems very challenging! I have had a few runs that haven't gone really well. However, last weekend we did 12 miles I felt really strong! Long distance runs are hit or miss for me! Im learning a lot in this training! Not sure how this is different than the other training, but im learning that what I eat on Friday nights before the run has a big effect on me! If I eat something healthy and light early in the evening on Friday nights and go to bed at a decent hour on Friday, then my Saturday long runs go so much better! All of these things are easier said than done...

I read two really great articles today! Credit goes to my running buddies for posting this in our little running FB group:

http://mobile.nytimes.com/blogs/well/2015/10/08/crossing-the-finish-line-25-pounds-lighter-guilt-and-all/?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur&_r=0&referer=http%3A%2F%2Fm.facebook.com

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/03/20/running-as-therapy/?_r=0

These article basically sum up how I feel about running. I used to say that Im not one of those people that runs for mental health or that running doesnt make me feel better or help me de-stress, but after I read the article on running as therapy it dawned on me that running really does help me clear my head and keeps me level headed!  I also really like the other article on running and weight loss, since I owe a lot of my weight loss to running!

My most recent non-scale victory, besides the clothes that continue to be too big, came when I went to Holiday World. In the past when I went to an amusement park it was a struggle to get the harness on the roller coasters to shut over my stomach, or it was cutting it close to get the seat belt to stretch across my waist. It was such a nice feeling to get on the roller coaster and effortlessly be able to close the harness without needing assistance or having to squeeze myself in the seat! It was nice to not feel to big for the roller coaster!  Its the little things that I notice like these that remind me to keep going and that i'm not that far away from my goal weight!

Thanks for reading! More to come after I run (and hopefully survive) Savannah (maybe) and Vegas 1/2 marathons!