Finished my first 10 miles!

I have officially past the 10 mile mark on my running ticker! It is so gratifying to watch the miles tick upward!

I was scheduled for a 4 mile run but unfortunately only did 2.08. My body just didn't feel up to it and my right knee was killing me. I felt pretty shitty about not finishing it because I am the kind of person that when I set a goal I WILL finish it at all costs. But, I had to remind myself that I want to turn running into a long term fitness and enjoyment activity. So if I want to do that I need to be gentle with my body so it can keep doing it!!

I do need to give myself some kudos though for getting out and doing this run! I faced several obstacles over the course of 2 days that could have been great excuses to not run. But I didn't!!! I came up with solutions and a plan, then got out there and ran!!! This is NOT what I would usually do! I would usually take the first excuse at the first obstacle.

I am really looking forward to enjoying my rest day from running tomorrow. I foresee some IcyHot for my calves and shins and some relaxing with my hubby and Mostest!

Running Progess

So, I wanted to put shots up of my runs from my Nike+ but I can't figure out how...

But Monday I did 2.07 miles in 23:17 minutes. It was not too bad.

Then yesterday I was scheduled for a 3 mile run and it was POURING! There was no way I could run in that with Mostest. Finally around 11pm the rain stopped and by midnight I was out for a run! It was nice because it was cool out and there were very few cars out (I'm so self conscious while running.) I made sure to wear a white shirt just in case I misjudged the amount of light I had left and brought my cell phone.

Some reasons this run was possible:

• I live in Alaska and it's summer time so it stays light for a long time and barely gets dark period.
• I live in a small town so the odds of anything happening to me are extremely minimal
• I have a toddler who loves to stay up late if he can

I must admit, my imagination got the best of me at points. I was frequently looking around to make sure no people were popping out and being shady. I was also watching the tree line because I don't live in town and the running trail is right up against some thick tree/brush areas and I did NOT want to be surprised by a bear or a moose! Which entirely possible!

As I reached the halfway mark I was thinking "What did I get myself into? Am I trying to kill myself?" But I was already 1.5miles away from home so what could I do? Plus I'm super competitive and didn't want 1.5miles of walking to show up on my Nike+ when I got home!

As I neared the last 400meters of my run my thoughts went like this:

Tired Me- Oh my goodness why am I doing this? I am NEVER running again!

Optimistic Me - Shut up, you're almost done anyway!

Tired Me- Yeah but I'm never doing this again!

Optimistic Me - Well tomorrow is a rest day...

Tired Me- But then I'm scheduled for a 4 mile run!!

Optimistic Me- But then you have 2 rest days in a row :)

Tired Me- OK fine :/

LOL

I'm proud to say I finished and did 3.07 miles in 35minutes! I'm really glad I did too. However I am completely dreading the 4 mile run tomorrow! There will probably be quite a bit of walking in that one!

The best part... when we got home Mostest had fallen asleep in the stroller, so I took him into the house and laid him in his bed. He woke up as I started peeling off his layers and he looked up at me and said "That was a beautiful run Mommy." And he was not talking about the scenery :) It made me all warm and gushy inside!

4th of July

Happy 4th of July everyone!

So I got my Nike+ sensor the other day and yesterday Mostest, hubby and I went out for a run and I calibrated it! I also got my nikerunning.com account all set up to log my runs and keep me on track for my training. When I get my next run in and log it I will post a shot of it :)

My run felt really, really good last night. I ran my callibration mile at a 9:27/mile pace, which is pretty good in general for me and especially since I have not run since when I first started this blog. Best of all it was not a bust-your-ass run at all, it was just a chill run you know?

Here's Mostest all set for a run: binoculars (because apparently he was bird watching...), and iPod with his favorite turns and headphones of course.

These things make him much more content to hang out in the stroller. I also enjoy listening to him sing to his tunes too :)

Today was the 4th of July and there are lots of food are pretty quintescienial... BBQ'd hot dogs being one of them. I looooove them! I caved and had one... But a cool thing that came out of it was that my mom mentioned that she was going to look for vegan hot dogs for me but that she ran out of time. It meant SO much to me to hear that not only is she being accepting of my choice to become vegan, she is supporting it!

I had a lot of anxiety about "coming out the closet" so to speak. I don't know any vegans so I wasn't sure how my family would react. Now that it is out there and they are accepting of it I am SO relieved!

Since I live in a small Alaskan town and it was the 4th of July today of course there was a parade! Here are some fun pictures from it! :)

Watching the parade with Mostest

I've never seen one of these before... crazy!

The PFLAG float! I'm so proud that we have one now! This is it's second year being in existence and in the parade!

This just made me laugh!

This poster on one of the floats really moved me...

Lastly, I had to get a picture of one of these biker jackets because the Hoka Hey came to my town and it was awesome that some of them participated in the parade!

New "toys"

My Nike+ arrived today!! Unfortunately we were going to a birthday dinner so I did not have a chance to try it out. I want to hit the gym tomorrow to calibrate it and if not that, then I will go for a run in the evening.

Also, THIS came in the mail:

I'm really excited to start reading through it and figuring this Raw Foodism/Raw Vegan thing out once and for all. I have done a lot of reading about Raw Vegan in the last 3 months and have been working at getting immersed in eating that way but it is really hard for me.

I am hoping that Raw Foodism is the "solution" I have been looking for in terms of eating and weight loss. I really notice a difference in how I feel when I eat raw vs cooked. In honesty it sounds kind of crazy but I am really giving this a shot!

Gone Fishing

Well, I didn't really fish but my hubby did :)

Spent a 3 day weekend camping, rafting and just generally enjoying Alaska! It was so much fun! Not so good on the food though. I grew up camping and rafting with my family and we had some staple river foods... chili and cheese, s'mores (of course!), and my personal favorite:

Yep, Ritz crackers and spray cheese...

These "camping comfort foods" are really hard to kick! I know I shouldn't eat them because 1) they really aren't healthy any way you cut it and 2) they are not vegan and I really, truly want to strictly eat vegan. *Sigh* Needless to say I did a super shitty job at eating vegan over the weekend. But maybe admitting the problem is the first step? Now I know how strong the tie is for me between camping and these foods and I will hopefully be able to plan better next time so I can do better.

As for running... Between being gone all weekend camping and catching Mostest's cold I have not been able to drag my ass out for a run. However, I am super excited because I have one of these coming in the mail!!

There is a whole section on the Nike site to help you train with it and motivate you! I already have Nike+ shoes too, so I don't have to go out and get new shoes!!

Finally, here are some pictures from my trip down the Kenai River this weekend! (I will post more later too)

This last one we were just having fun with the camera around the campfire and I thought it looked really cool! :)

Can I Fail Without Being a Failure?

Today was a big giant FAIL. :( I have 2 different jobs but they are both hard and basically "downer" fields. I rarely see any positive changes in the clients I work with and there is little-to-no positive return. Warm fuzzies, appreciation, you know those things that help a person keep trucking along in their job? Today was a particularly rough day at work and I clearly tried to fill that hole with food. Fast food to be precise. And, huge surprise, I felt physically awful afterwards. In addition (yeah I know, cue the violins right?) I am starting to get a brutal cold.

It got me to thinking... Am I a failure because I failed today?

• I failed at both my jobs
• I failed at being a calm, kind mother when I got home from work
• I failed at eating vegan
• I failed at eating healthy
• I failed at getting the exercise in that I had planned
• I failed at getting the housework done that I should have
• I failed at meeting my needs properly and in a healthy way

That is a lot of failing.... However, I really don't think that makes me a failure. This one day doesn't make up the whole of who I am. I know this probably sounds like an obvious statement but putting this into practice with myself is HUGE! I am such a perfectionist... If I don't do it the best out of anyone I ever seen - I'm awful at it, I'm a failure, I suck. So now I am trying to be more gentle with myself and see past the failures of one day to the mass amounts of successes I have accrued over many, many days.

Tomorrow is a new day and I am committed to changing myself and my life. It's not going to be easy and it's not going to happen in one day. For once... I actually believe that and I don't feel so low at the end of a fail-tastic day!

Land of the Midnight Sun

Ahh! I love Alaska! The only thing that makes those long dark winter days (think 4 hrs or less of sunlight at its peak) bearable is the knowledge that the fantastic summer days of the Midnight Sun will come and make up for the darkness.

So since we recently had summer solstice I went for a midnight run tonight!! And THIS is what it looked like!

Come on! How awesome is that? As I sit here it is 1am and there is still a little light left and it will come back up in less than 3 hours! :)

Now, the run itself? Not so good. I have not run for at least 2 weeks, maybe more. In addition I felt sick to my stomach for a large portion of the evening. BUT, I was determined to get out there and run. I did 2 miles. Not great but it is a start! And hey, I got some miles up on my running ticker!