Notions

Now that the Holidays are officially over, I can now refocus on my life as I know it. To bring you all up to speed, my week #13 of training went well. The kids were out of town, so I piled a swim and three bike rides (on the trainer...25, 26, and 44 miles...in the basement...ahhhh!) into Monday through Wednesday. Eric and I drove to New Mexico via Salida (love it there) on Thursday, ran in NM on Friday for 7 miles, drove home on Saturday, and ran 5.5 at home on Sunday morning. A good week, considering the change up in routine. I have a little swim left, that I am most likely going to bag.

Our half week, sans kids, was very nice. We saw a couple movies and ate out, took naps and chatted. I was able to pack away the Christmas decor...I love my house when it's back to "normal". The house stayed clean for more than an hour and we remembered why we married each other in the first place. By day 3, though, we were missing our children and realizing how much we love them. It's a good feeling to be reminded of these things :)

As mentioned in my previous post: "This next week I want to reflect on the past year and take stock. Praise myself for a job well done and be honest with myself about things that need some attention. I will be prayerfully intentional in this". It didn't really happen. Eric and I were having too much fun playing and I was working really hard on that trainer. So, the best I could come up with, while in NM was, "Train and get through this Ironman while keeping my kids alive and my marriage strong". A couple days later, as I'm struggling getting into my clothes, I've decided to refocus my eating strategy. I would love to lose a few pounds..nothing major..eat out less, eat fast food minimally, and focus on enjoying healthy, filling foods rather than stuffing my face randomly. I don't know. I hate making "goals" around food, but it just seems necessary right now. I have gotten off track and I'm trying to get back on again. I am asking a lot of my body, and the best thing (aside from rest) that I can do for this wonderful creation is feed it properly.

Week #14 is looking fine...rumors of travel for Eric loom, so my plans will need to be fluid and flexible. I will do my best and trust God to fill in those gaps. I am 1/3 the way through this thing. I must admit that on Friday, after my long run I nursed a sore knee. In that moment I let the thoughts creep in,"Why are you doing this? What do you have to prove? Maybe you should drop the whole thing". Believe me, I entertained them. I am wondering these things and there's a lot I don't know. The one thing I do know is, I will continue marching forward one day at a time, one workout at a time, trusting that at the end I will be thankful at all I have learned.