Ever look back at something you said and realize a good laugh is in order?
On Friday we left off with me saying I was looking forward to enjoying Saturday’s long run. Insert laugh here.
The purpose of a long run is not your pace, rather, your focus should be endurance, logging miles and teaching your body to handle the duration.
When my first mile came in around 9:00 minutes though, I knew it was going to be a long morning and something wasn’t right.
I normally like to be left alone while I am running but by mile two, I was praying for one of my friends to wake up, forget that I like to be left alone and call me.
It wasn’t until mile seven or eight that I got lucky with some phone calls.
When a run doesn’t feel all sunshine and unicorns, I always do a mental check to determine if something specific is actually wrong.
I couldn’t pinpoint a problem, ache, pain, soreness, issue or anything anywhere on me, in me or around me.
Some days you just have it, and some days you just don’t.
In fact, I think we all need runs like this. Runs like this challenge you mentally to see what you’ve got.
Like anything else in life, mentally powering yourself through moments of weakness can only make you stronger.
I had another interesting experience after saying something here on Thursday that I now look back and laugh about.
Remember our discussion on Thursday about Macaroni and Cheese?
See this box? I didn’t buy this box. I didn’t put it in my bags at the grocery store. Yet somehow, it fell out of the bag when I got home.
I had my son with me while grocery shopping and first assumed he got this box past me without me realizing. You know how kids love to throw things into the cart without telling you?
When I questioned him, his quick response was, “Why would I sneak a box of Annie’s Mac and Cheese? I would go for the Kraft”.
My son decided that this unexplainable box of macaroni and cheese was a sign. He knows his mother so well to believe in signs.
I informed him that indeed it was a sign, a sign that he is not to eat Kraft Macaroni and Cheese.
In other news, we need to discuss Red Mango for a minute.
I actually don’t want to talk about my delicious parfait from Saturday which is starting to give the Whole Foods Food Bar competition in the price department.
How do you feel about Red Mango branching out and selling salads and sandwiches?
I don’t like when restaurants decide to expand their menus well beyond the realm of their market niche.
Maybe there will be someone who wants a salad instead of a yogurt, however, in my opinion, if the focus of a franchise is frozen yogurt, the salads and sandwiches are never all that good.
I realize that the picture on the menu looks all pretty and appetizing but the truth is, you are getting a prepared salad from a to-go case.
I don’t know. It reminds me of seeing buffalo wings on a Chinese Food take out menu. It’s just wrong.
My Cold Stone Sundae the other night was right though. Oh so right.
I didn’t get a picture of the sundae but here it is in the making. I went with a new flavor – Cherry Vanilla yogurt.
Chunks of real cherries in a vanilla yogurt which combined really well with chocolate chips, hot fudge and whipped cream. And of course the sprinkles chocolate-dipped waffle bowl.
It doesn’t take much to make me happy.
Off to eat my breakfast (three-ingredient pancake!) and begin the day. No running for me this morning, cross training has to happen at some point in the week, right?
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Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Best thing you ate over the weekend?
How do you handle tough runs?
Do unexplainable things ever happen to you?
I accidentally put a few things in someone else’s cart when I was at the grocery store the other day 😆 Luckily I realized it in time and had a chance to retrieve my misplaced goods without anyone noticing, but yeah… awkward. And can you please stop making me jealous with all the froyo and ice cream? Not only is it still a little too chilly around these parts to be enjoying that sort of thing, but ugh… allergies 😡
Is it weird that I can enjoy froyo and ice cream in any weather? I couldn’t give it up for a season. I feel terrible about your allergies, it just isn’t fair especially when you have a sweet tooth.
Ok, I totally have runs like that every once in a while and you’re spot on with that – it makes you mentally stronger to push through those weak moments where you question your own sanity and whether this is normal or not. Of course it is! 🙂 And once you push through either those moments during a run OR an entire run filled with that sort of discomfort, there’s nothing in this world more satisfying. Kudos girl, I know they aren’t easy but you still did it. 🙂 And treated yourself appropriately!!! AWESOME!
I think we really need those rough runs, as much as we don’t like them. Definitely makes us stronger and more able to recognize and appreciate the great runs.
Best thing eaten this weekend –> oatmeal with bananas and lots of cookie butter mixed in with protein powder. Although its my usual favorite, it just tasted so much better yesterday. It felt right. I enjoyed that. I think Red Mango needs to stick to what they know…aka Fro yo and keep that their main focus and priority. The salads didn’t look appealing last time I visited the ‘mang. Your son seems so funny..I did the whole “sneak it into the cart and mom won’t notice til we get home ” move so many times…I think she learned to know my ways after a few trips 🙂
Isn’t it funny that our favorite foods can still taste that much more amazing on any given day? I feel the same way about my oatmeal bowls. Some days it is just like, wow is this good!
Loving everything about this post!! A) “In fact, I think we all need runs like this. Runs like this challenge you mentally to see what you’ve got.” YES, so with you on that one. I was in the exact same boat this weekend– and it reminded me that sometimes we just need one of those runs/workouts to remind us that we are strong enough to handle it. And B) How funny about the mac n’ cheese!!! That happened to me a few weeks ago at Gap except with a really cute beanie that I never would have ended up buying myself… funny things happen sometimes in life, haha. Happy St. Patty’s Day!!!
How lucky are you to score a free beanie! I hope I get lucky like that next time I go clothes shopping! For now I will be happy with a free box of mac and cheese that wasn’t Kraft lol.
oh those ‘off’ runs…yup, we ALL have them and they are actually necessary evils. just like you said, you DID push through them and it’s getting through the run/workout STAYING mentally engaged when things suck that are the best at building that mental muscle. we already knew u were one tough chicker, so great job and hey…i like to always be glad when runs like that are over…look forward to the ones that feel a whole heck of a lot better!
I always know that after a “bad” run will come a “good” run!