One Year Blogaversary

Today, I am happy to share, is my one year blogging anniversary!

Unfortunately I was a bit under the weather.

My day started out with a big cup of coffee and my morning pharmacy elective class.  Yet again, I had to dress up and be prepared to present a presentation that we were supposed to present 3 weeks ago (the groups in front of us went long and we ran out of time in class).  It didn’t happen.  We will finally present next week which isn’t ideal since I have two exams, two presentations, a practical in my lab, and all my slides due for my seminar topic…yikes!

After class, I went straight for the gym and got changed.  I started pounding it out on the track and 70 laps (7 miles) was my goal.  I ran the first 2 mile straight, then took a one lap walking break every mile or so as a reward.  It wasn’t super easy, but it was definitely a manageable run that was going well…that is until I hit 56 laps…

My stomach starting really hurting.  I decided to walk a lap and hope that the cramp would subside.  No luck.  I had to make an emergency bathroom break, and I was not feeling good at all!  Definitely don’t want to share too much…but I felt a little better after a brief break so I did my best to keep going and finished up the 7 miles (about an hour and a half total).  I paused my time for the break, but kept the clock running for water breaks and walking.  I ran most of the time on the last 14 laps but did walk more than I was planning on due to the stomach pain.

The pain started up again as I was stretching and I was nervous for the 15 minute walk home.  Luckily I made it home, and thought that if I got some food in my upset tummy that might make it feel better.  I was exhausted at this point…literally so exhausted I got all the ingredients out from the refrigerator and made my lunch sitting down next to my coffee table.

Salad with onions, tomatoes, goat cheese, and chicken salad

I then was pretty much out of commission for the rest of the day.  By dinner time I was feeling better, but having that brief stomach bug was not fun at all. 

Joe made dinner since I was a sick kid, and it was pretty yummy.  Steaks, sautéed onions and peppers, and soy sauce green beans.

Looking at the bright side of things….I had a great meal, a relaxing night, and I completed the 7 miles I aimed for today.  They weren’t easy, but I did them…

The best part of my day was seeing the shirt that I am going to be wearing in 3 weeks during my half marathon.  I ordered a shirt from spreadshirt.com and got it customized to say “My First Half Marathon” on the front and my last name and 13.1 on the back.  A sorority sister who is amazing at tye dye colored it for me, and it turned out better than I could have even imagined!

How cute right???  My favorite colors too!!!

It’s similar to the shirts I had made for my first 5K….except I’ll be running 10 more miles this time...which means I need a 10x cooler shirt..hence the tye-dye.  Hopefully people will see my shirt and cheer me on that extra bit…could be all the difference especially if my run turns out anything like todays training run (hopefully it won’t though!)

So in the past year:

I have run, walked, and ellipticalled more than 450 miles (that I actually kept track of…)

I have competed in 13 races.

I have completed 2 triathlons.

I have eaten a kajillion meals.  Experimented with new recipes…some of which were winners…some of which were not.

I have lost weight, gained weight, and then lost it again…a total of almost 30 pounds down.

I’ve learned a lot about myself…and I have definitely challenged myself in the past year. 

Nobody said that it would be easy…they just promised it would be worth it. 

 

…Here’s to year number 2…