It’s Labor Day weekend and I’m off from work until September 15th. Roll out the parade because this is a much-needed break! Today I am grateful for sunshine, fresh air, my health, my husband, and of course, PTO (paid time off). 🙂
At this point, I would say I’m about 90% healed/recovered from my “tibial stress syndrome” injury from early June. This has been a long road of rehabilitation, physical therapy, and mental fortitude, but I can confidently state that I am officially on the mend. I’m running again, but only within the past two weeks have I been able to run more than once a week, and I’m only running 2-4 miles at a time (for now) on crushed gravel/treadmill (no pavement yet). I will say that once I seem to have turned the corner and could start running again about 4 weeks ago, progress has been pretty quick and steady. I lost a lot of endurance and cardio/pulmonary strength, but it’s coming back quickly. I think once you achieve a certain level of fitness, unless you quit/are forced to abandon physical activity for years, your body remembers how to perform. I’m determined to come back from this injury stronger and smarter than before. The word gratitude again comes to mind – I am so very grateful to have legs to carry this body and that I am able to get out and pound some trails again (finally!!).
I recently explored the Waterton Canyon trail here in the Denver area (I’ve been down there many times, but only to either grill/camp out or do stupid stuff back as a teenager). It’s an amazing path through a canyon, paralleled by a winding river, with beautiful views. It’s scenes like these that remind me why I frickin’ love running:
I have a 15K race on October 5th for which I registered months ago and before my injury. I am crossing that finish line and will do everything between now and then to train and finish strong (whatever that looks like at the time – I’m not going to push this injury – if I take walk breaks, I take walk breaks). Also this morning, I finally signed up for a 2015 race I’ve had my eye on for about 4 months now, the Colorado Marathon in Ft. Collins. May 3, 2015 it’s just me and the Poudre Canyon. I can’t wait! I may have gotten carried away with the race bug this morning, or I was just feeling cocky now that I’m running again, but in addition to signing up for that race, I also signed up for another race I’ve had my eye on for months – the Highlands Ranch Backcountry Wilderness Half Marathon, on November 8th! I know, I’m loony tunes…or maybe brilliant and going to use it as my muse to fully recover…I’m not sure. What I do know is that running is a sport in which you have to challenge yourself to make progress, so I think I’m covered with the “challenge” part for now…
I am also happy to report it’s been a month now since I gave up meat and…………I don’t miss it! Honestly, and trust me, no one is more shocked about this than me! I had an epiphany that I was only eating meat because I’ve eaten meat my whole life. Don’t get me wrong, meat is tasty – I can still acknowledge that and wish you meat eaters out there the best of times. However, the fact that I don’t miss meat and have not struggled with vegetarianism for a single second since I started this, hit me like a ton of bricks and I don’t anticipate going back. The absolute only thing I could even fathom being tempted by at some remote point in the future is sushi – I love sushi. I made a deal with myself that I would simply cross that bridge when I get to it. Meanwhile, vegetarian it is, and I love how I feel. I’m eating more vegetables than ever before and I’m not going hungry. Now that I’m running again, I’ll keep you updated on how I may need to adjust what I’ve been eating for the past month to make sure I properly fuel my body, but I have complete faith it’s possible to be a runner on a vegetarian diet. How can you not love meals like this:
Veggie tacos – yum!
I feel a little bit like a hippie hipster going vegetarian, but I don’t ultimately care. This is doing wonders to help me manage my weight, cut down on binge eating, continue the journey of recovery from an eating disorder, and pursue health. I’m committed to staying on this path.
Run and eat happy!
Becky
Lace Up And Live Life 