It's been a little while...

It's been a little while since my last post, and quite a bit has happened...I'm simply going to make a list and go from there...

1) I got another pair of shoes!

I tried on these shoes a long time ago and fell in love with them. Why I didn't buy them earlier is beyond me. Anyways, I purchased the Brooks Glycerin 13's, with multiple coupons. These shoes are like running on cushions to me. They have so much support, so much structure and are a nice bright colour...apparently running shoes only come in shades of bright these days. I wore them while at the cottage to do all of my training and they were amazing. They held up well on the dirt, gravel, puddles and grass and go me through 20km's of running.

2) I watched the men's and women's Pan Am marathon and was very motivated by them

In terms of Pan Am, the marathon was all that I was invested in. I don't play sports and don't consider myself to be athletic but running is what I love. I watched the women's marathon bright and early with my good buddy Angie (we basically do everything together). We trekked it down to the lakeshore at 6:30am to see women run back and forth in the nastiest humidity. It was so empowering to watch all of these women take on the same roads I'm running, the same hills I train on and beat world records. I has a goal of running a half marathon in 2 hours and 20 minutes...they run entire marathon's in that time! It's insane! Watching their form and see how they push through was truly empowering. Watching the men's marathon was just fun. A few girls from the running room and I all met up, watched the men running, went on a run ourselves and then had a delicious brunch. That was so special because of the bonding we were able to do. That showed me how much of a community the running world is. You show up and support everyone because we all know how their legs are feeling and how hard those runs are.

3) I got injured (yuck)

Yes folks, you read that correctly- I got injured. Now normally I can suck it up and go on with my life but I make an effort to take care of myself, to not over do it, to eat well, get enough sleep (as all my friends can attest to- I will leave just about anything early to go to sleep). I have no idea what I did or how I did it but something on the right side of my ankle started hurting and the pain just got worse and worse. I ended up taking a few days off of everything- I stopped walking a lot, I stopped running, I didn't work out (things were boring, let me tell you). I also got acupuncture for the first time. I would HIGHLY recommend it to anyone who has an injury. The sensation of it was so calming and relaxing but also so healing. I could literally feel the injured part heating up as the blood was going to it. Anyways- the point is that acupuncture and rest work miracles and being injured sucks! 

4) I made running friends!

Like actual running friends- we text and everything. It's seriously makes going on training runs so much better! I missed training a couple weeks back but I got a text from the girls wondering where I was and saying they missed me! The friendships make such a difference. 

5) I've "inspired" people to run

This one I have a hard time wrapping my head around. I have encouraged friends to start running...it's a weird thing because I'm still not sure who encouraged me to run, but oh well! The more the merrier! 

6) I did all of my training on my own- and was very successful at it...

So last week I went away for the long weekend to my cottage and wasn't sure how my training would go, but I managed to do all of my training on my own...and I was very successful! Mind you, I went back to the cottage this weekend for my girls bachelorette and did zero running, ate like a beast and drank like a tank...so who knows what kind of fun this week holds! 

7) The weight loss competition! 

So I won...we assumed! But Angie really won because she got a trainer and is going to kick ass! 

8) HILLS HILLS HILLS!!! 

We started hill training last week and what fresh hell! Whoever came up with hill repeats like torturing people but also wants to build strength. The tension and stress on my calves were intense but damn did it feel good to make it up the hills 3 times!