Why I stopped showing up to running group?

My running group is great.  I love being a Strutter as most of you can tell from my race pictures.  These people have come into my life and made it so much sunnier.  My Monday and Wedesdays have been filled with hanging out with these people until recently and maybe it’s time for a little transparency.

13007371_1120228531367081_8238746541034362093_n

There are a few explanations that I could offer here.  Let’s start with the easiest explanation: I was just injured.  It’s not that I don’t want to run but I just couldn’t.  It hurt.  It was painful and it kind of made me sad.  Being around a group of people who were out running would dampen my heart even more because I would have tried to run.  I wasn’t in the position to run but I would have been out there trying to log miles like the rest of the group.  Therefore, I thought it would be best if I kind of just did some other stuff.

Untitled

People probably thought I stopped showing up because I wasn’t running any races and I had no medals to show off.  I’m not that vain but I just wanted to throw it out there.  Yes, I love being able to show off my medals at GTS but that is definitely not the reason why I show up. Things were just hurting really bad

I thought maybe I needed a break from running.  This thing called running has kind of become my thing. People have stopped asking me how I’m doing and replaced it with, “what’s your next race?” I started to become one and the same with running which is fine with me BUT I really think it was an obstacle in my relationships with people.  It hindered my social relationships because like I already mentioned people would ask me things like that first and I was always gone.  I’m not really sure if I needed a break from running but I needed to know was I running to run or running because it has become my “thing.”

The crazy thing about being in the media (here, here, here and many more places) the whole world knows about my journey.  That kind of puts pressure on the journey a little bit.  I’m not the first person to want to run the 50 states (believe me, I know plenty of people doing and re-doing the 50 states thing) but I’m probably one of the few people in the country who has a spotlight on their journey.  Sometimes that’s a lot of pressure to keep going, keep saving money, keep collecting states and just to keep running.

Everyone thinks this quest is completely paid for but for the most part I’ve paid every single dime of travel and most entry fees.  I have been blessed with a few comp entry fees and some cheaper hotel rooms but those things are few and far between.  It’s literally a sacrifice that I am making and I just need to know that I’m doing it for the right reasons because it does take it’s toll on life.

IMG_4517

I have been fortunate enough to link up with Action For Healthy Kids/Team Healthy Kids to give some serious meaning to what I’m doing, so that helps out A LOT!  But there were a few things I needed to discover on my own.

Last year when I couldn’t run, it was horrible.  I was like a drug addict looking for the next high because I was just out of commission.  It was horrible.  I was moody, I was unhappy and I didn’t feel like myself. I wanted to run all the races and just be out there.

This time around with no running was a little different.  What I truly learned was that I just miss running.  I miss being able to be out there pounding the pavement.  Before I missed the races but now I miss the actual activity of running.  I’ve had the time to think about it and this may just be what I need to continue on the quest to inspire people to do things people may or may not have told them are impossible.  I’m ready to raise some money for Team Healthy Kids and see this great country as long as my legs will let me.

Untitled

Yesterday, I went to running group and I ran with the actual group.  The run went better than I expected.  There was a little pain but nothing like what I experienced before.  I managed to eek out 4 miles and this morning I walking and able to tell you the tale.  I feel like I’m moving in a positive direction with a lot of things and hopefully is the start of some really great things.

Race Recap: Pleasure Island Bridge Half Marathon 2015

Race Recap: Pleasure Island Bridge Half Marathon 2015

I’m late on my race recaps, but this is what Tuesday is for.  On November 7, 2015 I ran the Pleasure Island Bridge Half Marathon which will always be remembered at the Mosquito and Monsoon Festival 2015.  The minute we pulled into the parking lot the mosquitoes swarmed the car and I knew it was over at that point.  We even bug sprayed before we left the house because the bugs are always bad.  This year it was worse. It was so bad that we didn’t even want to take pictures before the race.  This is the only picture we…

View Post

Race Recap: Kansas City Marathon

Race Recap: Kansas City Marathon

The one thing I will take away from this trip is Kansas City is a beautiful city. My expectations were low and I wasn’t expecting much out of this marathon after not meeting my expectations in Chicago. I orginally signed up for the Kansas City Marathon after finding out that Rock n Roll St. Louis would no longer be a marathon. In a panic, I went looking for another race because Missouri was an imporant part of the plan this year. Luckily, this race was the day before Rock n Roll St. Louis! Things happen for a reason and I…

View Post

Race Recap: Habanero Hundred 50K

Race Recap: Habanero Hundred 50K

I spent the past weekend running through the woods with some totally amazing people. Here’s my video: We did the Habanero Hundred ultra that started at noon.  It was a fun fun time. It’s really about the people that make an event so special.  I do spend a lot of time racing by myself and I always forget how great it is just to be around friends.  (Yep, that’s right.  I said it.) I really needed this to get back on track. Our group had 3 relay teams and 4 people doing the individual events. If you’re from Texas, you know…

View Post

Race Recap: La Porte By The Bay Half …

Race Recap: La Porte By The Bay Half Marathon

Today I ran a half marathon.  This was one that wasn’t on the schedule.  It was kind of last minute and it was a race I had never done before.  Last week I ran a bridge so it’s not that bad of an idea.  The race was only a hour and some change away so it wasn’t a big deal to run it. The day started out with some run group fun! I love all of these people. They really make me smile. And they get that I don’t do well with small talk. I wore my new compression socks…

View Post

Race recap: Pleasure Island Bridge Half Marathon

Race recap: Pleasure Island Bridge Half Marathon

It’s my favorite race of the year!  I love the Pleasure Island Bridge Half Marathon for many reasons but most importantly, it’s just a great race with great people.  I run all over the country but it’s nice to run the local races.  I’m so blessed that my community has two great local long run events. This is my 3rd year running the bridge and I wouldn’t miss it for anything.  The race is scenic and it’s always great to run a bridge, right? I didn’t have a goal this year because last year I was really sluggish at this…

View Post

Race recap: RnR New Orleans Marathon

Race recap: RnR New Orleans Marathon

This race kind of came in under the radar due to Willie being sick!  To be honest, I felt really horrible for even still wanting to go after Willie had his surgery but he encouraged me to go.  I originally signed up for the race to do the half because I just ran a marathon, but I caved to running peer pressure and ran the marathon! Two marathons, two weeks means I can now be a marathon maniac. Please forgive me because this post might be long because I have a lot of things to share! First off, it was…

View Post

After the marathon…

After the marathon…

You know what?  It’s super hard for me not to run.  I know I needed to take the days off but I really just wanted to run and I had already built up this serious running thing.  I had to take a few days off which is fine because I still had to teach my cycle classes. I need to take it easy and not hurt myself. I think people always forget about recovery! After the marathon I thought I would be hurting but I’m not.  I’m having a little ache in my knees but that’s due to not stretching…

View Post

The year of me, him and we

The year of me, him and we

Yesterday was my birthday! It was a great day so thanks to all of you who wished me great birthday wishes. I would like to share with you that I did amazing things on this day but it was a pretty normal day.  I taught two spin classes, went out to eat with my husband and mom and ate my weight in froyo.  There were no candles to blow out, no cake, but there was froyo.  I couldn’t be happier!  I could go on and on about how wonderful that froyo was but I’m sure you don’t want to hear…

View Post