Running therapy

There is a great onemoremile slogan: "Running is cheaper than therapy." It is ranked as one of the top contenders for the shirt I will buy myself for completing the half marathon in April (because apparently, the only time I can purchase from them is after completing races... I think I need to rethink this plan!).

However, I'm beginning to wonder whether running is therapy for me, or if I've just turned Tiffany into my counselor. Probably a combination of both.

During the last half mile of our Saturday run, we were giving ourselves a pep talk about all we accomplished this past year. Neither of us thought we'd ever be marathoners. We shared stories of how excited we were after our first 5ks (again), and I voiced aloud how with my first 5k, half marathon and marathon, I felt I had something to prove. I thought others on the course were thinking "what is SHE doing here? Like she can run this distance..." And of course, no one else was worried about me. *I* was the one who doubted. And I'm good at continuing the doubt "what if I can't do it again? what if I have completely forgotten how to run?"

And while there have been plenty of days when it felt my legs didn't remember, I keep being able to pound out the miles.

They say running is mostly mental. Seems that the phrase has two meanings. It not only takes building of mental strength, but it changes you mentally, too. I'm not sure whether it is the endorphins, the thrill of accomplishing something I never thought possible or simply time to process... but I like it.

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In health/fitness notes, I lost 1 pound this week. Yay! I like when the scale moves in the downward direction. I took my fitness test at Wilson's this morning and scored Excellent in core strength (crunches), Good in Strength (sitting bench press), Average in Fitness (heart rate recovery after step test) and Below Average in Flexibility. Not sure what was up with my heart rate. It was at 116 when she checked it after I sat down. Have to say I was disappointed in that "average" fitness assessment. Guess I need to train for an ultramarathon instead!

eight.point.five

It's official. I have made it to one of the categories of elite runners - you know, the group that makes you shake your head and cringe. I have officially lost two toenails. My left pinky toe is now naked and looks REALLY funny. My right pinky toe had been preparing longer and has a really thin nail that grew beneath the other. 

For those not yet in this elite group -- no, it doesn't hurt. It's nothing like when you cut a nail too short and it bleeds and gets tender. As the nail loosened, the skin beneath got thicker. That area actually has no feeling. I say that, but the whole lack of toenail does feel incredibly odd! 

I find myself wondering why it is that nails fall off. This was an incredibly gradual process -- starting months ago for my right nail and at the marathon for the left. And of all the times I've dropped things on my feet, tripped, banged into stuff, worn shoes that were too small... it takes running for long periods of time for this to happen? How does THAT make sense? 

I think I need this shirt from OneMoreMile, though. If only it had a naked toe on the back... ;0)