Seeking sunrises

This month has been a rough one, my spirit was drained. It undoubtedly contributed to the rare trifecta I experienced this morning: my mind, body and spirit told me to get up and go run.

I've been surrounded by people all month yet felt completely alone. My space invaded, my words ignored. An enclave of takers yet very few to no givers. I had not run in a while. Yet this morning my soul told me that I needed to go run, that these demons plaguing it needed to be exorcised on the pavement. My body demanded that I get up to do this deed. Even my mind went, "No sleep-ins. Not today. This must be done to help you stay sane." So I got up and prepared to run. The sun had already kissed the horizon but was not quite up yet. By the time I rounded a corner, that iridescent sunrise was a beautiful payment for waking up in darkness.

As my feet hit the pavement, I tried to pound out those stresses, the things that hurt me, the things that hated me, the things that held me back. All the rage, tears, shame, and fears were ground under my feet into powder. I thought about something I read in the Oatmeal, about how he ran very fast so he could stand very still. I needed that now. I needed to be able to stand very still and I ran faster to achieve it. As predicted, the world decided to wake up while I was outside, but I didn't care about their stares or the pointing. Let them ogle and talk about this fat girl running. This run was for me and only me. I was not anyone's source of entertainment. This run was done to purify the dark night that haunted my soul. I'm a runner, that's what I do.

This morning I ran 5K in a little attempt to fight back for the parts of me that feel lost.

The Inner Warrior Woman strikes back

A late night workout is better than none at all! That inner warrior woman nagged me until I did The FIRM Maximum Cardio + Abs. That chick is relentless and I love her for it! Now I remember why I always dreaded this workout: Firm Master Instructor Allie del Rio isn't a woman...she's the Terminator! 

I'm going to have to ice this knee though, ouch!

No gold star this week

The week got away from me. I'm really disappointed that I didn't do a better job of adjusting to the schedule.

Battle of the Blerch!

The Blerch (that lazy part of you that you have to fight to achieve fitness) was working on me really hard this morning, and I confess that I caved. But this afternoon, that superwoman inside me was strong enough to fight back and get something done! Completed The FIRM Complete Aerobics and Weight Training workout! 

On a slightly side note, I forgot just how difficult that workout is! This will serve as a lesson to never give away the DVDs that have worked for you in the past just because you have gotten used to them.

Beat the Heat virtual 5K

Completely forgot to post this: Beat the Heat virtual 5K, done  on July 4!

running to heal

I haven't been doing any planned exercising because my current employment is essentially an all-night workout. Right now I'm more sore than when I did a half. I've been trying to make it feel more like a workout where I get paid. Lots of squats. LOTS of squats. I don't understand how it is possible for people to be overweight with a job like this. 

I would very much like to go running, but am afraid, because this new job has done a number on my feet. Every night I am in so much pain that I can barely walk. But I just got my heart broken this night, and I need to run it out. My hope is that it won't affect my ability to do this job.