The Terrors of the Night

For as long as I can remember I have had this awful fear of the dark.

Most children grow out of this silly fear, but not me.

It has gotten better over the years.  I no longer sleep with a nightlight

(which I’m pretty sure I still did all through high school…embarrassing, ugh.)

I still do not like to be alone in the dark, it is what it is…

So, it makes sense that I do not run in the dark.

My marathon training schedule tells me that I must go

10 miles for my long run this week.

Which is just fine and dandy except for the fact that I am so busy this weekend

that it is impossible for me to squeeze it in.

I came to terms with the fact that I would just have to do it Friday morning before work.

Which means I would have to head out at 5:00am and it doesn’t start to get light until about 5:45am. 

45 minutes running in the dark!  Eeek!

I pushed the fear of being abducted out of my mind

and went for it!

It actually wasn’t too bad and I actually learned a few things along the way!

Here is what I learned.

1. Our town needs more street lights!  If it were up to me, the sidewalks would be lit up like a Christmas tree.

2. I am more paranoid in the dark than I had originally thought.  I almost assaulted an innocent bush with my pepper spray thinking it was a potential attacker LOL.  I’m still laughing about that!  Though, I am happy to say that I did not accidentally spray myself in the face like I had originally feared…

3.  90% humidity is no joke even if the sun is not out!  At the end of my run I resembled something close to a wet dog.  Not a good look…

4. The side walk becomes the enemy!  I once thought we were friends, but after stumbling over its rough terrain in the dark this morning, I realized it was trying to do me in!

5. I normally welcome a light spray from random sprinklers to cool me off, but when you don’t see them coming it can be quite startling.  I may have looked like I was punched in the face by an invisible fist to people driving by…

6.  I didn’t know that my town had such a plethora of active wildlife so early in the morning.  Things like bunnies darting out of nowhere at my feet, bats swooping down from the sky at me and GIANT man eating raccoons who obviously were not afraid of me.  It was like running trough a damn video game with the goal “don’t get eaten!”  One good thing though was that the geese in the park who normally harass me, were nowhere to be found!  I must have thrown them off by not going out at my usual time.  Take that geese!

7. I had no idea, but there are tons of active people in my town!  While it was still dark out I saw numerous hospital workers riding their bikes to work.  And once the sun came out, giant groups of speed walking women seemed to appear out of nowhere!  They were speed walking about as fast as I was running LOL! (shame L)  Then all the other runners appeared!  I even put my hand up to a passing lady and she responded with a high-five!  Woop woop!

8. Watching the sunrise was my favorite part.  Not just because it meant that I made it though the dark alive (which I’m not going to lie, was definitely part of it), but because it was so beautiful.  It is so peaceful watching nature wake up.  I would have taken a picture, but I was afraid if I stopped running, my legs wouldn't start up again haha.

What things have you learned from your runs?

What time of day is your favorite time to head out for a run?

The Bachelorette Party

Busy.  Busy.  Busy.

My life has been a blur over the past few weeks!

Between 4^th of July weekend, my friend’s bachelorette party this past weekend

and now her wedding this coming weekend, July has disappeared before my eyes!

…Along with my good eating habits…ugh!

I have still been getting my runs in,

but my inner fat girl has been in charge when it comes to what has

been going in my mouth.

The day of the bachelorette party started out great!

I got my 9 mile run in bright and early and had a

super healthy smoothie for breakfast (thanks to

my awesome sister Emma!)

The itinerary for the day was to meet at the bride’s sister’s house

and take a party bus to a Detroit Tiger’s game.

Any time there is a party bus involved,

you know you’re in trouble!

After the 2 hour drive to the maid of honor’s house

I was starving!

I don’t know how it is for everyone else, but on long run days,

I feel like I am constantly hungry!

This unfortunately, was one of those days.

Lucky for me, Libby had a very healthy spread of food laid out

and she is also gluten free, so she actually had food I could eat!

There was a wonderful berry salad,

A veggie tray with hummus and a delicious herbed cheese,

and a cheese platter with yummy hard cheeses.

The signature drinks were Moscow Mules.

If you have never had one, you best be trying them this weekend!

I will put the recipe at the bottom of the page.

There were also panty shaped cookies with pink icing…

I avoided the cookies obviously because being gluten challenged like I am,

I cannot eat anything yummy.

I was eyeing the cookies all afternoon thinking to myself,

“just one cookie won’t hurt, right?”

Then my better sense would kick in…

“of course one cookie will hurt you, idiot!”

UGH!

But then someone made the mistake of informing me that the cookies were

GLUTEN FREE!

That’s when everything went to hell.

I probably ate 10 cookies!

I’ve never been that person who can just eat one cookie.

For those of you who can, I hate you!

But apparently when I am denied cookies for so long

I eat them in excess….

My friend even put cookies in her purse so I would not be tempted

by gluten at the game.

I’m still laughing about this!

Well her plan didn’t work.

I don’t know what inning it was, but I was so hungry I was about to eat my arm off!

After numerous adult beverages,

all logical judgment went out the window…

I grabbed a friend who was not very aware of my gluten situation,

and we snuck off in search of food.

All I wanted all day was a hot dog.

Yuck, I know, but a hot dog is a must at a baseball game!

I ate the hot dog, bun and all!

It was glorious!

The feeling of a rock sitting in my stomach,

that I am still experiencing 3 days later,

is not glorious... ugh…

Being gluten free is hard work!

Everyone has some hiccups like this right?

I just have to learn from my mistakes

and remember how crappy I feel after making them.

I must remember this when they bring out the cake

at the wedding next weekend!

How do you stick to your diet in situations like this?

How do you get back on track after long weekends like this?

Where Have All the Weekends Gone?

Oh how I love weekends…

I live for them!

Especially weekends during the summer months.

Long, hot days and nice warm evenings.. ahhh…

It’s so nice to wake up on Saturday morning,

get my long run in and have the rest of the day

to do whatever I want.

And then I look at my calendar

and realize I don’t have a free weekend

until August!  Ugh.

Between the upcoming holiday,

cook outs, bridal showers, bachelorette parties

and weddings…oh the weddings!

We have 5 weddings to attend this summer!

Don’t get me wrong.  I love weddings and everything

that goes along with them, but all of these

events make it hard for me to get my long runs in!

Do I try to squeeze my run in after work during the week

or do I get up extra early on Saturday morning,

log my miles and then proceed with the

wedding festivities into the wee hours

of the night?

The bride is my beautiful friend Cortney.  We are to the right dancing in the background lol.

Talk about exhausting!!

Then there’s the food!

With all of these events, come mass quantities of food

and adult beverages, of course!

It’s hard enough to keep myself in check

with all of this deliciousness is available to me,

but then throw Celiac disease in there and it becomes a nightmare!

I’m usually very good about figuring out what

I can and cannot eat…

but after a few cocktails, my judgment

becomes impaired and I usually end up glutened…ugh.

Come Monday morning I feel like this….

Not ideal…

I would love to hear about everyone else’s summer plans!!

How do you plan to keep yourself healthy and in check?