Positives

The further I get into this running thing, the more I realize the need for celebrating the smaller events as a part of the bigger journey.  Of course at the culmination of all my training I want to celebrate the completion of a half marathon and a full marathon but where's the fun in waiting until then?

So some of the smaller positives...

• I'm running faster.  I'm still slow but I've cut almost 3 minutes off my pace from my beginning point.
• My food choices are getting better everyday.  I want to eat healthy so I can run better.
• I like how my body is changing... more on that in a minute. ;)
• I look forward to my workouts and I'm motivated by these little things to get my workouts in no matter what.

A few of the bigger positives...

Steve has been traveling a lot this month.  That's typically not the norm but it looks like it will be for the forseeable future.  When he's gone I'm a little more stressed... the dogs don't behave, Chaney is more challenging, and of course there are the inevitable disasters that seem to wait for when he's not home.  That's just the way it works.

So when he travels, I'm typically a little more stressed than usual and when I'm stressed, it's easy to slip into old disordered eating habits.  Add in the fact that I'm alone and I face my biggest moments of temptation to binge.  These are certainly shameful moments and I always regret it because it doesn't even make me feel less stressed for very long at all.  I got a little anxious when he told me what his travel schedule was but I'm proud to report that I haven't binged once.  I don't know for sure what's changed but the desire just isn't there.  My theory is that the little things I've listed above have changed my perspective; or at least that's what I'm going to go with. :)

I've kept up with my workouts even when he's been traveling and I'm proud of that.  It's not easy after a long day of work, coming home to chores, dinner, and helping with homework, violin practice, etc.  I completed one of my treadmill runs after 10 PM and in case you're wondering, that's really not setting yourself up for a good night's sleep.  I was WIRED.

And lastly, the changes in my body.  Probably TMI but I was shaving my legs in the shower the other morning and I found a strange and hard lump on the side of my leg close to the side of my calf, above my ankle... there was even an indention below the lump because it was protruding so much.  I got all panicked so I did what a "normal" person does and I compared it to my other leg.  Guess what?  There was an identical lump!  But after more poking and prodding, I realized what these lumps were...

New muscle definition.  I'm not a hypochondriac at all. ;)