A Very Random - 5 on Friday

It's Friday and my blood pressure is coming back down from my little vent yesterday, just in time for the weekend. I know I had said I'd have the full potty training post up this week, but we'll just bump it to the next.

It wouldn't be the close of a week without 5 On Friday, so...

{ONE}

This was my Friday morning. Wyatt insisted he cover me in kisses before we left the house, which basically makes me the luckiest mommy in the world. After being up all night wiping his nose and trying to keep him calm with all his coughing, it was very much needed. Please keep positive thoughts for us as we have a big doctor's appointment on Monday!

Even though he's not feeling well, there have been zero accidents since Sunday. Zero! I'm so proud of my little guy.

{TWO}

A little Flashback Friday to last summer's hiking...

I am itching to get back to the mountains! Will the snow ever end? We've been having a really awesome winter this spring. Sigh


I've lived down in this part of Wyoming over 7 years, and I honestly still don't know the area well. I think I've talked Brad into showing me a few day hike places.. with trails clearly marked... that I can safely do myself when he has Wyatt. There will definitely be some backpacking trips this summer as well, but that will not happen without Brad along. Safety first, friends... safety first. Not to mention, if a bear was to pop up in front of me, I'd think he's too cute to actually shoot - even if he started ripping me to shreds. So there's that. (That may be part of the issue I'm having with convincing Brad to show me hiking trails I can do by myself).

{THREE}

I've started the taper process of Prednisone, which is very exciting. However, it's been years and years since I've been on it for an extended period of time. I forgot a very nasty side effect of tapering - pain. It's not uncommon with the prednisone, especially in auto-immune patients.

My entire body is fragile at the moment. I mean, it literally hurts for my clothing to touch my skin. The pressure of laying down on a soft bed to go to sleep last night actually had me crying in pain. The shower this morning? Let's not even talk about how that felt. Or the fact that drying off with a towel was out of the question, so I just stood in the bathroom to air dry for what felt like an eternity.

I'm so ready for my bloated face to go back to normal, and to get to work losing the extra weight though, that the pain is almost a welcome one. It's a sign that I'm getting closer to being able to move forward. Hopefully it will just last a couple days and I will be feeling like a new me!

{FOUR}

We had my mom and little brother come over for dinner last night. Which means Wyatt's day was MADE.

Until the past year, my family have all been 7 hours away. It's been a lot of fun having them around.

{FIVE}

Warm weather will come eventually, and it will be running season again. I am in desperate need of a new running playlist. Help!

What's on your playlist??

Non-Scale Victories - Inside Transformation

As I worked yesterday morning, I had an internal debate going on. To run or not to run. I'd been icing my knee all morning and was weary about working it too hard. As I wrote yesterday's post, I decided to lace up on my lunch break and at least attempt it. Even if I had to walk the entire time, it was better than nothing. Lunch time rolled around and I picked up my running bag just to drop it again about 10 times in a 5 minute period. Yes, I'm going to do this. No... I have work to do and my knee hurts. Around the merry-go-round I went.

Finally I just sucked it up and geared up for the cold. The first quarter mile was painful, honestly. Then, I just got into a groove. This is something I haven't experienced since recovering from my last illness. As I was nearing the end of the first mile, I glanced at my phone to check my time. I was set to PR! Once I reached the mile mark, I stopped to take a screen shot. It seemed too good to be true so I wanted proof for myself.

I'm so competitive with myself, especially when it comes to runs. Sooo close to be under a 9 minute mile. Even as an athlete in high school, I couldn't run a mile in that time. I finished one more mile and then headed home for a quick lunch. This one moment made up for all the other stress and overall crappy week I've had. Had I listened to the Negative Sally in my head, I would have missed out on that experience.

Despite the added work stress and other things going on this week, I have managed to stick pretty close to my workout schedule (I did skip my evening workout yesterday to rest my knee) and have been right on point with my eating. There was a time, not so long ago, that I would have taken this opportunity to order all the fast food and skip all the workouts. I would have justified it by telling myself it's been a bad day and I deserve the junk and nights spent on the couch.  The new me looks at it differently: Yes, it's been a rough week. I deserve to take extra good care of myself.

And that's exactly what I've done. No matter what obstacles have been thrown my way this week, I have stayed the course. I'm proud of that and feel as though true transformation is finally taking place. Knock on Wood.

------------

Check back tomorrow for the Fit 4 Christmas Week 3 Mini Challenge

Motivation Monday: The Other Side of Running

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"Running is a big question mark that's there each and every day. It asks you, 'Are you going to be a wimp, or are you going to be strong today?'" - Peter Maher - Marathon Runner

Everyone always talks of the "runner's high" that occurs after a run. It does exist, and for me personally, it is one of the greatest feelings I've experienced. However, every run does not produce a runner's high. Some runs are just darn right miserable. There's no other way to put it. That was my run yesterday.
Anyone that watches the news, has seen the horrific flooding taking place in Colorado. I live an hour away from the destruction, and have not seen the destructive rain they have. We've just been getting the outskirts of their storms. However, we did not see the sun for 2 weeks straight. I don't mind the occasional run in the rain, but I can't take Wyatt out in that, especially when we have the thunder and lightening. 
I was itching to get a great run in, so I had this wonderful plan to run 8 miles yesterday. Which would be a mileage PR for me. But then I woke up to this:

What this doesn't show, is there was a 20mph wind along with it. For about an hour, I tried to convince myself that my run just wasn't going to happen. I was stiff and sore from the on-going, nasty weather. It was too cold and wet. Then, Sami over at Simpy-Sami posted on instagram about some people that were getting ready to run 50k in the rain. What!? I figured if they can run 50k, I can get off the couch and get a quick 3 miles in.

I didn't end up with 6.2 miles because I felt so amazing and didn't want to stop. This run was 100% mental before the first 60 seconds had passed. Every step was painful. To be honest, I don't even remember miles 4 and 5. I think my brain chose to block them out for my own sanity. 

I've been in a Lupus flare-up, brought on by the weather change I'm sure.  Due to the aches, pains and blues that come along with it, I've been pretty lazy. When I was first diagnosed, there were several appointments regarding what pains require bed-rest and what pains require working through them and being active. The first few days required bed-rest. The past week, I should have been up and moving my body. However, I just couldn't get past the mental hurdle. It has been several years since I've had a true flare up, and to be honest, I was just very depressed about it. 

So, I finished mile 3 and stopped into a park bathroom to get out of the wind for a bit. Every muscle in me was burning and aching and uncontrollable tears started falling. For a brief 5 minutes, I was angry and feeling sorry for myself. Then, I decided that I wasn't going to let this beat me. This pain was a big contributor to my weight gain in the first place. I refused to ever take my doctor's advice and work through the painful days. I was not going to go back there. So I ran. I may have cussed under my breath with every step, but I finished 3 more miles.

I'm not addressing my Lupus as a "poor me" nor am I trying to be depressing on Motivation Monday. I tend shy away from details about my health. Sometimes because I'm in complete denial, and sometimes because I don't want that to define me. However, I feel that sometimes in the blogging community, or fitness/health in general, many people only share the highs. They make it sound effortless all the time in order to be uplifting. That's great, but it takes the humanity out of it. 

If you're just starting to run, workout, or eat healthy, don't have the false hope that it will always be easy. That is what will set you up for failure. If you aren't expecting a difficult day, week or month, you're going to have a hard time working through it when that time comes. You'll want to give up. 

Don't. Don't ever give up. There are going to be challenges and days where you don't succeed. It will feel awful and you'll question yourself and might wonder, "what's the point?" But, I promise you, when you get up that next day and turn things around for the better, you will feel on top of the world. It's that moment when you realize, this isn't just a diet or temporary workout plan. This is a lifestyle change, and I will succeed.

 

Motivation Monday - Super Hero 5K Recap

Grab a button and come link up with us for Motivation Monday!

<center> <a href="http://www.dailydoseofdelsignore.com/"><img alt="MotivationMonday" height="400" src=" http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv234/Wendy413/MotivationMondayCrew2.jpg" width="600"></a></center> </div> <br /> <br /> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/thefittrainblog"><img src="http://i993.photobucket.com/albums/af57/tiffrunner/facebook-1.png" /></a> <a href="http://pinterest.com/tiffershult/"><img src="http://i993.photobucket.com/albums/af57/tiffrunner/pinterest-1.png" /></a> <a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/8065515"><img src="http://i993.photobucket.com/albums/af57/tiffrunner/bloglovin-1.png" /></a> <a href="http://instagram.com/thefittrainblog"><img src="http://i993.photobucket.com/albums/af57/tiffrunner/instagram-1.png" /></a> <a href="mailto:tiffhult27@gmail.com"><img src="http://i993.photobucket.com/albums/af57/tiffrunner/mail-1.png" /></a> <a href="https://twitter.com/TheFitTrainBlog"><img src="http://i993.photobucket.com/albums/af57/tiffrunner/twitter-1.png" /></a> ------ This weekend I was able cross an item off my "bucket list" that has been there since I was a freshman in high school. I completed my first (with many more to come) 5K.

All proceeds from the Super Hero 5K went to an 8 year old little boy in town who is fighting cancer. There were participants of all shapes, sizes and ages. Over 170 runners/walkers were there to support this amazing kid. Including a few who are currently fighting cancer themselves. It was such a great group of people.

As we stood at the starting line, I found one girl just in front of me that appeared to be in much better shape than myself. I decided if I can keep her in view, that would be a good pacer. I followed her about 1/4 mile before realizing I could pick up the pace and started passing people. 

I was not prepared for the hills. I rarely run hills because I hate them. Hate. That's what mile 1 was - a giant, never ending hill. But I refused to walk and kept telling myself, "Just make it to mile 2." Mile 2 was shaded and downhill. The perfect mile. 

The third mile was straight, sunny and energetic. There were people all over cheering the runners on. I was able to sprint into the finish and completed it with an un-official time of 29.52 minutes! I'm hoping they post official times soon, but I was somewhere around #20-30 out of 170. Something that I never thought was possible. 

This experience has definitely helped me to find that "runner's high" everyone always talks about. The running community is so positive and encouraging. If you've been debating signing up for a 5K, regardless of your fitness level, just do it! I promise, you won't regret it. 

Fit Test Friday

Dun Dun Dun... Fit Test Friday has arrived. Although, it's really not that exciting this time around being as it's just my starting numbers and there's nothing to compare it to. Regardless, I can already tell I'm going to enjoy this additional method of tracking my progress. The scale and tape measure can only tell you so much. Regularly performing a fit test really shows you where you at. It gives you the opportunity to see all your hard work in black and white. Not to mention, when the scale and tape measure are at a stand still, fit tests are great motivators to not give up. Which, lets be honest, is exactly what I need lately. So... let's get right to it.

-- One --
First things first (in case you missed it earlier in the week), here's the actual Fit Test. I made it using some of my favorite moves, and ones that I really want to improve on.

And my starting numbers:

I'll be doing the actual test on Monday's and sharing on the blog every Friday, for now. My one mile warm-up was extended to 2 miles since my running buddy begged to go longer. However, my 1 mile time was 9.54 minutes with my 35 pound buddy and jogging stroller. 

If you would like to try the fit test, here's a blank tracking sheet.

-- TWO --

This will be going in the crockpot at lunch. Mmmmm. No, it's not overly healthy. But I'm allowing myself a bit of a splurge tonight.

SOURCE

If you haven't checked out "Damn Delicious", you need to. Yum.

-- THREE -- 

It's time. Potty training. The day I've both dreaded and looked forward to is coming. We're starting to buckle down and get serious with it next weekend. Overall, I'm one of those very laid back mothering types. I don't get worked up if Wyatt doesn't do things where, when, how other kids do. I don't stress or worry about every little thing. Not that there's anything wrong if you do. That's just not me. I'm a go with the flow kind of person, for the most part. However, potty training is a whole different story. So, keep your fingers crossed for all our sakes and sanity. Oh, and if anyone has any awesome tips, I'd love to hear them.

-- FOUR --

Tomorrow is the big day! My first ever, official 5K race. I'm neerrvvoouus. Ridiculously so. Not only is it my first race, but I'm going by myself. This is a big deal in my "stepping outside my comfort zone" goal. Big. 

While on the running topic, I have a question for runners out there. When you up your mileage, how do you handle the hunger? I've upped my weekly mileage quite a bit these past two weeks now that we have the jogging stroller, and I am starving. Constantly. 

-- FIVE --

Go check out Amber for information on Get Your Shit Together September. I am so excited for this! I lacked motivation with my plateau in July. Then, I spent most of August sick. So, the extra motivation and challenge will be perfect!

Don't forget to link up with us next week for Motivation Monday! Have a happy and safe holiday weekend!