Mid-Month Majestic Meditations and Merry Musings

Halfway through September and besides feeling that this month and year are whizzing by, I’ve learned some lessons from my 5K Challenge.

I was reminded that as a human being, I have limitations. Can you believe it? How dare I? As a person who has been active for her entire life, being reminded that I can’t do everything can be a little bit of a buzzkill. Running three miles a day sounded easy in practice, but then doing it on top of cross training and working overnights and mid-shifts actually was a pleasant but challenging challenge. The first week, I took a day of rest before race day. Anyone who has ever done a race knows that rest day is just as important as training. I was actually going to work out! My coworker reminded me about the importance of rest day, and I’m so glad she did. The second week, I actually took two rest days. One of the days was planned and the second rest day was needed. I actually did double classes that morning, starting with OTF and then followed up with Spin. I could feel that a break was needed, especially since I was headed to work that night for my first of three night shifts in a row.

Have you ever really enjoyed something but then actually forgot that you enjoyed it? I have been thoroughly enjoying my running time this month, which came as a random surprise. It’s been a while since I’ve been running regularly. I think I touched upon this in another post, but after the marathon, I took a little too long of a hiatus, so coming back to some intense training felt really great. There is a sense of calm in running for me. I am one of the few people you see out in the world running without headphones on. Crazy, right? I don’t actually like to do it because you get to enjoy being on your own with your own thoughts. I feel like some of my best thinking is done when I am outside running.

Lastly, this challenge has reminded me how important time with our loved ones is. In the midst of training and running and working, I’ve been lucky enough to spend time with my loved ones and celebrating them. What could be better? A friend of mine recently had a birthday and we were talking about how lucky we are to be alive. Working as a critical care nurse is quite the reminder of how lucky we are to have our physical and mental health.

So I’m going to keep on running as much as I can this month and hopefully more! I’m going to remember to listen to my body and take rests when it is necessary. There are some fun, fun things coming up in the next few weeks, so stay tuned!