Wellness Wednesday: I'm Completely Crazy!

Okay, y'all. I went and did it!

I've done 5 half-marathons, all as part of the Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon (https://knoxvillemarathon.com/). I've signed up for a 6th to be done in October, the Haunted Half Marathon (http://werunevents.com/haunted-half/). While I'm not the fastest half-marathoner in the world because I don't run the whole thing, I run intervals, I've still finished 5 half-marathons and I've been guilty of the cliched comment that I'm only half crazy because I run half-marathons.

Well, now I'm completely crazy.

I've been talking about making the attempt at a full marathon for a couple of years now, but just haven't felt ready. And, believe me, you need to feel ready for this endeavor. Because I've not attempted a full yet, I can only impart the wisdom that I've culled from my various marathoner friends: you're never fully ready. I suppose, in a way, it's like deciding to have children. Though I wouldn't know that from experience, either.

When I crossed the finish line of the 2019 half-marathon, I felt amazing! I came within about 6 minutes of beating my personal record and I really think I would have done it if I hadn't lost steam at about mile 11. Regardless, I felt good at the end, which is all you can ever hope for, right? After I'd gotten some food in me, I remember looking across the table at my so-patient and supportive husband, and saying, "I think I'm gonna try the full next year." To his credit, he didn't spit his orange juice across the table at me. He really is one in a million, y'all.

So, fast forward to June 2019. In years past, registration for the next year's race has opened in August, so that's when I intended to make my decision. Instead, I opened my email on June 5 and saw that registration was open. I don't really know what possessed me, but, before I could talk myself out of it, I pulled out my credit card and registered for the full marathon!

Now, I just need to do some serious training and get a bit more of my excess weight off so that I can get my pace down. I have to be able to finish in 7 hours, which is doable, but I need to shave some time off my per-minute pace.

Expect a lot of marathon training blather going forward. LOL In fact, I'll try to put something in the subject line to that effect so you can scroll past if you don't want to read about it. I do hope you'll go with me on my journey, though. If you are an experienced marathoner, I would definitely appreciate some tips!

Wellness Wednesday: Self-Care

First, some housekeeping... I am attempting to get myself on some sort of schedule here with the blog. Like everything else, this blog is a work in progress, so please be patient with me as I figure it out. I am going to try to post three times a week: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Monday's posts will probably involve planning/organizing/time management. Wednesday will be all about wellness and Friday will revolve around creativity.

Because I love alliteration, I have decided that I'm going to do at least a Wellness Wednesday post every week. This is an extremely broad topic so we might talk about fitness, diet/nutrition, mental wellness, emotional wellness, etc. Who knows? But I hope that we can learn with and from each other each week. If you think of a topic that you'd like me to write about, please feel free to drop me an email or comment below.

Let's get to the meat of this week's post, shall we?

This week is all about self-care. Why? Because I'm having a hard time with it and I thought that writing about it for you, gentle reader, would be a good way for me to reinforce what I need to be doing.

So. What comes to mind when you contemplate the idea of self care? I know that a lot of folks head right towards comfort food and bubble baths and that is a perfectly legitimate way to take care of yourself. However, for me, the idea of self care needs to be integrated into each and every thing that you do.

My word of the year for 2019 is Dedicate and I have fallen off of that, to be honest.

I dedicated myself to training for a fifth (on March 31, 2019) and sixth (in October) half-marathon with eyes on training for my first full marathon in 2020. I successfully completed my fifth half-marathon and was within moments of it being my personal best time. I then completed a 5K where I did get my personal record (PR) and then life happened. Some medical stuff came up with my husband, nudging me into the role of caretaker. I dropped a can of shave gel on my foot causing me issues with my toe for a couple of weeks. I stopped eating how I should. I stopped adhering to an appropriate bed time. I just kinda stopped.

So, my self-care needs to rebound so I can, too. What does that look like in my ideal world?

• I'll take my medications as prescribed.
• I'll get to bed at the more reasonable hour of 11:30PM.
• I will follow my training plans, but allow for flexibility.
• I will get back to meal planning and prepping.
• I will write in my journal several times per week, if not daily.
• I will plan my week ahead in my Happy Planner.
• I will make out my to-do lists for the next day.
• I will drink my water every day.
• I will meditate and calm my spirit.
• I will think creatively and make art on a regular basis.

In doing all of that, I can shore up my defenses: mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical. I will be more adaptable to the stresses that life has always thrown, and will always throw, at me. I will treat myself with the same care, compassion, and kindness with which I attempt to treat all people.

My goal in life is not to be a size 0 or to win any of the races I enter. I simply want to be comfortable in my own skin and feel accomplished. My mantra this week is "progress, not perfection". All I ever ask of anyone is to simply hold the intention of being better than they were the day before. Unfortunately, we often hold ourselves to a different standard than we do everyone around us, and I am certainly no exception to this rule.

And so, my friends, the height of my self-care needs to simply be to treat myself with kindness and mercy and remind myself to simply hold the intention of being better tomorrow than I was today.

What do you do for self-care? Do you have a routine? Let me know in the comments!