happy labor day

I've been working all the food I ate yesterday my butt off this morning just picking up things around the house and trying to get organized.  I need to do some paperwork for my classes today and I need a clean place to do it or it won't get done.  I wouldn't say I'm OCD...just like to be organized.  The projects for today should be the office and the garage, they aren't dirty, just cluttered and need a nice pick-me-up.  I have things organized in little piles all over the place, just don't know where to put them.  Hopefully we get around to it today!

Every morning these lovely folks send me an email quote of the day.  Today's quote was;

"Life is often compared to a marathon, but I think it is more like being a sprinter; long stretches of hard work punctuated by brief moments in which we are given the opportunity to perform at our best."
Michael Johnson, American sprinter and winner of four Olympic gold medals and eight world championship gold medals

I thought this was interesting today because when I was preparing for my marathon I had a bunch of reasons about how metaphorical it was for my life.  Marathon training for months on end is hard on you, I would say more mentally than physically.  Aches and pains will go away, but the things that are going through your mind, and the things you show yourself while in the midst of a workout will sometimes rock you to your core.  Well it did for me anyway.  See, I had never run a marathon before.  It was something I had always wanted to do, but didn't have the physique, or the mental prowess to actually follow through with it.  So for me, running this first marathon was a whole lot more than just running for 26.2 miles.  It was about me breaking away from my 'old' self and becoming this 'new' person (imagine my upset when that doesn't actually happen ha).  Reading this now, I shouldn't be putting 'old' self, I realize how that if it weren't for my past for my 'long stretches of hard work' and the 'opportunities to perform my best' I wouldn't be where I am today.  So I try something and I fail at it miserably...while I'm off beating myself up over it, the rest of the world is doing the exact same thing and just moving on.  My first Marathon taught me that I can do just about anything.  If I have the diligence to wake up between 3:30 and 4:30 most Saturday's and Sunday's to get my long run in before the heat tries to kill me, or get that workout in when I really don't want to, not just for training purposes but for mental clarity, I can handle most anything life throws my way.  Even if I fail at it at first, as long as I keep 'training' or trying in this instance, I will succeed. 

Ever since I ran the PC Marathon, I've been tempted to run another really fast.  Its a great feeling to be a part of a marathon.  Its fun!  You meet lots of new people, who offer nothing but kind words and encouragement, plus all the jitters you get just from being a participant, it's exciting!  One of the girls in a spin class I regularly take told me about this marathon and I have been thinking about it.  Even got me a training plan for how to run marathons only 8 weeks apart.  The more I consider it though, I wonder if I am wanting to do it to get a better time?  Because they are way fun and I love being apart of something?  I love running, but I don't need to be a participant in a race to love running.  I may reconsider so I can train hard, get my core stronger, and work through this lovely ITBS that doesn't seem to be going away.  Plus, while reading Runner's World magazine I saw and add for this marathon  and think that would be pretty sweet. 

Welp I'm off to try to figure out what to do with myself for the rest of the day!  Adios!