I think this is the longest I’ve ever gone without blogging. You’ll have to excuse me. We’re currently wrapped up in 2 different adoption situations that could very easily make us parents at any given time, so we’ve been dealing with a ton of life stuff that’s making blogging a bit difficult at the moment.

I will say this…I am THRILLED with how my running is going right now. I had to change-up a few things in life in preparation for the possibility of a newborn joining our ranks, and I’ve given up on the idea of being able to run the Fargo Half Marathon again this year. I’m bummed. Truly. I absolutely loved that race last year (it was my first half), and I was hoping to make it work out again. Given we never know from day-to-day what our future is going to look like, the idea of having to make another trip out-of-state to run wasn’t in the cards. Thankfully I have found a new one to replace it with. I’m going to be running our local half marathon that is scheduled the week before on May 11th. Even if I’m not potentially on maternity leave at that time, I won’t have to miss any work for it, it’s right outside my door, and I can train on the insane hills this particular course has. BUT…if I’m being completely honest, I hope I’m running my 4th half marathon that weekend to celebrate my first Mother’s Day. Time will tell, but things are in the works.

I’ve unfortunately had to let my running coach go for the time being as well. As a lot of you know, I’ve really been struggling with my mental game and running for quite a while now. Given I’m no longer performing up to a standard that I feel deems worthy of having a coach, and I don’t know how intense my training will be able to be in the near future, we have decided to take a break. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time on Team Sasquatch. I have made of ton of friends who will always play a big part in my life; including my coach, and I may just  be back in the future. Right now it’s all about getting myself back to where I feel is a positive place for me as a runner.

So I’m on my own for the first time in over a year and a half. I’ve learned a lot from my coach, so I have ways of incorporating things into my weekly training that will serve to get me going on some progress. I’ve hashed out a 12-week training plan that has me running 3 days a week (a must for this chronically injured runner) and cross training 2 days a week with 2 full rest days. There will be easy/light runs, tempo and hill runs, and long runs on the weekends. I’ve got the sheer will to make it happen and I’m looking forward to getting through my next half TRAINED instead of relying on piddly “long runs” or no training at all. It’s gonna be great.

AND for those of you wondering, I have officially joined our local chapter of Moms Run This Town and I LOVE IT! I had first heard of this particular group back in July when I was approached by their founder, Pam, to be featured on their national blog. I was so honored!! Even though I was so nervous about going completely out of my comfort zone and joining a club, I’m so very glad I did. We’ve had 2 breakfast get-togethers and our first official run at our local sports complex last week. We are a relatively new chapter, but there’s close to 30 of us now and it’s growing daily. All the women come from entirely different backgrounds with running and there’s absolutely no pressure whatsoever to run certain distances or paces or even to run at all. Some of us walk. It’s going to be a very positive experience for me and I’m so thankful for the friendships I’ve already made through there. I just love this group! I’ll be sure to post more of our adventures on here in the future!! But here’s some pics!

This is me with one of our group leaders, Kandi, whose blog you can find here: Enough of the Fluff

This was after our insanely easy 4+ mile run together in which 4 miles felt like it went by in 30 seconds…

And this was Saturday morning with several new members who joined us for breakfast!!! We have our second official run this coming Wednesday night.

I know a lot of you have expressed to me in the past that you’re terrified of joining a group. I totally understand that. It’s taken me almost 3 years to find one. But honestly, the support and encouragement we get from each other already has been wonderful. I am so very thankful for all of them and I can’t wait to see what crazy running adventures we have coming in our future. It’s such a blessing to make good friends who are also passionate about the same things you are in life. It makes all the difference.