Life Update

Hello everyone,

Sorry for the gap between posts; we've had a LOT going on in life as of late, which is part of what I'll be discussing in this post.

Picked up my bib on Saturday :)

To start with me, I've been continuing my training runs and officially signed up for both the half marathon and a St. Patrick's Day 7K, so there's no turning back now! I'm still determined, but unfortunately my legs aren't keeping up quite as well... I have shin splints that refuse to go away, and they are beginning to hinder my progress. It's very frustrating, especially since I've been following all the right steps. You can read more about my training here.

In other news, Mr. G's back pain progressed to the point that he finally went in to find out what's wrong. Turns out he has a herniated disc in his back that is quite large and will take a really long time to heal unless he gets it surgically removed. After prayer and careful thought, Mr. G decided to go through with surgery instead of waiting up to a year for a full recovery, and I fully support his decision. His surgery is on next Tuesday, the 21st. He should be in and out within the same day and starting to feel better immediately, which is wonderful. Still, he'll be facing several weeks of recovery (during which I will be doing pretty much everything), so all prayers are much appreciated.

In the meantime, we have a nice Valentines Day dinner planned for Tuesday and fun birthday plans for me next weekend. :) I promise I'll post my kale recipe soon - as well as my Super Bowl creations!

What are your V-Day plans?

<3 Mrs. G

Changed my Mind. My 2012 Resolution.

As I said in my previous post, I'm not really the resolution type. This week, however, I decided to change that. Right after I posted my bucket list, I reached a new threshold in my workout - by switching around my routine and doing cardio before strength training, I was able to run 10 minutes non-stop. I know that's nothing crazy, but for someone who never runs, it was a big moment for me. The next day, a coworker sent out an email trying to get a team of us together to run the Minneapolis half marathon in June in honor of another coworker's 4-year old son recently diagnosed with leukemia. I believe things happen for a reason, and I figured if this opportunity was going to present itself so conveniently, then I should do it. So now my resolution for 2012 is to run a half marathon and knock that off my bucket list. :)

Sometimes I need a purpose that's bigger than myself in order to push myself to do something. When I can do something that will not only be a major personal accomplishment (not to mention get me in good shape) but will also contribute toward a great cause, that will keep me motivated. And this time around, I'm definitely driven. I've run harder, longer and further this week than ever before in my life. Today alone I ran the distance of a 5k, which gives me hope that I may actually stand a chance at this! I bought new running shoes today as well, which definitely helps. I went to the Running Room in Apple Valley, where they analyze your feet to determine what kind of shoe you need. I ended up getting the Brooks Glycerin 9 in grey/aqua, and after testing them out today, I'm super happy with them. It's like night and day with my old shoes I bought from TJ Maxx 4ish years ago...

If you're at all interested in following my progress (I guarantee honesty, entertainment and hopefully inspiration), I'll be blogging about it on my company blog. I'll be posting my first training-related post on Monday and then probably every Friday after that. If you're on Pinterest, you can also check out my running board for ideas, motivation, and cool products I come across.

Has anyone else committed to running a half/full marathon this year? If not, what are your resolutions?

<3 Mrs. G