Weekly Therapy: Thoughts after marathon training

the week:
Oh, heyyyy! It’s been a few weeks. I finally started introducing runs into my workouts this week, and also getting back into the swing of blogging since my marathon. I also had a wonderful trip back “home” over last weekend to celebrate with family our recent marriage.

post marathon training blog

weekend:
We’ve got a formal event this weekend (yay, another dress up weekend!) — and I’ve got both roads and trails planned with my Strider & Turkey buddies (yay, 70-degree temperatures!).

Tonight and throughout the weekend is also the annual Des Moines Arts Festival. Lots of YAY!

seven random thoughts from marathon training:
1. The cliché is true: Put. Glide. EVERYWHERE. And then put it everywhere else.
2. Why does my shoulder joint hurt when I’m running? Probably time to do a running form assessment with someone.
3. I was so used to being hungry ALL THE TIME. I’m eating like half the calories I was a month ago.
4. My weight dipped below 120 pounds for the first time in over a decade… and then my bathroom scale broke, so I have no idea what I currently weigh post-marathon.
5. I broke out in a rash from sunscreen during my 22-mile run. That makes 3 different scenarios of rashes that I experienced in this training cycle… which means I probably have to visit an allergist to figure out what is going on with my immune system (again).
6. Remember that time I got stung by a wasp? Haaaaaa. This marathon cycle really had it all.
7. I still like running! ?

Weekly Therapy: Luck o’ the Irish to you!

the week:
Current status: Eating leftover (gluten-free!) wedding cake for breakfast.

weekend:
So, we made our marriage license official — and celebrated EIGHT YEARS together! ? We found a wonderful lady to come to our home and get our signatures (along with our witnesses), and then will celebrate with some corned beef and cabbage and shots of Irish whiskey.

Sláinte!

seven things, seven days:
1. Spent the week planning out my 50k training (and scheduling periods of NO RUNNING throughout the remainder of my 2017 calendar).
2. I also started my packing list for Ragnar Luckenbach at the end of the month.
3. The Science and Art of Belief – in trail running {via Trail Runner Magazine}
4. Even in middle age, your best running days may be ahead. HOORAY!
5. This research is important for me to see — and, I hope, more to come about low levels of Vitamin D in athletic populations, as I’m someone with seriously-low D3 levels with an inability to absorb supplementation and maintain normal levels: New study identifies threshold for vitamin D supplementation in athletes
6. THE MARSHMALLOW TEST IS A LIE (well, sort of) {via Psychology Today}
7. Speaking of marshmallows… I’m going to eat another bowl of Lucky Charms (they’re gluten-free!)

Weekly Therapy: I can’t get enough of this kind of love

the week:
Well, I shared some big news this week. Kinda overshadows my news of getting a new car. 😉

weekend:
Can you believe that I’ve made it to 7:30am group run THREE Saturdays in a row??? Still not a morning person, but it definitely feels good to get my long runs out of the way and have the entirety of my Saturday free.

I have no horse in the race for tomorrow’s BIG GAME, though we’ll be consuming a bunch of calories with friends.

seven things, seven days:
1. I wore heels (like, actual stiletto dress heels) for the first time in YEARS. Thankfully, sitting for dinner didn’t require much STANDING on them. ?
2. Did you know all seasons of Desperate Housewives is on Hulu? It was one of my favorite shows. I started watching agin from the first season — this series still holds up!
3. I can buy Jeni’s ice cream in Iowa!!!
4. How do you feel about self-help gurus? {via Vox}
5. Why old friends matter – this piece warmed my heart. I have girlfriends that I’ve known since elementary school, and I’m so excited to have them visit me this summer in Iowa! {via Book of Life}
6. How being part of a crowd can change you for the better (what’s up, my Women Marchers?) {via Science of US}
7. COUNTDOWN TO VACATION!!!!!!

Every 30-something needs… a mix of the good memories and bad.

Something weird happened this week: I saw a blogger’s recent teaser post about her wedding, and her dress looked similar to the one I purchased seven years ago for my wedding.

THIS is the dress, by the way. *sigh*
This is THE dress, by the way. *sigh*

I didn’t get married. In fact, I’m *still* not married (obviously, I’m not with the same person anymore either). Believe me though, I’m not hung up over it — that whole experience basically turned me off to the idea of marriage. But I was struggling with why it made me so sad to see the dress. Was it because she looked beautiful in it, and I never had the opportunity to look beautiful in mine? Or was it simply just another hurtful pang of memories passed?

Or perhaps it was the $700 deposit that I couldn’t get returned?

From wikipedia:

Motivated forgetting is a debated concept referring to a psychological defense mechanism in which people forget unwanted memories, either consciously or unconsciously. There are times when memories are reminders of unpleasant experiences that make people angry, sad, anxious, ashamed or afraid. Motivated forgetting is a method in which people protect themselves by blocking the recall of these anxiety-arousing memories… This could induce forgetting without being generated by an intention to forget, making it a motivated action. There are two main classes of motivated forgetting: repression is an unconscious act, while suppression a conscious form of excluding thoughts and memories from awareness.

As my friend so eloquently put, “It’s a memory… not necessarily a bad memory, and a very important part of your life that shaped you.”

Now, as I’m remembering all of this, I almost want to have a good memory (wedding) to replace the bad one (canceled wedding). But this would mean getting married, which… I have mixed emotions about altogether. I’m sure many 30-somethings have found themselves in similar emotional turmoil. Let’s have some group therapy in the comments!

More:
Why People Remember Negative Events More Than Positive Ones {via New York Times}