The high from running...

Today was incredible. My work day was productive, and I was assigned to work on a big project which I am so excited to jump into. I also went for an incredible run around Greenlake again with my friend (more on that later). And my night has ended with our INSANITY recovery workout, and a nice dinner with my honey.

The highlight of my day was my run around Greenlake. For one, it was absolutely gorgeous. And the best part of the evening, was the run I went on which was just perfect. When I first started losing weight a couple years ago, I did it with running. I used to hate it when I was younger, but when I tried it again, I absolutely fell in love. The feeling of the pavement under my feet, the beautiful scenery I would pass, and the incredible free feeling I would get in my mind. The rush and high I would get after running, was like no other, and I was completely addicted. Unfortunately, my knee problems (as mentioned earlier, and will be detailed more in a later post) became an issue and caused me to stop. Even though my knee has been bothering me the past couple of weeks, the only thing that has been stopping the pain is working out, especially running.

As mentioned in Sunday's post, I made my first attempt at running again since end of summer 2010. I was able to complete one lap around the lake (3.2 miles) and felt pretty darn good about it. After that, it was decided we would make it 2 laps when we ran again today. I have to tell ya, the whole drive to the lake today, I was second guessing myself if I would be able to make the full 2 laps, if my knee was going to give out on me, or if i would just get too exhausted. All of these what ifs running through my mind, but once I hit the pavement, they all disappeared and I was back in my happy place. The first mile seemed to drag on forever, but once I passed that, the rest of it seemed like a breeze.

Of course to be responsible, after completing the first lap, I listened to my body and took a rest to stretch out again (yes, I made sure to stretch before the first lap). My knee seemed to be holding up alright but my ankle (which has also been bothering me) was tensing up a bit. After a quick minute to stretch my legs (as seen above) and give my ankle some rubs, I was ready to start lap 2.

As promised, I said I would be filling my blog with more pictures, and this of course, is my attempt at creativity of taking a picture during mid run. As you can see, all that managed to make it in is my left foot and my knee brace. I did have a couple other attempts which resulted in straight pavement, but since this one captured a part of my experience (even if its only a leg) was good enough for me and something I wanted to share :)

During our final lap, we passed this little place called SPUD. We happened to pass it the first lap around as well and our senses were overwhelmed with a delicious smell of food. Let me say, I had never heard of this place, let alone eaten at it, I've only passed it on my runs, but the smell made my mouth water and somewhere in my mind, I definitely considered detouring for a snack, rather then going back to my car :) As tempting as it was, I stayed focused and just took a picture of the place as I passed by and treated myself to a protein bar when I finished. One day though, down the road, I WILL treat myself to this place after a nice hefty run. Maybe the day I complete 3 laps (9.6 miles) ;)

When we approached the final leg of our run, we both sprinted to where our cars were parked and I was filled with this incredible sense of accomplishment, and dare I say, desire to keep running! Instead, I just celebrated by posing for this picture in front of the lake to mark the incredible feeling, and more impressive, which I just thought of, the longest run I've ever completed. I believe prior to this, my longest distance run was a little over 4 miles. Now I've upped it to 6.4! . A very proud day for me, and one I plan on holding dear to me for quite awhile. Unfortunately, after the run, as much as I would have loved to stay longer to enjoy the view, I had to trek home so I could get my INSANITY recovery workout in. I was hoping to get home in a jiffy since we live fairly close to the lake, (maybe a 20 minute drive max) however, since I'm not super familiar with Greenlake, I managed to get myself lost going home and it took me almost 45 minutes. Oops :( What's worse, is I had my GPS to help navigate me, but I think it was drugged up, because it was a little behind on directions and seemed like it had no idea where it was taking me. I eventually found my way, and am pretty sure I know a solid way (may not be the quickest) to get myself home now.

After working out, Waldo and I had a little photo session on the couch. He's just so cute sometimes and I just LOVE taking pictures of him. Chad was kind enough to prepare dinner for us (salmon, asparagus and some whole wheat pasta)which we enjoyed while watching the Biggest Loser. And now, it's WAY past my bedtime (since I am used to going to bed at 10pm) but I just felt I HAD to blog about my incredible day. So that being said, I will leave you with a lovely picture of my two babies hanging out on their kitty condo.

Have a wonderful night, and I am hoping to have a new blog posted again Thursday (I would say tomorrow, but I have my last night of class and will not be home until late). Thursday should be interesting, Chad and I are headed to a P90X class with some of our friends to try out the workouts :)

xoxo