*good pain. i pretty much live in a world of perpetual leg soreness. some days, the first few steps out of bed are rough; the first mile or two feels like a marathon on steel rods. this speaks to my #1 weakness as a runner/worker-outer: i do not spend enough time stretching or foam rolling. my post-run self-care is severely lacking, and my flexibility could use a lot of improvement. i look at my foam roller and see a torture instrument, so i usually leave it where it belongs: in the corner. bad, bad, bad.
i was pretty close to squeezing out a few tears this morning when rolling after a 3.5 mile speed run on the treadmill in my building gym (because we’re back down to 30 degree mornings in April. thanks, NYC). holy pain. but then again, it just hurts so good!
i am thankful, however, that i am healthy and disciplined and actually have a real passion for running and working out, and i pray i’m able to experience this soreness for a long, long time. so many people are physically unable to use their bodies in this way, and so many others are entirely unmotivated, so i thank God that He made me healthy, strong and with a sincere love for being active. this perspective helps me find joy in the pain. 🙂
*workout love. this picture makes me happy.
i have no idea who these people are, but i love this. i think he does a push-up while she does a sit-up, and then they meet in the middle for a lil “hey we’re a beautiful working out couple” celebratory kiss. plus, this motivates both of them to keep up the others’ pace. so the moral of the story is, date someone you’d want to kiss while you’re sweating at the gym. the end.
*food prep ideas. i need to start doing this, especially because i love every single food item in this picture.
i’m not disciplined about packing food for lunch — i’ll generally grab a banana and a Quest bar for snacks and buy a salad at the caf here at work, but this picture makes me so happy in its neatness. it’s so organized and colorful and includes a bunch of foods i really like and eat regularly (i see a Cinnamon Roll Quest Bar in there, woot!). really what’s happening here is that everything about this challenges and highlights my lack of planning: my fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants self doesn’t think in terms of prepping. but pictures like this make me want to be a planner. or just make me want Quest bars and sweet potatoes. yeah, probably the latter. who am i kidding.
*Easter week. i like Jesus. i like Spring. i like having a holiday from work and getting an extra day to spend upstate with my family celebrating Jesus, and Spring, and having a day off. win-win-win.
this will be a wonderful weekend ahead (starting tomorrow night!), i can already feel it. not only will i be with my most favoritest people, at my most favoritest lakehouse, running and dancing and relaxing and loving life, but i have the ultimate reason to be thankful this week: my Savior died so that i might never have to experience death. we might know this all year round, but having a day set aside to commemorate this ultimate act of love just feels extra special.
*enjoy the journey. because after all, it’s all you have. you might as well make it a good one.
xo
Questions:
Do you celebrate Easter? Any special plans?
Runners: How good are you about stretching/foam rolling? Love it or dread it?
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Really enjoyed this post. I am terrible about rolling and stretching. As a running coach I should probably know better but it seems to work for me. I love food prepping because if I don’t I end up buying a ton of healthy food and it just stays in the fridge. Lesson learned. Looking forward to Easter Sunday. A little church time, perhaps a run and then some delicious food. Perfect day!
thank you! ahhh, i might have to pick your running-coach brain sometime. my healthy food always just sat there too, so then i stopped grocery shopping altogether. probably not the way to go. 🙂 sounds like a great Easter!
Pick my brain anytime 🙂
Awesome, beautiful post!! I’m so glad you’re enjoying your workouts and looking forward to the weekend!! Your post made me really happy!! I love all the joy and your upbeat attitude! 🙂
thank you, Kristin! you’re always so encouraging.
Awww, thanks Shawna!! XOXO!!
I am TERRIBLE about stretching and foam rolling. I only get on my foam roller once I am in pain which makes it that much worse. You’d think with one right in my house I’d use it but it also just sits in the corner. I really should make a habit of doing it for at least a few minutes every night if not for anything else but to ease tension where ever I have it!
we’re so alike.
I’m really excited for Easter! I’m going to spend it with my family, going to church and making a beautiful brunch. Like you, I’m pretty awful about foam rolling. I think it’s just personal discipline, because if someone offered to give me a deep tissue massage every day for 10 minutes I’d OF COURSE be able to handle that 😉 Also I really need to buy either a bento box or a bunch of new tupperware – I think that would help with packing creative lunches.
good idea, i should probably get one of those too. i just hate lugging more stuff around!
I hear you on the perpetual leg soreness! I feel like my hamstrings have been crying since my half marathon two weeks ago. No bueno. I’ll be spending Easter with my family, doing the church thing and probably brunch, maybe foam rolling if I’m feeling really ambitious but who am I kidding 😉
sounds like we have very similar Easters planned. good luck with the (potential) foam rolling. 🙂
So so so bad about remembering to roll/stretch. I seriously try to remember to, but for some reason it gets put at the bottom of my list when it should really be up there at the same level as running. Pretty proud of myself that I’ve stick rolled every single day since my half marathon haha.
every day?? nice job, girl. my legs are killing me from just one day of rolling yesterday…so there’s that.
Foam rolling is a true blessing and curse. It’s a true miracle worker but I skip it more times than I like to admit… I’ve come to realize that even only a few mins on the roller help!
it’s so true, a little goes a long way and builds the habit. must.tell.myself.that. 🙂
I have a love/hate relationship with my foam roller. I was terrible about rolling and stretching for a long time, but I do a lot of yoga too so I felt like I never really needed it that much. I’ve stepped it up since the tendonitis though. Sometimes it feels great and other times I want to die, but in the end I think it helps.
my sentiments exactly.