Find Your Inspiration

 “Hard days are the best because that’s when champions are made. If you push through the hard days, then you can get through anything” - Gabby Douglas US Olympic Gymnastic Gold medalist.

Sadly the 2012 Summer Olympics have come to an end, but not without lessons. Lessons of determination, lessons of perseverance and lessons of finding greatness.

I loved the Olympics this year, mainly because of the incredible Gabby Douglas. She stole the hearts of millions by doing what she does best being a superstar. 

One thing I learned from Gabby was that hard work pays off. There have been times when I am out on a run and my legs are burning, my stomach is burning and I want nothing more but to give up. Guess what, I still need to get home and what better way to do it than to run home. It is pushing through those days that we want to give up and give in that teach us what better days feel like.

Monday I took as a Nike Training Club day due to running 16.49 miles the day before for Nike Find Greatness Day. I did the Get Lean Advanced Pioneer workout. I purchased my own TRX straps and I have been using these to do Nike Training Club with also. I use them for planks and mountain climbers in hopes I can work my core a little more.

Tuesday I ran 7 miles in the morning but I was super frustrated because my iPhone was acting up and it only said I ran 4.25 miles and not 7 miles like I actually ran. When I realized that my Nike GPS wasn’t catching my run I wanted to give up and give in, but I decided to keep going and keep pushing through. What mattered was that I go the mileage in, not that it was clocked. I came to realize that I rely too much on technology and not enough on how my body feels. It wasn’t a different feeling going from clocking my run to measuring the distance out in my head. Lucky for me it was path I had taken plenty of times before so I knew when I would hit 7 miles.

Wednesday evening was a track workout day, but my track workout got off to a rocky start when I realized that the track I use was closed due to season repairs. This kind of through me off guard and I was a little bit on the irritated side. However, I talked to E and she gave me a great idea to mark the 800 meters in the trail and just run back and forth. Meho ran these with me to give me a little bit more of a push. I was super impressed with my 800 meter sprints. They were as followed:

• Lap 1: 3:13
• Lap 2: 3:10
• Lap3: 3:22
• Lap 4: 3:35

I did my 4X400 meters sprints in:

• Lap 1: 1:19
• Lap 2: 1:20
• Lap 3: 1:20
• Lap 4: 1:22

I was pleased with my sprints because I had improvement on my last sprint set and I had to dodge bikers, runners, walkers and children this time. I can’t wait for my track to open back up again though.

Thursday I went to an Ashtanga yoga class. It just felt so nice to stretch out my sore muscles that I have been abusing and not giving enough love. My body and spirit felt so much better after coming out of that class. Anyone who runs I recommend going to a yoga class because your body really needs that stretch it is so important for it.

Friday morning Jamie and I were on the running path at 6am and we did our 5 mile run. It ended up being 5.75 miles and we did it in 45:36 with a pace of 7’56”/mile. I felt so good the whole time. It was funny because I felt like I was running slow but I could tell that Jamie was having a bit of a hard time. I asked her at one point if she wanted to stop and she said no but that her legs were very sore. I really wanted to run faster but I didn’t want to leave her behind on the trail that early in the morning. When I got back and looked at my mile splits I wasn’t running as slow as I thought I was. After work on Friday I went to get a fascia massage. For those of you who don't know the fascia is the bag that holds your muscles. Oh my gosh was I ever in pain during this massage. My therapist told me that my muscles are dense and he had to use his elbows to get in there and really work out the muscle tissue. There were times that I was screaming out in pain and crying. I knew that I had did this to my body. That night I was coming down the stairs of my building and my calves were so tight I almost fell down the stairs. Meho ran out grabbed me a bag of ice and I had to take an ice bath. I have not done one of these since high school. Sitting in the icy cold water was so hard. I was shaking from the cold but could really feel the ice working my muscles. 

Saturday morning I had a struggle to get out of bed at by the time I hit the running trail it was already 8am and the weather was nearing the 30 degree mark. Meho didn’t want me to run on my own as it was already so hot so he ran beside me. We got about 2.4 miles in and I was feeling sick already I looked at him and said “I can’t do this right now, my body does not like this heat”. We were standing in the middle of the trail with the sun blaring down on both of us so we decided that it would be better to wait until later on that evening. Later on that evening came and it was 31 degrees out and I still didn’t feel safe about running outside. Meho and I decided to try in the morning. 4:30 came around and I was in the bathroom getting sick. I told him I just needed to sleep a little more. I had a lot of sun on Saturday and I don’t think that was the greatest idea. Sunday afternoon we headed to the gym and I was to run my 17 miles on the treadmill. Not feeling the greatest I was planning on spending about 3 hours treadmill running. I was not happy about this. Much to my surprise it ended up being 2:16:42 spent on the treadmill with a pace of 8’02”/mile. I ran a hilly course so it wasn't so boring and to help me practice on hills. I was so happy about my pace and time and wanted to jump for joy especially since I was off the treadmill. The words of Gabby Douglas came back to my head “If you push through the hard days, then you can get through anything” it’s so true. Thank you for your inspiration Gabby, my Sisters in Nike, Nike Women and Marie you have all helped me get to my 17 mile goal this weekend.