Busy, Busy!

I often see the posts that say, "I planned to run a gazillion miles this week, but, you know. . .life got in the way."  I have had plenty of times that life has thrown me a curveball, but I try to make running the consistent part of my week.  I know what days I have to run, rain or shine, and I stick to the mileage I need for the week.  It helps that I live on the "Zero-Sum Workout" plan, which means that in order to eat, I have to run.

No run, no carbonara

This week life got me tuckered out in the best possible way.  There was lots of staying up past my bedtime, and that combined with some extra work made a very tired Stephani this weekend.  On Wednesday I met the other Cleveland Marathon Ambassadors for some updates on the race series.  We ate some wings; we might have had some brews.  We hugged a lot.

The lighting isn't great, but here we are!

Jill has a great podcast: Running with Police Escort

Jamie gets up as early to run as I do.  She puts in 10 miles before work!

Stephanie has four kids and still runs more miles than I do.

Andrew and I drink beer.  That is all.

 Here are some great candid shots:

Melissa is the happy one in the group.  She is full of sunshine and glitter.  I don't know how I put up with it.

We had a great time, but I didn't get home until almost 10:30 pm, which is waaaay past my bedtime.  I still got up at 4:30 AM to run the next day.

Hey, speaking of the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon. . .are you planning to join the party?  What?  Reluctant to run any part of the race series?  That is ok because you can still join us by volunteering.  Click here for volunteer registration and come laugh at me when I start to cry in mile 11.  Just kidding.  Maybe.  Regardless, you won't be crying because you'll be having fun on the sidelines with your fellow volunteers while knowing that you contributed to the running community.

Friday I saw And Then There Were None at the Hanna Theater in Cleveland.  It was a fabulous evening, and I highly recommend the play, or any play at Playhouse Square.  That night I got to bed around midnight, and I had to get up early to work the NEOEA Megaconference.  I was so tired on Saturday that even though the weather was gorgeous, I couldn't bring myself to run when I finished the conference and then cleaning my house.  My husband took the kids out for dinner, and that would have been a perfect opportunity to get in some miles, but instead I took a nap.  Fail.

This morning I redeemed myself, though, by getting up extra early (on a Daylight Savings weekend!) to go trail running with Renee, Jenn, and Carrie.  We did twelve miles on the Fools Course, and it felt great to be back on the trails in good company.

This is EXACTLY how I look after 12 miles on the trails.

What a bunch of Fools!

All in all, I am proud of the fact that I only lost 3 miles this week, despite life trying to get in the way.  I don't regret listening to my body when it told me that I am tired.  In fact, after this chocolate chip cookie, I'm going to listen to my body again and go take a nap.  

Until next week, run happy, Peeps!

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