How Jodi got her groove back....

My name isn't Stella but I am going to use the altered movie title anyway :). Two simple words explain how I got my groove back: rest day!! It was certainly obvious to me today that yesterday's rest day was just what I needed. I headed out for a nice three mile run after work and imagine my surprise when my legs were actually turning over at a decent pace. Today's run made me realize how important rest days are and that if we continually push ourselves we will eventually breakdown in one form or another. For me it was both a physical and emotional breakdown. The physical part reared its ugly head in the form of a sore throat and "lead" legs. The emotional part was the fact that I was miserable, mentally, the entire run and couldn't believe how awful it was and how glad I was to just be done with it. I still have the sore throat and I have been fighting a headache all day but I am starting to feel much better and am thankful for the sunshine today. Speaking of sunshine, why is it so hard to decide what to wear to run in this time of year? Take today for example. I check weather.com right before I change for my workout. Current temperature: 45*. Feels like temperature: 39*. Okay, 39* isn't exactly warm so I decide to go with long pants, a light weight long sleeve shirt, and a light weight windbreaker. I was cold when I started running but was almost too hot by the end. So I will leave you with this question: "How do you decide what to wear?"

Keep running, you're simply the best, and you inspire me!!

Migraines, Movies, and Mileage

Migraines- I came home from work on Thursday with a pretty bad headache. It turned "migraine" like within twenty minutes of being home. I had a 3 mile run scheduled but the thought of running made my head hurt ten times worse. Four motrin, two tums, some Monavie Active and a completely darkened room didn't even help aleve the pain. I had to make the decision to take an unscheduled rest day. I figured my health was more important and May is still several months away. I don't think that one missed day will ruin all of my marathon training. What I do know is that I feel awful for people that are prone to migraines. I get them "maybe" once a year. I don't know how people get through that pain.

Movies- Last night Deb and I took our daughters to dinner and a movie. We saw "The Tooth Fairy". It was a cute movie with a few slow moving points, but cute nevertheless. After the movie we let the girls pick dinner. After about ten minutes they decided on Fujiyama (a hibachi grill). The food there is always fantastic and very filling. I had intended to run my five miles when we got home from the movies. Unfortunately for me, when we got back to Deb's house to pick up my Trailblazer it had a flat tire. Deb's husband was nice enough to put air in my tire so that Kaelynn and I could get home safely. By the time we got home it was after ten and I was exhausted. I decided it best to call it a night and plan to run my five miles this morning. So yet again I took another unscheduled rest day yesterday. I had a hard time getting motivated this morning to complete the five miles on my normally scheduled day off. I put my lack of motivation out there on my facebook status update in the hopes of finding the motivation to get it done. Thankfully I have great family and friends that immediately started telling me to get my rear in gear and get out there and run. I finished the five mile run this morning feeling proud, accomplished, and sweaty.

Mileage- My current running shoes are just about tapped out mileage wise. I have a new pair of shoes waiting for me in the closet. The dilemma I am having is when to switch to the new shoes. I don't necessarily want to break them in tomorrow on an 11 mile run but I do have to break them in soon. The last time I broke in new shoes, I wasn't training for a marathon and I still ended up with blisters the first few times out. Anyone have any suggestions on the shoe front?

Keep running, you're simply the best, and you inspire me!