Thankful Things Thursday: Run Survival

So far I’m not too impressed with Thursday. I was beyond exhausted when I woke up, my stomach is giving me hell and it took three subway transfers to get to the office.

I could let myself be cranky.

That would be fun. I’d be punching people by 10 am.

Orrrrrrr…

I could give myself an imaginary slap across the fact, tell myself to snap out of it and go on with my day in a better mood.

Let’s try to go with the latter, OK?

(Embarrassing confession: It took me about five years to finally remember which one was “latter” and which was “former” in that old expression. For some reason I had a really hard time with it. I’ll be further embarrassed if I got it wrong up above…)

So as you know, Thursday is a made-up holiday at Ali On The Run called Thankful Things Thursday. It’s a time to reflect on the awesome things in life, whether they’re simple (chocolate) or profound (dark chocolate). Here’s what’s on my happy list today:

I’m thankful I get to try new things all the time. I attribute this to living in New York City, where opportunities are endless, and to finally allowing myself to step out of my comfort zone every now and then. On Tuesday I was excited to attend the launch of FITiST, which I talked about a little bit yesterday. Click here to read more about the event in a “live chat” type situation. (You may notice that I am the one in the group chat who repeatedly brings up the brownies. Yes, I have a one-track mind.)

I love meeting new people, I love trying new things and I am still sore from this crazy-long event. Success!

I’m thankful for busy days. For whatever reason (the weather?) this week has felt endless. But somehow each individual day has flown by. Yesterday in particular was very productive. Success again!

Note: I’m still in a funk from my rough morning. So I will continue thinking of things to be thankful for now.

Beer! I’m thankful for beer! I have never drank beer in my life. I’m a wine girl. For a long time I preferred the boxed variety. Yes, it’s true, my college roommates and I survived on a solid diet of bacon, egg and cheese sandwiches, pizza bites and Franzia. Sunset Blush was our favorite. Now I’m more of a Pinot Grigio girl, because I’m so adult-like and classy.

But last night after work I met up with Tina, who was in town for roughly 19 seconds, and it seemed like the right time to give beer a fair shot.

I usually avoid carbonated beverages and I’ll gladly expand on that in another post sometime if anyone actually cares, but the beer she picked out for me — Blue Point Toasted Ale — was surprisingly good! It was a much heavier drink than I’m used to and I can see myself getting full really fast from it. But I’m glad I tried it, and I’ll try it again.

And it sent me off to the gym with a fun little buzz (which very quickly wore off).

I’m thankful for spinning. I’m thankful for the Wednesday night class that gets me through my week. I didn’t always love this class. Wednesday was a tough day to drag myself to the gym because it’s usually when the mid-week exhaustion sets in. But these days it’s become something I really look forward to. And once class is over, it’s on to Thursday and then the weekend is right around the corner!

I’m thankful I made Brussels sprouts again. On my way home from the gym last night I was beat and I really wanted to just order something easy for dinner. But then I heard a little cry from my debit card, deep inside my wallet. It said, “Please, Ali, no! I’m exhausted! Stop swiping me!” Fine, debit card, you little brat. So I cooked.

I saved myself money by cooking. Good job, Frugal Ali. Take note, this is not all I ate for dinner. Do you know me yet? I also had a heaping bowl of spaghetti and half a bag of baby carrots. Then I dipped some pretzels in Dark Chocolate Dreams peanut butter. Happy, full belly.

I’m thankful I fall asleep easily. Maybe it’s just because I’m so tired at the end of every day — and I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not. But lately, when I crawl into my nice new bedding, I pass out immediately. No tossing. No turning. It’s bliss.

I’m thankful I survived my run this morning. I was excited for today’s run: 5 miles, including a 1-mile warm-up, then three miles including striders (hang on, I’ll explain), and a 1-mile cool down. Coach Cane explained to me that striders are short, fast bursts where you run at your half marathon goal pace for 20-30 seconds. He told me to pay attention to my feet, and make sure I’m picking them up higher off the ground than I probably normally do.

Fun!

I like a challenge.

It helped that it wasn’t raining out this morning, for once.

The striders were pretty fun. I like short challenges that leave me feeling energized but not like I’m going to die. (Who would enjoy that feeling?) But during Mile 4, my stomach basically said “F you, Ali.” I wrote a post on my Run For The Rabbit blog last night about how my stomach has been acting up lately. I keep hoping it’s just a fluke and not a pending flare-up, but I’m a little freaked out. It’s not fun being a mile away from your apartment and keeling over in pain on the side of the road. I’ll give it a few days and then might be hitting up the ol’ GI doctor’s office.

Also, when I did make it back to my apartment (alive and well), I noticed this:

Nice, right? At least the blood matched my shoes!

I think I just got bitten by something while I was running, but I did feel pretty hardcore for running with a bloody leg.

I’m thankful for hot pink. After a week of succumbing to drab colors, today I went for hot pink and white. Yes, Mom, I’m wearing white before Memorial Day. Please don’t be mad.

I’m thankful I’m resting tonight and all day tomorrow. Tomorrow is a total rest day. Look how good I’m getting at taking rest days! After Coach Cane’s wife told me that I wasn’t working hard enough if I didn’t like rest days, I can’t stop thinking about it. So I’ve been pushing it and really earning my rest. It’ll be nice to fully relax before Saturday’s half marathon.

I’m thankful for kind, generous people. I’m floored that I’m currently at the top of the fundraising leaderboard in the Run For The Rabbit race. Thank you, from the bottom of my Crohnsy heart, to everyone who has contributed so far. People are good. Sometimes I don’t believe that, but lately I really, really do.

I’m thankful for dark chocolate M&Ms. They’re fantastic in my trail mix and I’m glad the M&M people decided to create them.

I’m thankful for inky pens. I really hate ballpoint ones, and I’m glad a smart person invented felt-tipped pens.

Look! My bad mood is lifting!

And if I keep telling myself that, I’ll be perky in no time.

NOW IT’S YOUR TURN: What are you thankful for today?