Wellness Wednesday...week...something or other

I'll figure out what week I'm on next week.  For now, wow, it's been awhile since I did a wellness wednesday update, last update was closing out August, and now it's almost October!  So here is where I'm at...I got some good mileage in for August, my long run will be 10 miles this weekend, and  I took a week off in the middle (actually last week).  Last week was supposed to be a cutback week after a long run of 9 miles (which I totally rocked).  I ended up not running at all between the 9 miles on Sunday to this past Sunday where I clocked in 4 miles.  Which leads me to today's topic...exercise guilt.  That feeling you get when you "know" you "should" be running (or working out) and you just...don't.  Missing a run here or there, no big deal...missing a week's worth...the guilt can be overwhelming.  However, sometimes you just need to not run.

Last week I was dealing with a lot of stress due to work.  My back had knotted up so badly due to the stress and tension I was carrying around that I was in a bit of pain.  So instead of worrying about NOT running, I took some time to do a little bit of stretching and lots of massage/rolling of my back. By the time Sunday came around, I was able to run and feel good.  Running in the middle of the week would have probably led to a terrible run, which would have generated a lot of negative feelings, and (knowing me) crushed my confidence in a long run.  There are days that a bad run is NOT better than no run.

So I recovered this week, my mileage for the month is at 32, the weather is great, my stress levels are low, and I don't feel bad about missing those runs.  I am looking forward to my long run this weekend, and I know physically and mentally I'm prepared for it.  This is the most excited I've ever been for a 10 mile run...now I just hope I can live up to my own hype!

That's where I'm at right now.  I am looking to get a new pair of shoes to start rotating in with my old pair so that I can prolong the life of the old ones.  I have almost 6 weeks left before my half marathon, so I'm feeling really good!

In other race news, I've decided on a spring half, (so very excited) and I'm actually considering adding another spring race.  This would mean running two half marathons within 3 weeks next spring...but that's a decision to be made at a later date.  After my race in November, I'll decide if I'm ready to tackle two races so close together.