This weekend was full of food, movies, laying in bed..and of course running. The most running I’ve done in a weekend in fact!

Friday afternoon the running group emailed back and forth the plan for our 10 mile run. We had decided to run towards Roosevelt Island, but decided against running on the island itself. Trail running isn’t our thing….yet. So I mapped out a run that would bring us towards there and give us the 10 miles plus a little add on to walk back as a cool down. It was all set. Friday night Chris and I heard the wind howling a lot, and that says a lot since we are in a high rise. But I just kept thinking it will be okay, we can do this. We woke up and the wind levels came down from 40 mph to about 27. I thought it was okay. So we started to walk over to meet up. While waiting for Liz to arrive we talked about how crazy the wind was and I decided that if I couldn’t get through it I would try again tomorrow. We started to run and it was one of the hardest runs ever. I struggled and walked a little, it was ridiculous, but I kept going. I made it to the turn around point and headed back, although the wind wasn’t bad coming back I was still super frustrated and super tired from running against the wind. So at 6 miles I stopped and just walked back, I was mad at myself but I didn’t have it in me. I saw Shannon do the same on the way back. Liz on the other hand made the whole 10 miles, I am super proud of her, it was not easy!

The run wiped me out so Chris and I just hung out Saturday night and we FINALLY went to see Silver Linings Playbook. It was pretty good!

The next morning I was determined to do the 10 miles. I might be traveling soon for work, (but don’t know when yet) and I didn’t know when my next long run would be so I was determined to get this one done. The only thing..I’d be doing it alone. This was my first long run alone ever! I was scared I’d give up, but I was determined. So I grabbed my phone and headphones, another thing I’ve never done before on a run, and I started my run. I immediately started to hurt from the day before, but I pushed through it (the music actually helped my motivation). I did the whole run, with a little break for this picture, with a 11:30ish pace. (YEY finally can snap a picture since I had my phone!)

Not bad for running 6 miles just the day before. I was proud of myself that I did it! But I was dying afterwards and could hardly walk.

I stretched like crazy, foam rolled like crazy, and spent the rest of the day in bed with my best friend pro-compression socks. Only to get up for an epic lunch (consisting of a bagel AND donut) and epic dinner (Chris caved and let me go out for sushi since he was proud). It was a pretty relaxed..but run filled weekend.

Another thing I did this weekend was wear the same outfit as I had worn back in October when I took a before picture when I was starting my whole healthy eating/living journey. I was so happy when I looked at myself now, and looked at myself back then, that I thought I would share. Although my journey is not over yet (I’m not near where I want to be), I wanted to share this transformation. Hopefully this can motivate others out there. I know for myself looking at these pictures motivates me, and they keeps me inspired to keep working to get where I want to be. So here it is….4 months in.