Heeeeey, I'm back...I think!

Two months post Ironman, and things are starting to fall together again. It happened this past week, seemingly overnight. Wednesday, I tried to make up for missing a group run (working late) by running on the treadmill. Fifteen minutes in at a not-fast pace (or it didn't USED to be fast), I had taken a one-way ticket to Suckytown. I felt awful, my legs hurt in this oddball numb sort of way, and I realized that I was having exactly ZERO fun. So I bagged it. I did fifteen minutes of weights because it seemed oddly important to log an hour of working out for the day (I had done 30 minutes of yoga in the morning) and I went home. And I didn't feel bad about it in the least. For real, I didn't. That's a bizarre change in me right there, but since I tend to err on the side of obsessive freak more than slacker, I think that's a GOOD shift.

The next morning I felt tired as soon as I woke up. One of THOSE days, but I made myself do the five mile super hilly run I had planned. And I did it. And I. Felt. Awesome. I wasn't back to the speed I used to run but I was faster than a lot of my runs have been lately, and more importantly, I felt really good while I was out there. THAT hasn't happened much since the race. Saturday was a 10 mile run. It was supposed to be 9. Adding on that extra mile wasn't bad. I barely looked at my Garmin. It helped that I had a few new friends and we talked the whole time. And I felt great after the fact. Energized, even. OK, I won't pretend that I felt energized ALL day after that run, but I didn't feel beaten down like I have after long runs lately. And, of course, that was my longest run since the IM. If you want to be technical, it's the first time I've run ten miles in one stretch (since the IM was a lot of run/walking) since 11/10/12.

AND I feel more like myself in the rest of my life. Suddenly, I'm little miss productive. Now that I'm getting some energy back, I'm seriously stoked about the extra time I have in my life now. I can make food, I can clean the house, I can organize things that went totally awry last year. It's amazing. I feel more like the me I like - productive, energetic, confident - yep.

Time to tackle life like an Ironwoman!!