The past few days have left me feeling like I have been hit by a bus and nope, it isn't post Kauai Marathon recovery. It is plain old girl stuff....I am 100% convinced. Recently I wrote a post on your menstrual cycle and running. Check it out and I do believe some months my running is impacted more by hormones than other months. As I stand here barely able to hold my arms up I thought it would be the perfect time to write up my 5 tips for women running. Okay, some of these may work for guys too but since I am including a hormonal element, please don't feel left out.- Have a Plan: Today is day 1,358 of my running streak and I had been running on and off since before then. I have gone from no plan at all, to loose plans, to formal plans, to very detailed plans with splits, etc. noted. Over the years I have found I do a much better job getting out there and running if I have a plan but I have also found, sometimes a less detailed plan is the better plan. In my training I have weeks where the plan is just to run every day or to run x-minutes. I can't run with highly detailed plans and goals 365 days a year. I need those down times in my training and plan them in accordingly.
- Go with the Flow: This may be contrary to tip 1 but sometimes you just need to go with the flow and forget the plan. I know! What am I saying?! Forget the plan? Sometimes, yes. This is especially true if you are a mom, have a job, and have a zillion other things to do. Give yourself some breathing room and realize sometimes not following the plan is best for you and this can be tied to your hormones too. I did warn you those hormones were going to pop up. Sometimes not following the plan means yep, still run those 5 miles but ease up on the pace. Or sometimes it may be, run less. This month my heavy flow day was intensely heavy. It left me feeling wiped out and even though I pulled off a great 5 mile run yesterday, last night I felt like the truck came back and ran me over again. Today it is an easy mile day as blood loss isn't the only raging battle. I haven't been sleeping well and having nightmares so essentially, I could turn into a walking basket case any moment. Taking care of myself now will pay off in the long run. Or shall I say, taking care of myself now just may make that long run this weekend more awesome.
- Do not feel Guilty: As women we can be great at feeling guilty. I am reading a book that is talking about how ridiculously guilty feeling we can be -- especially moms of preschoolers. Oh yes, did I feel guilty then every single time I laced up. It was like I was abandoning my child to go running. How could I do that? What kind of mom was I? Well in fact, the perfect kind. Moms have to take care of themselves and ladies even if you are not a mom, take care of yourself guilt-free. Take some time each and every day for yourself. You deserve it. And hey, it will make you a better person for every one else too. I had a bumper sticker years ago that said, "When Mom gets CRANKY I send her for a run."
- Carry ID: This really should go without saying but please, carry ID. If you don't want to carry your driver's license I get it but there is RoadID. It really is better to be safe than sorry. I have a slim RoadID that I wear non-stop. Yep, it is on me day in and day out....every. single. day. Why? Because then I will never forget to put it on and it is a part of me. It reminds me that I run for Toby every time I look at it (it has a badge on it that says that plus it is blue for Down syndrome awareness) and it reminds me that I am running God's race (yep, I have that on it too).
- Communicate your Running Plan: I know people who go out a run at any time of day and any place and don't tell a soul. Trust me, dear hubby is one of them. Drives me nuts. The best story of worry was years ago when he left for his run. At least I knew he was heading out. Score 1. He typically would be back within two hours but it was over three hours and not a peep or sign of him. Phone calls and texts asking about his well being went unanswered. I was getting quite worried knowing he carries no ID when he runs. As four hours approached he got in touch with me and then I found out that he drove over 45 minutes to start his run. If I had known that before he left I wouldn't have started to worry. I would have factored in drive time. Fortunately he was a-OK but ask yourself this, if you did go out somewhere to run that is isolated (or not), didn't tell a soul, and got into trouble....how long would it take for someone to find you? How hard is it to say, hey, I am going to run here at this time of day? Do it. Communicate your plan. One day it just may save your life. On that note, I am not saying post to facebook and the whole entire world that I am heading out to run at x in x minutes. That may be too wide of a broadcast alert. Just saying....
Daily Gratitude: I am thankful the tsunami that hit Hawaii today was negligible.
Daily Bible Verse: I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you. ~ Genesis 28:15
