For those who follow along with my weekly workouts posts, it will come as no surprise that I’ve been having some hip flexor pain lately. What you may not know is that I had a similar injury two summers ago, in my other hip, and I’ve been thinking about that experience a lot lately as I try to figure out how to rest, recover, prevent further or future damage, and also get back on track with marathon training.
As the temperatures climb and the sun continues to shine, it feels like summer is finally here. It’s felt that way for a few weeks, actually, but there was a moment in May when I doubted it was coming. Now that it has, and I’m at the start of my first summer in a full time job, I’ve been thinking about what it is, other than free time or vacation or a summer internship, that makes the season special. What I realized is that to me, summer is a verb. It’s a state of mind and a way of living, and no matter what I’m doing day to day, I’ll be happy to be summering.
My blog is a wonderful outlet for sharing my running journey and new recipes, but can’t totally reflect my reality. I love running, and I am so excited to be kicking off my five months of training for the New York City Marathon in November. I enjoy creating new allergy free recipes, and only hope that I have time this summer to spend some time experimenting in the kitchen. Yet running and cooking together take only a couple of hours out of my day, and as for the rest of what I’m doing, I’m doing it as Alyssa, not as Renaissance Runner Girl. So where does that leave me and my blog? Right now, it has me thinking about where I personally leave off and the blogger begins, where the two overlap, and what I want the focus of this blog to be.
There are many reasons why I love a Maine vacation. Getting to run along the Atlantic. Goofing off by the Bean Boot. Eating all the delicious food, the burgers and baked goods, special meals out, and ice cream galore. But I think the best part is the feeling of being totally at peace, a feeling I had on our day in Kennebunkport and have had in the past in this place. To me, taking a vacation means truly getting away from everything that weighs you down in daily life, and for some reason, I was able to spend more moments doing just that in Maine than I have been anywhere else.
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about plans and priorities, not just for organization’s sake but because I have a lot going on this spring and all the plans on the calendar reeled off in quick succession make it scary to think how fast the time will fly by. This weekend was the last for awhile with no major events. I had the happiest day on Saturday even though I wasn’t doing much of anything – running, baking and blogging, a burger and fries and ice cream with my boyfriend. I really need that kind of day once in awhile. I’m looking forward to everything that’s coming, but there is a certain amount of stress that accompanies it all, especially for a natural planner like me.
I’m thinking out loud today about a little phrase I’ve grown to believe in over the past few years. It particularly resonates during this first month of the year, when everyone is so determined to stick to their resolutions, or feeling guilty about already having broken them, or remorseful about having not made any at all. With all of the changes in my life in the past year, some expected and others taking me entirely by surprise, my mantra lately has been that “life happens while you’re making other plans” and even though I’ve since found out that these words I read somewhere years ago aren’t exactly quoted right, they ring true to me.
With all the people out there who are still resolved to stick to strict New Year’s resolutions centered around their eating habits, or those who have thrown in the towel because they slipped up once or twice, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about finding my balance with food.
Eggs, peas, carrots, and mushroom chicken sausage
As promised in yesterday’s 10K race recap, today is all about my second stab at the Walt Disney World Half Marathon. I ran this race last year as my second half marathon ever, and my first distance race after coming back from a hip injury that kept me from running for three months during the prior summer. I was nervous and excited as I approached the starting line of this race in 2015. While I experienced both of those emotions this year in some measure, my general feeling was far away from where it had been. What a difference a year can make.
This week marks my one year blog-iversary. On December 5, 2014, I decided to start a blog, and on December 7, 2014, I published my very first post. I can’t believe it’s been a year, but lots of time, effort, creative thought, photography, and discussion has led to more than 200 posts, dozens of delicious gluten free recipes, and many memories shared in this space. This post is all about the highlights of the past year and my thoughts on what blogging means to me, as well as my hopes for the future of Renaissance Runner Girl.
renaissancerunnergirl 