Unbreakable Gretchen Diehl

Females are strong as hell.

I decided 4 days ago that I should start training for the Broad Streeet Run (you know, the 10-miler that happens in 3 weeks), so I have been slapping on a few sports bras and enjoying the gorgeous weather.

It IS ridiculous that I waited this long to start, but it was icy, the baby got a cold and [insert third excuse here].  Also, I don't have the kind of... what-do-you-call-it... pride? that saddles a person with the kind of guilt that keeps them from crapping out at mile 4, so at least I know I won't overdo it.

I get to run in Cooper River Park, which is helpful because it's pretty gorgeous year round.  Today I went about 3/4 of a mile without stopping to walk, which isn't exactly braggable, but I can build from there.  Truth be told I had only run 4 miles in a stretch before I did the Broad Street Run the first time, and it was fine.

Over the years that I have half-assedly been a runner, I have learned some tricks to get through the tougher parts of a run, when you feel like quitting:

1. Visual goals:  when you feel like you'd like to walk, choose the next physical marker and tell yourself to run to that.  Even if it's only 100 feet away, you may find that when you get to it, you feel like you can keep going.  If you feel like you HAVE to walk, you should walk, but the visual goal gives you a chance to get past the stopping urge if it is just your muscles being lazy.

2. Give yourself a pattern.  A good one for beginners is; run for one minute, walk for one minute.  Just alternating helps keep your heart rate up while giving your legs and lungs the recovery time to go farther, faster than if you ran as fast as you could until you were burnt out and HAD to walk.  This is also good for preventing injury if you are concerned about your knees, back, etc.

3. Distraction.  Music is great for this, but I only like to wear headphones when I am participating in a big organized run.  When I am running alone, I feel like headphones make me vulnerable (other poeple KNOW you are distracted/ you can't hear cars or other runners), and if I am running with a buddy, I hate to feel like I'm ignoring them.  If you can't listen to music, you can think about other things; make a shopping list in your head, practice your answers to common interview questions, make mental notes about a blog post you want to write later :)

But the thing that helped me the most today was a little tip I picked up from Kimmy Schmidt; "you can stand ANYTHING for ten seconds!" 

When I felt the quitting urge, I just counted to 10, and when that 10 seconds was over, I counted to 10 again.  It's pretty insane how well it worked...

If you haven't seen it, I think the opener speaks for itself:

The Great Derailer

I went into the kitchen on Thursday to get a snack and took the last 5 Oreos out of the package and threw the bag away.  As I sat and enjoyed them on the couch, accompanied by the currently quiet hum of the baby monitor, a thought wormed it's way into my conscious mind, 'didn't I just buy these Oreos on Tuesday?' 

With half a cookie in my mouth, the other in my hand, and a sinking feeling in the base of my ribcage, I texted my husband and sheepishly asked, "Did you eat any of the Oreos in the pantry?" To which he gave the most soul-crushing response I could have asked for...

"...we had Oreos?"

NOOOOOOOO!  I had eaten an entire package of cookies in 2 days, by myself.  I had broken it up into socially acceptable stacks of cookies multiple times throughout the day, so I HADN'T EVEN NOTICED IT MYSELF, and the end of the package snuck up on me.  Once I collected myself, I realized that the only thing I could do was eat well for the rest of the day. 

Oh, were you wondering what happened to the half cookie that was in my hand?  I ate that before Dan could respond.  If I had waited until he confirmed that I had, in fact, eaten the entire package myself, I might have had to put it in the garbage disposal like it was drug paraphanelia.

But let's focus on the good that was done, and not the crazy addict behavior... for my benefit: I decided to eat well for the rest of the day.  In the past, when presented with this type of dietary derailer, I would have said, "Well, today's fucked.  Let's order a pizza and another pizza made out of a giant cookie."  But on Thursday it didn't derail me.  This is new, and I think it's important.  There is no such thing as "blowing" your diet.  Do your best to stay on track, and when you inevitably slip (because you are a human), get back on track as soon as you can.  Having pizza for lunch does not mean you can't have a healthy dinner.  I named this blog FOR that concept.  When I would indulge in the past, I would use it as an excuse to indulge all day long, and push my dietary start date til tomorrow.  But if having a baby has taught me anything, it's that the concept of NOW is most important.  When I had GD, my baby could not have waited for tomorrow for my self-control to start, or suffered through full days of high sugar readings because I "blew my diet" with a donut and then decided to eat poorly for the rest of the day.  He needed for me to begin now.

Being present in this moment also involves letting the last one go, while learning from it.

It is so easy to focus on our failures, even when we have had hundreds more successes.  After every good meal, congratulate yourself, instead of just thinking that it was what you were supposed to do.  Eating well can feel great, it can be satisfying and delicious, but it can also be HARD, and it's important to acknowledge that.  Count up your good meals and snacks against your slip ups before you have determined that you have failed, and it's time to give up on the day.  Then try not to buy Oreos the next time you go to the grocery store, and pat yourself on the back when you succeed.

Things I've learned from pregnancy and the first 4 months of motherhood

**buried treasure from 8 months ago that I never posted.  It's neat to see how things have changed...

There are things out there that are hard to understand unless you have kids or have been pregnant.  If you are among the population that has not yet gone through this crazy transformation, or never plans on it, here are some things that I wish I had known a year ago:
1.  Don't comment on a woman's body.  I know, it sounds VERY obvious, but you may have done it in a way that you didn't think was bad, or you may not have realized you were even doing it.  Predicting the baby's gender based on how a womanis carrying involves staring at her midsection for at least 2 seconds in a scrutinizing manner, which most humans don't enjoy.  When a friend of mine was expecting her second baby I was OBSESSED with how she was carrying .  Her first was a girl, and her belly was really low-profile, but her second was going to be a boy, and he stuck straight out in front!  It was incredible!  People had been telling me that with girls, you grow wide and boys were usually all in the front, so I was fascinated with the difference in her 2 pregnancies.  I started greeting her belly-first instead of making eye contact.  The thing is, I didn't realize that this obsession in and of itself could be hurtful... Until I was pregnant and EVERYONE wanted to tell me I was having a boy, or saying "wow!  You're all out in front!"  Thanks.  I know it's a boy, and I feel like a whale even though I've gained within the reccomended number of pounds.  But it took experience to realize that I was being a rude idiot myself.  If you're reading this, buddy, I'm sorry about myself;)
2.  Don't assume naptime is the best time to hang out with your new mom friend. Nap time is sacred.   It sounds like a good idea, but your friend with the baby won't mind talking to you while her tyke shrieks and squirms on her. Make her feel like it's not that much of a distraction, and try not to get annoyed with lots of interruptions (you're right, it IS annoying.  Babies are extremely rude). The thing is, she has important stuff to do during nap time, like sit on the floor in the pantry with a glass of wine and look at pictures of her exes on Facebook.  In sweet delicious silence.

** I guess I never finished it, but these two tips are still pretty good ;)