Erin Runs 21

I want to be healthier tomorrow than I am today.

[chasingultra]

Get yo SPRANG on! 🌱 My running strength is finally coming back around after a long year of dramatic, unexplained physical lows. It’s the greatest feeling to watch the ground around me parallel this physical feeling of waking up again after a long, cold downtime. An old me would feel nervous to embrace it fully because “what if it all goes downhill the moment I feel like me?” But not this time. What’s the point of being granted wings if you’re always bracing for impact? Time to FLY! (Speaking of fly.. 📸: @flyaltenes) #utahtrailrunners #runspo #getoutandexplore #embracechange #wasatch

[erin-runs-21]

Toes are still broken, still not exercising, had another X-ray and doctor’s appointment and the fractures are still visible there, but apparently that’s not super surprising after 8 weeks. For exercise he told me to just go by feel, so might try a bike ride this weekend as that didn’t hurt much last time. It’s finally nice weather here and I am so bummed to not be out running.

Still trying to be patient with my body while it heals, but it’s getting harder and harder.

[sasha-glows]

ya girl finished a master’s degree in 10 months ✨🤙🏻 i’m exhausted and nursing the worst cold of my life but i did it!!!! thx columbia, for giving me the best education that i’ve ever received!! 👩🏼‍🎓✅ officially mastered

[erin-runs-21]

This deserves a huge congrats because tbh grad school is really hard. Way to go!

[rememo]

“Find out what makes you kinder, what opens you up and brings out the most loving, generous, and unafraid version of you―and go after those things as if nothing else matters. Because, actually, nothing does.”

— George Saunders (via mishproductions)

[lauralovegoods]

honestly there is nothing in the world quite so empowering as deciding that you want to run 10 miles on a beautiful morning and then going out and doing it

my body is strong and capable and beautiful and i am so, so grateful for it

[erin-runs-21]

Beautiful

[girl--rising]

When you take a burst during selfies and catch yourself laughing

[sasha-glows]

this just brightened my day ily

[erin-runs-21]

This is actually so cute.

[erin-runs-21]

I wasn’t active on this blog when I ran this half marathon last October, and since I’m dreaming about days when I was able to run, I’ll share this today. I’m grinning because I can see my sweet parents and friend who were there to cheer me on, and because I’ve crossed the finish line and get to stop running now. Soon, these toes will heal and I’ll be at it again.

[pearlslife]

dear body,

i feel like i fight with you a lot. i overstress you. you balloon up. i feed you too much dairy. you tighten up the calf muscles. i take three hour naps after my shorter shifts. you don’t wake me up at 6am like i want you to. i don’t always wash up right after a run. you break out in tiny pimples all over my face.  i scream at you internally whenever you release the monthly surge of hormones. you kick back at me with awful cramps, mood swings, appetite spikes, & bloat. 

but i have come to see that i mistreat you sometimes. i give you too much caffeine. sometimes i’m too lazy to wash my makeup off. i don’t exfoliate you as much as i should. i pick at scabs when i should let them heal. and most of all: i tell you you’re wrong. that you look too this or you don’t have enough of that. that you’re functioning poorly. that you aren’t doing your job. but perhaps the reality of it all is that i am not doing my job. 

but days like today, we work together and run. we run in the summer heat. i keep the skin healthy by applying lots of sunblock. you keep me cool by sweating like a maniac. i hydrate– you do millions of cellular energy conversions and muscle fiber contractions. and my mind? my mind says to you “hurt is inevitable. suffering is optional.” 

together, we can do what i once thought was impossible. 

and so i’m sorry, my dear body, for how i may mistreat you. but most of all thank you for persevering nonetheless. 

thank you. 

[erin-runs-21]

I got an email today saying that this blog is five years old! It gave me a good opportunity to pause and reflect on how much my relationship with my body has changed in those five years. I remember scrolling through a feed full of skinny girls in bathing suits when I first joined. I thought that was inspirational and motivating, because I wanted to be thinner.

At that time, I was working out somewhat regularly, but I had given up all the sports I played in high school, and was working towards purely aesthetic outcomes. Then, I signed up for a half marathon, and things began to change. I was running with pace and distance goals in mind. I was still worried about how I looked, how much I weighed, etc., but I was also challenging myself to achieve specific running outcomes. 

Since then, I have continued to run regularly , with a few pauses here and there. I have begun to think of running as my greatest stress release, my meditative time, and sometimes a social endeavour. In the past year I began running with my coworkers, and joined two running clubs in my community. I haven’t weighed myself in a year (or maybe two, I can’t even remember). I still have negative body image days, but they are far fewer and far between. My feed is filled with stories from other runners, who are setting goals and working hard to meet them, and that is what is inspirational and motivating now.

[focalist]

“When life is sweet, say thank you and celebrate. And when life is bitter, say thank you and grow.”

— Shauna Niequist (via stillesgeschrei)

[goaldengoats]

IT

HAPPENED

AND

IT

HAPPENED

BIIGGGGGGGG

1:54:37– THATS A FIVE MINUTE PR PEOPLE!!!!!

This is my 6th year in a row running this race! I’ve PRed a few times here but none of them were like THIS!

Besides the fact that I trained my booty off working towards this and MORE than achieved my goal… I felt fantastic the ENTIRE TIME!!! I was holding back as I was afraid I would burn out!

I’m so happy!!!

Currently- laying in bed with the dogs with my llama pants and unicorn slippers on 👏🏼🙌🏻

[erin-runs-21]

Congratulations!

[agirlnamedally]

What are some of the best pleasures of life?

diving under a wave in the sea, hugging someone you haven’t seen in the longest time, that first kiss with someone special, watching the sky change colours as the sun sets, collapsing into bed at the end of a long day, eating a mango like an apple, swimming in the rain, discovering a new band or artist, falling in love with a new place, getting so immersed in a book you don’t want to put it down, feeling someone smile as they kiss you, developing new freckles, the sound of your favourite person in the world laughing.

the little things are the best things

[erin-runs-21]

Missing running, missing swimming, feeling stiff, feeling lethargic, can’t wait for these toes to heal so I can get back into a regular exercise routine.

[runningtothefinish]

4 miles at 10000+ ft elevation and 20+ inches of snow. Testing out my new running pack for all the trial miles I can’t wait to do this year.

[erin-runs-21]

Lovely looking trail

[ellaruns-deactivated20200229]

Long Life Update

• I got a breast reduction surgery!!! It was the easiest surgery && best decision ever and if any of you guys are contemplating it then DO IT because it is amazing. That being said I wish he had gone just a little bit smaller but it’s only been two weeks so I’m hoping swelling might go down or something

• Due to point 1 I haven’t run or done any exercise for the past two weeks

• After literally 12 days of not running I GOT MY PERIOD for the first time in a year?!! Like it was seriously as simple as sitting on my butt for two weeks and eating copious amounts of Breyer’s non dairy cookies & cream (everyone needs this in their lives) 

• Looking back it is SO clear to me that I was overtraining & under fuelling. My appetite since not running has actually increased. I have a super sensitive stomach, so I would avoid eating too much before running – which was the bulk of the day since I was running late afternoon – and then for some reason running always decreases my appetite so I would just have a normal size dinner and go to bed. I was eating not nearly enough for the amount of exercise I was doing and I definitely felt it – I was tired, unmotivated, and generally had no energy for anything in life. But since I have a super obsessive personality I felt like I HAD to get my workouts in, hit a certain number of mileage every week & would get v anxious if I didn’t go for a run. I was ignoring all the signs my body was giving me, I wasn’t getting any faster & doing the same amount (or less) mileage felt harder & harder. It literally took getting SURGERY for me to take a break from running. 

Since being on this run break I suddenly have my energy back. I feel like socializing again, I feel so much calmer & less anxious, I’ve stopped waking up during the night to pee 2-3 times & just overall feel mentally better. I do love running and would like to get back into it but that being said I’m going to take as long as I need to “recover” from what I did to myself & take a lot of time to just CHILL. I think, realistically, I need to put on a bit of weight – since I only got to this weight by trekking 30km+ per day in New Zealand and haven’t really gained anything back. I didn’t think putting on weight would be such a mental challenge but it has been & I need to remind myself over and over that it is the healthy & right thing to do. 

• In other news, I’ve been starting every morning with a green smoothie like the basic vegan that I am and it makes me feel like superwoman (possibly placebo but whatever)

Anyway this was a super long ramble lol so kudos if you read it haha

[erin-runs-21]

These forced rest periods can be so illuminating!! Since breaking all the toes on my right foot I haven’t been able to run for the past 4.5 weeks, and it has been really interesting to think about how I’ve responded mentally and physically. 

I used to think that it was only “okay” to eat treats because I would run or swim to work off the extra calories later on. BUT now I am continuing to eat chocolate and banana bread and tortilla chips etc. because they are tasty and because my body needs nourishing and my soul needs nourishing whether I am running or not! And I think I’ve finally gotten to a place where I am eating intuitively and honouring what my body is craving and eating the right amounts of the right things (including sugary sweets and fatty snacks etc.) and that is so cool.

(Congrats on your surgery and sorry for hijacking this post with a not-entirely-related experience, but I felt prompted to share this!)

[lovelustquotes]

[aliciaruns]

found a cute lil (non-hilly) greenway after work and ran a few miles to remind myself that i am still faster than i was right before moving here! slow hilly miles are great and i love running trails here, but seeing how much slower my pace is can feel demotivating. sometimes ya need to just let yourself fly!