The new normal and my return to a 5k!!

I'm going to do my best to return to regular blogging. I've started and stopped a post about 20 times over the last almost two months. I cry every time I start, but I'm going to power through. I don't want this blog to be a Debbie Downer blog. I want it to be goal-oriented (for me) and to see my hard work pay off.

The blog is about my path to returning to running. But, if you read my blog, you know in August my house was flooded. We lost everything in the house except for my grandmother's wood table that I refused to throw out, although maybe it should be chunked. Long story short: we are living in another suburb while waiting for renovations to START. That's right, we haven't even started yet.

We are in a daily, sometimes hourly struggle with the insurance company, the adjusters, the contractors, FEMA, the government for a loan....it is incredibly frustrating. Our lives are literally in the hands of about a dozen people and we have NO control.

We did have flood insurance, and we've quickly found out that we would be better off WITHOUT flood insurance. Lots of stories right there, but let's move along.

It feels like somebody has a voodoo doll of me and are just jabbing away. The worst, and I mean the worst, is my daughter and how she's having to handle this. Again, can't go into much or I will start crying. She's a kid who is worrying about adult problems and I hate that for her.

But, we are not giving up and hopefully by 2017 we will be back in our house. It's looking more and more like 2017.

My health has been interesting. I ended up getting down to my lowest weight of 157, but not in a good way. Only three times in my life have I just quit eating. When I was going through chemo (to be expected), when I had a bit of post partum depression after my daughter was born and now. September was the WORST month for me in many ways. This is totally unlike me, and I have spoken to my doctor about it. It's stress. Plain and simple. My days of overeating are gone (yay!), but I do not want to fall into days of not eating.

Luckily I have gained a few pounds back. Yes, I'm still trying to lose weight, but the RIGHT way. My meals have been fast food and packaged meals. I'm trying to balance somebody else's kitchen and fridge and time and omgz...I'm completely out of my comfort zone.

Now onto happier times: This weekend I ran my first 5K in three years I think? Rock N' Roll NOLA had a free tuneup, gearup 5K and me and Rich did it! Soooooooo happy.

Perfect weather: check
No hip issues or foot issues: check
No thoughts of giving up: check
Got a medal for the first time in three years: check
Spent time being a normal couple whose lives haven't been turned upside down by water: CHECK!

Old State Capital

New State Capital in the distance

Before the race
 
 

After the race (luvvvv him)

Rich, who is a pro treadmill walker, walked the entire thing. And beat me. HAHAHAH! And that's ok! I was super proud of him and us. This was not his first 5K, but he did amazing. I think he beat me by 10 minutes.

My time: 54 minutes. LOL! In my defense, the course was longer than a 5K. But I loved every minute of the race. My biggest issue were my lungs. They were on fire and just as I had predicted, I had to start walking/jogging at the half mile mark. I did end up jogging most of the race, but I was jogging very slowly.

I had been looking forward to this for weeks and it was perfect for me mentally. I had a goal, something to look forward to and plot it out.

Considering I had not run in about six months, I've been getting little sleep, I had NACHOS the night before, I'd say this was a win.

We then celebrated going to Past Times where I got a Barbecue Poboy and it was out. Standing!!!

So I'm going to do my best to start getting out there for at least a mile a few times a week. I'm dying to run a marathon, but I'm not ready for a 5k at this point, much less a full marathon. Also, my time is way, way too slow. I need to run about a 9-minute mile before tackling a full marathon. I can't get up at 3 a.m. to run 10 miles. Nope. So the next few months I'm going to work on endurance, then speed.

I'm also embarking on writing my second novel. I'm participating in the National Writing Month contest in November. Goal: write 50,000 words by December 1. I'm actually doing really good with my outline and prep right now, so I'm looking forward to this.

So basically I'm doing my best to turn lemons into lemonade. Most days I fail. But, chin up, suck it up buttercup, life moves on for everybody else and it's time to put on my armor and get out there!

Hope your racing season is going well. I love reading everybody's stories about their running.