About Molly @ A Fresh Start For Molly

A Fresh Start For Molly is a personal blog about losing weight, eating good food, exercising more, staying motivated and making mistakes

Warm weather updates

Posted on May 4, 2013 by Molly @ A Fresh Start For Molly

I hope you will join me in laughing at the ridiculousness of the above Instagram “selfie.” I decided I wanted a photo for this post that demonstrated that I did my first run today in shorts AND a T-shirt since last fall … so I promptly stood up and snapped this headless masterpiece in front of my unmade bed. Don’t hate me because I’m so creative. Focus on the shorts and the T-shirt – it’s finally spring!

Anyway – long time no talk! I’m going to be honest, I’m very much enjoying my life as a non-blogger. After four years of writing fairly regularly at various blogs, it was definitely time to let it go. However, the weather lately has inspired me to check in and update on how life has been for me lately.

It happens every year, but I am still always so surprised at what the arrival of warm weather does for my soul. We had an extra long winter this year and this past week was the first full week of acceptable weather since last October. And now I don’t have to worry about the cold or snow for another six months, at least.

We are actually less than six months out from the wedding now. As soon as we hit that milestone time seemed to start flying. I was in a bit of a slump with wedding planning and pretty much wanted nothing to do with it for a while there, but last weekend we got a lot done and actually started DIYing a bit.

(P.S. Burlap really stinks. I did not know that before we made this jar for our centrepieces.)

I really feel like I have so much to look forward to in the next few months. Now that it has warmed up I’m pledging to explore Saint John more, since we just moved here last fall. This week I did a five-miler that took me into Rockwood Park. We finished our half-marathon there at the entrance but I had never run inside. It was lovely and I didn’t get attacked while running alone. Win-win!

Next weekend is my sister’s graduation party for medical school and then she’s moving to start her new life as a resident in Kingston, Ont. And then in three weeks I’ll be heading up Ontario way for Ottawa Race Weekend!

As preparation for the 10K, I’ve only been running three times a week. I am so over running exclusively while doing no other type of exercise. When I was training for the HM I ran five times a week and got burnt out after the February race. I did hardly anything throughout March and then joined the gym and started switching up my workouts. So far I’ve done a few group swimming practices, spin class, treadmill and weight workouts.

Now that the Bikini Series at to neitup.com has launched, I’ve been following along and doing some of those workouts. Today after my run I did Under The Sea and Sunkissed Abs.

I went out for a 10K this morning (in my shorts and a T-shirt) and really enjoyed it. I always try to talk myself out of going for a run, thinking I’ll be bored, but I was happy at the end of this one. Today’s run was two minutes slower than my PR. I’ve accepted that I’m not going to PR in Ottawa, and I’m OK with it. I just want to enjoy my weekend and take in the sights and sounds of my first “big” race.

That being said, wouldn’t it be great if I came from behind and beat the elites?

Also on the docket for this summer are my first sprint-distance triathlon at the end of June, a full week of vacation at the lake in early August along with my bridal shower, then my bachelorette on Labour Day weekend (just got the word that it will be in Montreal!). Then before we know it, it will be wedding time!

I have no other way to describe my excitement about this stuff other than “I want to vomit all over everything!” Sorry if that’s graphic, but my stomach gets upset when I’m excited. And I am SUPER excited!

Happy run-versary to me!

Posted on March 17, 2013 by Molly @ A Fresh Start For Molly

Today is my second run-versary. My running journey started when I joined the Learn to Run Program at the Running Room in Fredericton. Our first night of the clinic was March 17, 2011.

(It’s easy to remember because it was St. Patrick’s Day.)

(It’s also easy to remember because it was a pretty friggin’ important day in my life.)

I took this picture the night of my first run. I think I knew it was the beginning of something great!

You may know this story already, and I told it on my old blog, but I’m in a reminiscing type of mood. Before I learned to run I was living a complete exercise-free life. I had gone to the gym and played sports all through high school, went to the gym on and off throughout university, and then eventually it all came to a halt when I graduated. I had put on a lot of weight for various reasons, and had pretty much given up trying to do anything about it.

The winter after I graduated, I was at my highest weight ever. I was feeling pretty depressed. I was working my first full-time grownup job as a reporter, but it was hard to function otherwise.

In the depths of winter, I remember my dad coming to the door of my apartment and asking me to go for a walk with him. Our walks were maybe two kilometres long. Maybe. And I found them exhausting, mostly mentally, but also physically. Back then I was pretty anxious, so I hated the uncomfortable feeling of being out of breath.

To this day, I still don’t remember what exactly made me decide to sign up for the Learn to Run clinic. But I do remember sitting in my parents’ car in my driveway – I think we had taken a trip to see my sister that weekend – and I was about to get out and go in my house, when I told them I wanted to sign up for a Running Room program.

My parents had done a few of Running Room’s clinics and often went to the free run club nights. I was the only one in my family who wasn’t active, and, frankly, I didn’t even like listening to them talk about running. I thought it was dumb at Christmas when they got excited about getting special new socks.

I thought I was the last person in the world who could ever like running.

My mom came with me to Running Room so I could ask about the program. If she hadn’t, I probably wouldn’t have followed through. I went up to the manager and said: “Are you sure I could do this? Keep in mind I’m the most beginning-est of the beginners.”

He said: “Oh yes. Anyone could do it. And many people go on to do all our clinics and are running half and full marathons within a couple of years.”

Riiiight, I thought. That won’t be me. And before we start talking about marathons, let’s just get through this first clinic, shall we?

So I gave him my money, got my T-shirt, and then we headed to Zellers to try to find me something passable as winter workout clothing (I didn’t want to spend any real amount of money because I thought I wouldn’t get through the program). I wore an old pair of gym sneakers.

Our first night was St. Patrick’s Day, and after introducing ourselves and getting a very warm welcome from our instructor, Peter, we huffed and puffed our way through the streets of downtown Fredericton as party-goers adorned in green hung off the sides of patios and cheered.

Some people are blessed to be natural runners. They can train minimally for a race, or pick up new distances very easily. And they are fast! I think these people are awesome. But that has never been the case for me.

We were running for one minute, and walking for two minutes, up until about twenty minutes total. And it was torturous.

Every week we upped the amount of running by one minute. The goal was to reach ten minutes running, one minute walking, for two sets. I could not imagine ever getting to that point. Each week I thought I wouldn’t be able to make it the one minute longer.

As the weeks passed, a few people dropped out, and I became the slowest in the group. I had brutal shin splint pain. I cried while I “ran.” I was super ticked off because I had a suspicion the pain was because I was carrying around extra weight, and that annoyed me, because I was trying to learn to run so I could get healthier. I didn’t want my weight to derail my plans. But I stuck with it and did all my runs.

My instructor said: “Remember, you are doing better than all the other people who are sitting home on the couch and didn’t even bother trying today.”

Although in recent years I had thought of myself as someone who was lazy and had no will power, my stubbornness was beginning to show through.

Our program lasted until the end of May when we entered a small, community 5K. I had never ran more than our two sets of ten minutes running, one minute walking (22 mins total) but still managed to finish in 37:44.

After that race, I rewarded myself with a new pair of sneakers. And guess what – my shin splints magically went away!

My first real pair of running sneakers. I didn’t want to buy them until I finished my first 5K.

That summer I ran another 5K race and was disappointed that I didn’t improve my time by very much. I knew that I wouldn’t lose weight just by doing a bit of running a few times a week, but I was still a little sad that the pounds hadn’t magically melted off. I didn’t weigh myself back then, so I was going on what I looked like – and I still looked the same.

So a week after that race I actually weighed myself, signed up for Weight Watchers, and that led to me losing 55 pounds. That’s right, my stubborn need to improve my running time was a big reason for me losing that weight! If I had never started running, the weight loss may never have happened.

Since that first 5K in 2011, I have completed the 10K and half-marathon Running Room clinics, a try-a-tri, and a few more races.

My first 10K. (I puked right after.)

I will tell you this with 100 per cent certainty: the Learn to Run program was the hardest thing I have ever done in terms of running, including training for 16 weeks for a winter half marathon that included several runs at – 25 degrees Celsius, and then running it on an injury.

It can be hard in the beginning, but the rewards outweigh the pain.

I still have training runs where I run as slow as I did during my first 5K. I was second last on that day and was almost dead last during my half marathon last month. I have tons of issues with injuries and a lot of problems with my guts while running. Basically, I am slow, and usually sore. Some days it is easy, but most days it is not.

I stick with it because of a roster of reasons, and most of them are mental. Running has taught me a lot about myself. It has given me confidence, and taken away my anxiety. It helps me not get depressed during the winter. It’s an excuse to get fresh air and does great things for my skin. It is a way to spend time and bond with my family. I have met a lot of new people at group runs and races around the province, and have heard their running stories – everyone has one!

This shirt pretty much sums up my feelings on running.

Most of all I just don’t want to lose my progress and go back to how difficult it was in the beginning. So even if I’m not training for something, I still try to make it out for a few short runs a week.

The finish line of my first half marathon.

Truthfully, running makes me feel like I can do anything. If I am faced with a difficult situation in life, I think about when I thought I was the last person in the world who would ever be a runner. Who knows what other difficult things I can get through?

Do you have a running story?

Semi-retirement.

Posted on March 4, 2013 by Molly @ A Fresh Start For Molly

Aloha! It occurred to me that I made a very important decision in my head a couple of weeks ago, but forgot to blog about it.

The “training for my first half marathon” phase of my life lasted four months, one third of a year, and now it is over. But there’s another phase of my life that is also about to come to a close.

When it comes to this blog, I am officially going into semi-retirement. I used to blog five times a week, and then took it down to about three times a week if I was lucky. Now I plan to just blog when I feel like it. It will most likely be only for the more important things, like race recaps, every few months. I still want to document things like that, and this is as good a place as any.

When I started this blog I was at the tail-end of my weight loss journey and was full of ideas, thoughts and excitement about my new healthy lifestyle. I used to have another blog for about three years where I just generally talked about my life, but I felt I was getting a little too old for it and wanted to have a more narrow focus. Once I got more accustomed to my lifestyle and it just became a regular, not-newsworthy, boring ol’ life, I struggled with ideas.

While writing A Fresh Start For Molly I’ve branched out and talked about more than just healthy living; I’ve written about moving, getting engaged, spending time with my family, my mental health, and planning my wedding.

After a while, I guess I just couldn’t figure out what I wanted to write about. I got tired of posting about running all the time (even though that’s really all I do that’s remotely newsworthy), felt awkward taking pictures of my food (it just ain’t my thing), and really didn’t want to share anything too personal. And I definitely was never into promoting myself to gain more readers (even though I appreciate all the ones I have!).

Writing about my life on a public platform has always been super awkward for me, but the feedback I’ve received from readers has always made it worth it. I have rarely posted about my blog on Facebook or Twitter, and I hate when people that know me in real life find out I blog. Isn’t that strange, since I put it all out there for strangers to read?

Also, I don’t have a lot of time in the day to devote to blog entries, so a lot of them are rushed and I don’t take the time to proofread. That may sound fine, but I’m a copy editor by day and finding errors when I did take the time to go through old entries was driving me insane. Case in point: I almost spelled entries wrong in both of the previous sentences.

It wasn’t until recently that I decided I could just write for me, when I feel like it, and I’d be completely fine with that.

I am looking forward to stopping by the blog when I have something I really want to say. By spending less time posting for the sake of posting, I’ll be able to crafty meaty blog posts that make me happy, and hopefully have less spelling and grammar errors

If you want to still read when I do decide to pop in, I’d recommend subscribing by email (you can do so in the sidebar to the right) or adding me to your Google Reader.

Thanks for reading!

Hypothermic Half Marathon 2013: Race Recap

Posted on February 25, 2013 by Molly @ A Fresh Start For Molly

It’s been several months since I wrote a race recap, and I am so thankful to be able to write this one and say: yes, I did start and finish my first half marathon yesterday.

After 16 weeks of training, I made it to the start line of the Hypothermic Half Marathon which started at Cape Spencer and finished in the north end of Saint John.

Before:

As I mentioned before, my IT band was in pretty rough shape from my last long training run and peak week turned out to be me desperately trying to run a pain-free mile here and there on the treadmill. I completely gave up as of last Sunday and did absolutely no exercise for the entire week leading up to the race in hope that the rest would help. The pain was not letting up, however.

Resting was very hard and unnerving for me, and I was worried about losing all the progress I had made. But I tried to stay positive and take my mind off the pain, which was there even if I was sitting at my desk doing nothing.

One of the great things about getting more and more running experience under my belt is I start to notice patterns in my behaviour. I was extremely nervous on Friday – like, almost puking nervous. The uncertainty is what really did me in. I wasn’t sure I would be able to walk, let alone run 21.1 kilometres.

Then I remembered that I always get nervous two days before a race, so I laid out all my clothing and got everything ready, right down to my anti-chafing cream and energy chews. It was really the only thing I had control over. Saturday I ended up being pretty calm, my sister and brother-in-law arrived at our apartment, – which I called “base camp” – and I got a good night of sleep.

Sunday morning I woke up at 6 a.m. and ate my banana in bed. The race started at 8:30 and all of my long training runs were done at that exact time, so my body was pretty used to the routine already.

My leg had been in a lot of pain when we were doing errands the day before, and I felt pretty stiff but I put it out of my mind.

We drove over to Rockwood Park, where we met up with my parents, and got ready to board a chartered city bus to the start line. This was a point A to point B race, instead of an out-and-back.

*Thank you to Daniel for all of these pictures. He was my trusty coach, water boy and personal motivator through training. I owe him a lot.

On the bus ride I sat with a few running buddies and they were all talking about the hills we were driving over and would soon be running up. The course is notoriously hard and the hills are too numerous to count. FYI, hills are not fun any day, but are especially hard when you have an IT band problem – especially the downhill.

I was happy with the weather; it was the first silver lining of the day. After months of training in a winter of windy, snow and plenty of -25 C temperatures, I was feeling blessed to have a clear day with bare pavement and -10 on the thermometer.

We arrived at the start line and it turned out we didn’t have to run up the first hill from the lighthouse. I was so happy about this and saw it as the second silver lining of the day. I said good luck to everyone and my sister said “Molly, don’t kill yourself.” It sounds silly, but it was actually good advice.

During:

It was a small but mighty group – on the East Coast of Canada, winter runners are a lot more sparse than spring and fall runners. One of the things I messed up was starting at the back of the pack. I always do that because I am slow, but I didn’t realize we didn’t have a chip on our bib. So the time started when the organizer said go, but I didn’t cross the start line right away.

I’m starting my watch in the back there – my sister is in the green with the ninja hood. She is demonstrating proper technique by forefoot striking instead of heel striking – well done, Christen!

I started out very gingerly because I had no idea how this thing was going to go.

I look like I’m praying intensely that my leg won’t give out. It’s possible I was doing just that.

I knew from the beginning that my mental attitude was going to pull me through the race. I will never be the fastest runner out there, but I can be the most positive. So I yelled to my mom “Hey, we’re running a half marathon!” and then I settled into my stride.

I was pain free for the first 30 seconds (literally) and then it kicked in. Oh well. I was just happy to be running – I had missed my sneakers over the past week.

After the first ten minutes I said goodbye to a couple of my running group buddies and ran a bit ahead of them. My dad had called a few nights before the race to tell me he would be running with me, but he was ahead for the first 5K. I liked having those kilometres alone to try and find my pace. I tried to keep it really slow because I was petrified of screwing my leg up and not being able to finish. I was surprised to look down at 4K and see my split time was what I usually run in training when I’m injury-free. I think it was the adrenaline pulling me through.

Once I caught up to my dad, I had someone to talk to to keep my mind off the pain. We cracked some jokes, told some stories and sang some Alicia Keys songs (well, that was me). I had my interval timer set for 10 minutes running and one minute walking, which I am used to from the Running Room training program, and it was great for my pain and mental state. It didn’t affect my pace any and it was nice to be able to look forward to the walk break.

We saw Dan just after 8K. He gave me some Nuun and ran beside me for a couple of seconds.

As for the hills – Dad kept pointing them out, but truthfully they didn’t affect me very much. My pace stayed pretty consistent and the hills didn’t tire me out too badly. I thank my training in the hilly city of Saint John for that. If I still lived in Fredericton and was running flat along the river, those hills might have killed me.

We started to see civilization, and at 14K Dad announced we were two-thirds done. At around 16K (I think) I stopped taking walk breaks. I had already skipped one and was so eager to be finished.

With about four kilometres left, the pain really started to worsen. I had abandoned all hope of having a goal time when I got injured, but thought it would take me around three hours. When I looked at my watch, I realized I could possibly break 2:30, so I asked Dad if he thought we could do it. He said it would be close. At that point I thought I should just focus on taking it easy, and be happy with finishing, but I am a tad crazy, and of course once the goal was in my head there was no turning back.

That was the last time I looked at my watch. I’ve run with my Dad before and knew I could count on him to pace me. With about three kilometres left we turned onto the causeway and I just had to follow Dad’s footsteps. I was zoning out and feeling faint. Everything hurt at that point, not just my IT bands (which all along had felt like a little man was stabbing tiny knives into them).

The last kilometre of this course is on Crown Street – and is a long hill up to Rockwood Park. There were similar hills earlier in the race, but they didn’t feel like this. My dad said every hill I had done in training was preparing me for this. There is a hill from the harbour up to my apartment, and I told myself back in November when I started preparing for the race that I would never walk up that hill at the end of my runs. No matter how tired I was, I always ran up it. So I told myself I was ready to tackle one final hill at the end of another tiring run.

To say it was hard would be the understatement of the century. All hope of having good form was lost. My legs were seized up and felt like lead. I feel for the people driving by and witnessing it, I really do.

I was hunched over, pumping my arms as hard as I could. If I had stopped to walk, I would have seized up completely so I had to keep moving. I stopped for a millisecond to dry heave. I thought I was going to pass out. I KNEW I was going to pass out. And then I was at the top and Dad said I was free to run my own race – which is his code for “we’re going to make it under 2:30.”

The final 100 metres is downhill to the finish line (ironic considering the course) and my legs opened up and I pounded down to the finish. I could see my sister wrapped in a space blanket and all I could think of was how excited I was to get one (in my head REAL runners at REAL races get space blankets). And I saw the clock and was so happy.

I made sure to smile through the finish, despite feeling so much pain, because it was positivity (and my dad) that got me through.

My official time from the clock was 2:27:00. Then I did my Usain Bolt pose for Dan, which obviously was purely ironic because I was one of the last people to finish and it is a symbol for speed.

I think my sister is laughing at me in the background. Or grimacing from embarrassment.

After:

We humans are very adaptable. That means that it’s hard for me to find the perspective in my running journey. I know there was a time in my life, not very long ago, when I couldn’t run for more than a minute straight. I know there was a time in my life when running five kilometres felt insane and it took me several months of literal blood, sweat and tears to get there.

But over the past two years of learning to run, I have adapted to each new step and along the way I’ve slowly lost that perspective. When you surround yourself with runners, are in a running family, read running blogs … it can be hard to remember that a half marathon is a huge accomplishment. You keep looking to the next step and thinking – well, it wasn’ very fast! Or, well it’s not like it’s a marathon!

So I am taking some time today to reflect on my journey and remember how far I’ve really come.

I got my first running medal! I was almost as pumped for that as I was for the space blanket.

This training cycle was difficult for me, not because of the distances, but because of all the other variables. I was also in a new city, and went out of my comfort zone trying to get used to new routes. I eventually found a great group to run with on Sunday mornings from Running Room, and I am super thankful to them for welcoming me. There were a lot of freezing mornings where I had to actually thaw myself out before running back outside to get to work on time. In the end, all the Saturday nights spent going to bed early, the frozen eyelashes, and the sore muscles, led to me being a tougher person. Now I know I am capable of much more than I ever thought I was.

I am insanely grateful to have run this race with my family. It was my sister’s idea, and we teased her a lot when we started to realized we actually had to DO the race, but it was an awesome memory to have together.

Every single person in my family had challenges to get through before running this race. Those aren’t my stories to tell, but I hope you will look at our crew and take it as a sign that anyone can achieve difficult goals, regardless of age or ability, be it in running or anything else.

Cheers!

You can read all my weekly recaps of half marathon training here.

Wedding: To theme or not to theme …

Posted on February 20, 2013 by Molly @ A Fresh Start For Molly

Let’s forget about the fact that the race is in (gulp) four days and talk about about the wedding, shall we?

Although I was a big fan of some wedding blogs, one thing I had never done before getting engaged was go on wedding forums to see what other brides were saying. Let me tell, those forums can get crazayyy. I quickly learned that my 100-person wedding with a reception at a lodge beside a lake was not of the “formal” variety. It is very much classified as an intimate, casual wedding compared to some of the ones I’ve read about.

I also learned that people have themed weddings!

“Enchanted peacock” is a theme I saw. “Fairy tale” weddings are popular. And I’ve seen weddings themed around objects like playing cards and keys.

Did we need a theme? Dan would probably suggest “gangster golf,” which I’m not sure I’m comfortable with…

I had already abandoned the idea of doing anything remotely original. A. I don’t really care, and B. the Internet has kind of ruined the possibility of ever being able to have an original wedding. Google your idea: I bet it’s been done.

I saw the words “vintage harvest,” which I kind of liked, because we’re having a Thanksgiving wedding in the middle of New Brunswick (which is very rural). But we aren’t using any of the traditional fall colours like brown, orange, yellow and red, so that didn’t really feel like a harvest.

To be honest, the two words that really came to mind when describing the wedding are the two most cliché words you could say when it comes to weddings in 2013.

I bet you can guess them:

Rustic and vintage.

They may be cliché, but rustic/vintage works perfectly with what we’re going for.

In terms of the rustic part, we won’t be getting married in a barn or wearing cowboy boots (although those sounds great, and one certain bridesmaid did advocate for the boots…), but you can bet your bottom dollar there will be burlap and mason jars. I mean, I love the shit out of mason jars. I use them for everything. And I don’t want satin or crystals or anything swanky like that, so burlap works great.

source

(As an aside, I get a kick out of the brides on the forums who are doing the rustic thing but live in, like, the middle of Manhattan or something. They are all searching to buy mason jars but don’t know their real use is for canning things, like mustard pickles and beets. We have Dan’s father making some of our rustic wooden pieces, and he’ll probably just use scrap wood he has in his shed. These brides are hoping to score some “wood slices” for hundreds of dollars from Etsy. My father-in-law should go into business.)

And as for the vintage elements, that will come through in a lot of the attire, and in some of the decor.

shopruche.com

I love old stuff. Always have. We lived in a 100-year-old building for two years and I have a rusty antique typewriter sitting on our bedroom windowsill. Why? Because I think it looks cool. I know vintage is a really vague term, but let’s just say it means anything older than 1980, k?

So in the end, the wedding will be 50 per cent vintage, 50 per cent rustic, and 100 per cent us.

P.S. Speaking of “us”? Have you seen this article from the Onion called Horrible Couple Really Wants Wedding To Reflect Their Personalities? It’s hilarious. My favourite line: “From the drinks served in mason jars, to the sparklers we’re handing out to everyone when it gets dark, this is going to be a wedding only we could have.”

source

Peak Week and HOPE!

Posted on February 17, 2013 by Molly @ A Fresh Start For Molly

All through my training program I’ve been dreading peak week because it called for 52 kilometres of running – and that’s a lot for me. Instead, peak week turned into me barely scratching the surface of that mileage.

Surprise! I’m injured!

It’s been a little over a week now since the side of my knee started bothering me, but I decided to try to ignore it and didn’t really start talking about it until Wednesday of this week. With the help of my family of runners, I have diagnosed it as an IT band problem.

I have had significant IT issues in the past and was so happy that I had only had one flareup during this training program. Well, we’re now officially one week out from the race and even walking is painful for me. This week my runs got shorter and shorter until I was only running a half mile before getting on the stationery bike to try to salvage my workout – that hurt a bit too so I just gave up and went home to foam roll.

(Foam rolling is the devil’s work. I have no words to describe how painful it is.)

Anyway, I’m being very unlike myself and staying positive through this instead of freaking out. I will be at the start line next Sunday. My race may be long, slow and painful, but I will be there. Yes, it feels a little unfair that after four months of training, I am suddenly unable to run a mile without pain, but those are the cards I’ve been dealt.

This is only my first half marathon and I have many years of running ahead of me. This is just a bump in the road.

Yesterday my parents came down to Saint John so we could drive the course. Both will be running the race even though my mom has had a lot of health issues this winter and my father is also battling an IT issue. Do you see where I get my stubbornness from?

It was our first time seeing the course – which was purposeful on my part, because I had heard that it is brutal and didn’t want to worry about it while training.

I knew there was a reason this Hypothermic Half has a lot less participants than other Hypothermics in cities around the Maritimes.

The people who warned me were right – the course is brutal. A bus will take us out to a cliff – literally a cliff – that overlooks the Bay of Fundy. We’ll be dropped off there and have to make our way back to a park in the middle of the city. Along the way, there are a series of very steep hills. Even the final sprint to the finish will actually be straight up a hill – so there will likely be no sprinting involved.

And that’s all fine and dandy, as long as there’s no blizzard or -20 temperatures like we’ve been having all winter.

This is the view from the start line:

Even during the drive, around the tight corners and up the steep hills, I stayed positive. The way I see it, finishing a tough race like that will just make me feel more accomplished. And badass.

See the graffiti on the cement between Mom and I? It says HOPE!

This week I will be taking care of my injury and eating clean. I’ll be getting lots of rest and staying positive. And on Sunday, I’ll toe the line with 49 other runners who are gluttons for punishment like me.

It’s going to be awesome!

Half Marathon Training: Week 59,774

Posted on February 11, 2013 by Molly @ A Fresh Start For Molly

OK … it’s not really Week 59,7774, but I do feel like I’ve been training for this race forever.

I figured I should sit down and write a quick training recap since I slacked off for the past couple of weeks.

I mentioned it already, but last week I was feeling pretty burnt out. Before I started training for this 21.1K race, the farthest I had ever run was 10K (in September I ran that far for the first time), and I spent October doing hardly any exercise. It was important I use a full 16-week training plan to get my mileage up. I began training in the second week of November.

I am an all-or-nothing kind of person when it comes to goals, so I knew I had to fully commit to a plan, and I chose Running Room’s because I know those programs best. However, my calendar didn’t include cross-training workouts, and I didn’t have the mental energy to try to fit some in. Truthfully, I didn’t really trust myself to figure it out. So I decided to focus on solely running until the race was over, and then work cross training back into my routine in March.

I knew I would burnt out eventually from all that running … and last week it finally happened. I only ran twice during the week and did short, speed-focused workouts on the dreadmill.

There are two good things that came out of my week of burn out. I realized I am now confident enough in my running abilities that I can fit in cross training next time I train for a race (meaning I won’t be running five times a week). It was also a much-needed break and I felt excited about running again by the time my long run rolled around on Sunday morning.

Before we get to that, I should mention I spent Saturday sitting on the couch bundled up. Because of the blizzard we had no heat and water, followed by having only dirty water for most of the day. Dan was at work so I sat around feeling lazy and dirty and watched Spirit of the Marathon – a great documentary about, you guessed it, marathoning.

I did venture out to buy some bottled water at the Dollar Store. I drank all six bottles of Dasani in one afternoon/evening. Having no water suddenly made me feel really thirsty.

The leader of the running group I usually join in on called me Saturday afternoon to say we wouldn’t be running the race route the next day as previously planned. I have been waiting for months to check out that route with a “dress rehearsal” run, but it wasn’t in the cards and I didn’t let it affect me.

Instead we tackled our usual route for 20 kilometres on Sunday morning. The wind was pretty strong and I was colder than I have ever been. I’ve dealt with – 20 C windchill before but for some reason it was blowing right through me – maybe because my pace was so slow through all the snow and slush.

It was just myself, another runner and an instructor, although we were joined by another leader for part of the run.

The roads and sidewalks were pretty much snow covered and slippery the whole way. I alternated between feeling like I was running through sand to almost wiping out several times. I was almost hit by no less than 37 plows.

The entire time, I felt awesome. I’m serious! I’ve had no issues with feeling negative mentally during my training runs – it’s usually the feeling of dread beforehand that gets to me. When I’m out there, I feel like I could go forever. I also think a lot about how easy running in the spring will seem after making it through this brutal winter.

I was surprised to feel my legs suddenly seize up around 18K. I think it was the snow that bothered them. I kept them moving somehow and eventually finished the 20 km – the longest I’ve ever run.

I’m pretty sore today, and I have some troublesome knee pain – which I am choosing to ignore. But other than that I am feeling rejuvenated and ready for this race. I’m going to play this week by ear, and then it’s taper time next week.

The race is 13 days away. I’m almost ready!

I’m Over It.

Posted on February 8, 2013 by Molly @ A Fresh Start For Molly

Here is a comprehensive list of things I’m over:

Running. This is definitely No. 1 on the list. Ohhhhh boy am I ever over running, and it’s not great timing. I have just over two weeks until the half marathon. Next week is peak week – I’m supposed to cover 52 kilometres.

You want to know how many times I’ve run since Monday? Twice. And the runs weren’t even close to the distance I was scheduled to cover. I’m over it.

Winter. The cold is definitely worse than the past couple of years. I toughed it out for a little while but now I’m ready for it to be done. This is the forecast for my region this weekend: “Heavy snowfall, strong winds and blowing snow will give blizzard conditions overnight and on Saturday.”

I have to run 20K on Sunday morning – I don’t want to run that far in piles of snow. It’s like running on a beach and makes things so much harder.

Cooking and cleaning. I would much rather sit on the couch and watch Friday Night Lights than do anything remotely productive around the apartment. This makes things hard on my roommate. Sorry Dan.

Blogging. When I have a bad week, I feel like I’m over blogging. It seems sort of insane to me that I share my life on a public forum, and expect people to read it. But then I realize I don’t have to write about everything, just fun things like running, food, weddings, etc., so instead I go silent until something bloggable comes up. I think this is an OK strategy.

Ugh, it was even hard for me to write this post. It took me forever! I guess I’m just over everything. Cheers to the weekend, everyone. Stay safe from the evil snow.

Rebellious Weekend

Posted on February 4, 2013 by Molly @ A Fresh Start For Molly

I did something crazy out of the ordinary this weekend you guys … I moved my schedule around! Also, I took more than one picture! (I took three, which will all be posted here.) I know, I know, it was quite the crazy weekend.

When my sister called me Friday and suggested I do my long run Saturday morning instead of Sunday (she is training for the same half marathon on the same plan), I originally thought that wouldn’t be a possibility. But then I thought .. why not? Maybe I’ll rebel against the plan a little.

So I did my long run Saturday morning on my own because the group I usually run with sticks to Sundays. During those 18 kilometres I had lots of time to think about all sorts of things, and to zone out a little. It was great.

Afterwards I laid out my yoga mat and did a stretching video and foam rolling. I didn’t want to be sore because I was going to a wedding show that night with my mom and sister and I knew there’d be lots of standing.

I had a protein shake and a glass of Nuun. I’ve been struggling after some of my longs runs with feeling sick (and lethargic) so I’m trying to find the right combo to refuel with. I think most of it will just come with experience as I get stronger and used to running longer distances.

Part of it is also that I need to eat more after running. I absolutely hate eating afterwards – I just feel gross and I’m usually too lazy to feed myself. But on Saturday I forced down this entire plate of food. Carrot sticks, roasted brussels sprouts with greens and grilled cheese with tomato.

Then I drove to Fredericton to meet up with my mom and sister. My sister was just passing through on her way to another medical school rotation. She is almost done and will actually be moving in with us in March for a month for another placement.

We all have varying degrees of curly hair, as you can see.

Trivia time! The blue and brown candle behind us was part of my sister’s centrepieces at her wedding five years ago.

I bought my outfit (the shirt and skirt) for 20 bucks at the grocery store at 7 a.m. that day. I didn’t even try it on beforehand. It worked out OK.

The wedding show was a lot of fun. I’m still not used to being called a bride, but I like it! I’m really trying to soak up all these fun things that you get to do when you’re engaged. I know I’ll miss it once the wedding is over.

Most of the vendors were fun to talk to, but I already have pretty much all of mine booked. I got some good advice on the guy’s clothing and it was great to be able to discuss things with both my mom and sister in person.

There is one thing that really intrigued me: videography. I realized I desperately want a videographer at our wedding – I just need to decide if I want to break the budget to get it.

Any advice from you married peeps?

24.5

Posted on January 30, 2013 by Molly @ A Fresh Start For Molly

Today is my half birthday. Happy half birthday to me! The only reason I know this is because my uncle’s birthday is today. Happy birthday to my uncle!

Still, I decided to buy myself a cake to celebrate my half birthday. I was craving ice cream cake and today seemed like the perfect excuse to consume some.

Judge me if you will. My sister already did when I couldn’t take her call because I was buying said half-birthday cake.

In six months I’ll be a quarter century old. I’m just going think about that for a minute.

….

Done.

And because I shared that photo of my fancy Dairy Queen cake, I may as well share with you some other photos of eats I’ve had lately. I’m also linking up with Jenn at Peas and Crayons for What I Ate Wednesday. Head over to her blog to read more from people who think posting photos of your food is perfectly normal (like me).

Open-faced veggie burger with what I call “plastic” cheese. We bought it because we were craving old-school grilled cheeses one day and oh MAN is that stuff good. But very expensive. And bad for you.

The real star of the show was the crispy parmesan garlic endamame, which I recommend you make immediately.

A protein-y breakfast after a run – Greek yogurt, Vector cereal and berries. Scrambled egg with cracked pepper and tomatoes.

I realize this photo looks like a deranged apple, but it’s actually a stuffed pepper that I made in the Crock Pot. I originally started following a recipe but it turned into me throwing a bunch of leftover stuff from my cupboards and fridge into the stuffing. Refried beans, black beans, corn, brown rice, tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, spices, jalapeno and cheese. And probably more stuff that I forget now. Either way, these were awesome.

An open-faced Eggplant Parmesan Hero. This was OK, a nice twist on a regular vegetarian sandwich. With roasted brussels sprouts on the side because they’re my fave.

Dan texted me today to say he had bought me some fresh “b-sprouts” at the market and I was like, THAT is why I’m marrying this man.

A Fresh Start For Molly

…one girl with one goal: a happy and healthy life.

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