Run Tiffany Run

Yesterday I ran my second Half Marathon. I wish I could post about how much fun I had, or how awesome it felt to finish. But to be honest it was WAY harder than I remember it being.

The first 5k's were fine- I wouldn't say I was on a "runners high" because there was nothing " high" about knowing you still have 16k's left to run, but my energy was good and I was smiling inside. 
As we headed up the hill towards the rural roads, something really started to bother me. The walkers.  You can waste an awful lot of energy weaving in and out of throngs of walkers.

It was around the 13k mark that I seriously began wishing a car would hit me so I wouldn't have to complete the race...I don't know why it was so hard. I have run 13k's many times before in my practice runs and felt fine so I still don't know why this was such a mental barrier for me.

Anyway, I gritted my teeth and kept running up the hills, around the walkers with sweat dripping down my face and back. I was determined not to stop and walk. I knew that once I started walking, I would lose momentum and not be able to get going again.. I think you can see where this is going.

Once we came back into the Whangamata township I saw the 16k mark and just had to start walking. I made excuses- it's so hot, I'm nauseous, I'm going to DIE! And looking back now I am so bummed that I didn't run without stopping. I jogged a few lamp posts, walked a few and then started continuously running from 18k's till the end.. but by then a lot of the runners I had spent energy passing during the race had overtaken me.
I crossed the finish line with a time of 2:23  feeling really disappointed with myself. I know I should be happy, but I am just disappointed at myself for not being able to do what I know I am capable of doing.

So, does this mean I will never run another Half marathon? I am not sure. I learned a lot of valuable lessons and I know I could knock the socks off that 21k run.. I guess only time will tell!

Friday five

Today I am starting something new on my blog. I have always enjoyed being able to rant and talk about whatever comes to mind, and sometimes I even talk to myself! Yup. That's the honest truth. It's not that bad is it?Anyway I am going to start the Friday Five to get 5 things off my chest that have been on my mind or bothering me throughout the week. And ah, yeah. That's about it.

1. I will never understand why the Auckland City council endeavor to do road works during peak hour traffic. They block off entire lanes of main road right when everyone is wanting to get home!
What's worse is when you have been sitting in stagnant traffic for 20 minutes and then drive past the machinery and realize there are no actual road works going on- no road workers in sight just miles of orange cones.

2. I love shopping in the reduced to clear section of Count down- so what if items are near their used by dates! You can usually score food for more than 50% off their retail price.

3. Sometimes when the missionaries or home teachers come over, I hide in the room and make Tuks talk to them... like... right now.

4. I am devastated that Sonny Bill is engaged. Now he is officially off the market I have to stop day dreaming about him.

5. Daluwyn has just started using the phone. He knows how to call us and will regularly call for a chat. Our conversation today was quite funny I asked him what he was doing and he said " I doing this". Obviously Aunty!

Happy Weekend 

Scripture Power

They say if you want a task done you should give it to a busy person. If that were true- then I should have been able to get A LOT done last week. I wasn't a little busy, but so busy that I felt like I was drowning in to-dos.

On top of our regular duties for church one of our friends from North Carolina came to stay so, I tried to take him sightseeing and made sure he had a  home cooked meal each night. I was asked to decorate my cousin's wedding with a week's notice, a good friend needed a specialty cake made for her brother's missionary farewell, a dean went on bereavement leave at work which meant picking up her extra work, my senior marking was due for moderation, we fed the missionaries and  I am still trying to train for my half marathon.

There were days, like yesterday, when I came home and literally fell on the bed and went to sleep.
But, what is amazing about my week is that I didn't feel stressed or burnt out! (my hubby might have a different opinion). And as cheesy as it sounds, I really feel it was because I studied my scriptures every day.

Spoiler alert- I suck at reading my scriptures and struggle to make scripture reading a daily habit.
But somehow, I have found myself in my scriptures  every morning this week. When situations arose that would usually annoy me, I quickly lost the desire to be angry or get upset. I only wanted to behave and react in a way that would please my Heavenly Father.

It's amazing what you can accomplish with God's help!

So I want to hear from you, how has the Book of Mormon helped you?

Running update

A couple of months ago, I announced that I would run in the Whanagamata Half Marathon. I would love to run the Auckland Marathon, but it's on a Sunday. The first month of training was awesome, because I was pumped about setting a new goal and I hadn't run that often since my days at BYUH when I would run every morning from campus to Kahuku. Woof. Training in the school holidays was easy, I had no time constraints and I could constantly push myself to run that little bit further or faster.

Now that the novelty has worn off and I am back at work, it's dark almost all the time that I'm not there, the rain is frequent and the mornings are frosty. It's not a physical challenge anymore, it's mental. I have to find the time to make running a part of my every day life.

The attitude that has helped me in the past is to make no excuses. If my diary says run, I run. So if I have planned to run on the same day as youth, I will leave early and run to the chapel. If I have no time, then I run after. Last Wednesday, I went for a run with Mr Triathlete in the pouring rain, and didn't get home till 8:45pm.

What I have discovered though, is that this type of self discipline is bringing benefits. Even after a long frustrating day at work, I have no doubt in my mind that I am going to run when I get home. I used to love running with my ipod but have discovered I actually run much better and more efficiently when I don't have headphones in. That first 3 ks' that used to leave me out of breath is slowly increasing to 5ks.

I am nearly 1 month away from the race and oddly, not worried or anxious. If I feel this good already, how great am I going to feel when it's all over!!!

 

French Fete

On July 6th I turned a whopping 26 and a half. A lot of people don't celebrate their half birthday's but I decided it was a great excuse to dress up, eat deliciously sinful treats and forget about this miserable weather. Because I love most French things, we decided that would make a great theme- everyone dressed up, we partied and then watched one of my favorite French films. La vie est belle!

#12 Successfully make Macarons

The winter blues

So we've reached that awful time in winter where there isn't anything that great to look forward to.
We are into the Winter blues. Grey, rainy days. Threats of storms (At least what Aucklander's call storms) come and go on a weekly basis. The temperatures continue to plummet into the single digits during the nights and the car has a blanket of frost over it each morning. 

Tuks and I have 96 days until we fly to Fiji and can wear our jandals in the warm sun. In the meantime, I have to think of ways to make winter suck less. There are a few remedies that I've been trying to implement which are:

1. Make plans. I have decided to throw myself a Half Birthday party on July 6th when I will be exactly 26 and a half. I know it may sound conceded, but it gives me something to look forward and what's not fun about dressing up and eating good food with friends!

2. Pamper myself. I love to buy vouchers from groupy or dailydo, and winter is the perfect time to use them. Between the heated bed that you get to lie on for an hour, the amazing treatment you get during a facial or massage is literally an hour spent in heaven. I am also going to treat myself to a hair up this weekend for a fancy night out. Indulgent overall? Maybe. But I fell good. It adds some brightness into my dreary winter days.

3. More reading and trips to the movies. The reading is an obvious choice because it's free and there are thousands of books on my " to read" list. This means I am spending more time cozied up on my couch, book in hand, milo and not a care in the world. And then there's the movies. When Tuks and I were dating we were really into the movie scene and are getting back into it now that the days are colder. Thanks to the stack of movie vouchers I got from the gym, we haven't had to pay full price for months and have seen a film almost once a week.

For me, beating the winter blah's takes more than a positive attitude. What about you? What do you do to beat the winter blues?