Calming the Beast In Me

Another week, another wrap...it's Sunday and it's time to recap the week of training! Welcome to the Weekly Wrap, hosted by Holly and me, where all the cool fitness bloggers share their training and race recaps! Is it your first time linking with us? Check out the rules in the tab above.

How was the week?

Runfessions February

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Aren't you so glad February is such a short month? I certainly am. I'm ready to kick winter in the snowballs and make it go away. I know they call March the cruelest month--winter-weary northerners sometimes have to endure more cold and snow--but at least we're making progress towards spring.

I'm also glad February is coming to a close because that means it's time for another edition of Runfessions. Marcia opens the runfessional on the last Friday of the month and it's a great chance to clear your conscience of any indiscretions that might have occurred on (or off) the road.

Earlier this month, life was just ticking along and I didn't think I was going to have any runfessions! I should have known better...

A Runner in Real Life: 8 Ways to Practice Mindfulness Everyday

Disclaimer: I was provided clothing from prAna in exchange for this blog post. All opinions are mine.

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"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it. "

~ Ferris Bueller's Day Off

If I was to pick a word to focus on for 2018, it would have to be the word mindful. It seems that everywhere you turn, there's an article or post on being more mindful. Is that a bad thing? Everyone is in a hurry, we've all got too much on our plates, and something's got to give.

Being reminded to slow down and be present in the moment is a good thing, in my opinion. Here are few ways you can integrate more mindfulness into every day.

Running Love

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Sunday night I returned home from my weekend whirlwind to Birmingham and the Mercedes Half Marathon. It was back to the cold and back to reality.

Fortunately, it wasn't cold for long. The temperatures warmed up and melted quite a bit of our snow cover. The onslaught of sick children with the flu continued at my clinic. When will it end? Fortunately, I was still feeling the love from my weekend away.

Let's recap the week!

Book Review: Gratitude in Motion

Disclaimer: I received a galley copy of Gratitude in Motion from Hachette Publishing in exchange for my honest review. This post contains affiliate links.

Colleen Alexander was riding her bike to work on a beautiful fall day when she saw a truck coming at her. Meeting his eyes, she expected him to stop, but he didn't, hitting her and running her over. After the impact, he drove away, leaving her in the intersection. That she didn't die was truly a miracle. Her trauma surgeon at Yale New Haven Hospital calls her a "force of nature". Colleen miraculously survived the accident, but her recovery was the ultimate marathon. To this day, she is still undergoing surgeries to repair the damage from the accident.

Gratitude in Motion is the inspirational story of Colleen's journey from her accident back to running and triathlon. Throughout her physical recovery, she also struggled with anxiety and PTSD but was able to use her mental toughness honed from years of competing to help her focus and keep moving forward. Colleen was raised in a devoutly religious family and also leaned heavily on her faith to give her strength.

Mercedes Half Marathon Race Recap

This race has been on my radar for a while. I've said in the past that I don't choose races for the bling, but when I saw the medals from past years of this race, I knew that I wanted in. Holly and I had discussed getting together for an early spring half and made plans to run this one. I found a good flight, she found a hotel, and we were set.

The week before the race, our plans threatened to come unraveled. Between a huge snowstorm the day before I was set to leave and my very real fear of contracting the plague aka influenza that seemed to be afflicting every child I saw in my clinic, it seemed that we might not get to do this race at all. Fortunately, everything fell into place and early Saturday morning, I was Alabama bound.

photo credit: Holly

Running in A Snow Globe

If you read Friday's post, you know that Chicago got hit with a whopper of a storm and I was agonizing over the possibility of not traveling to Birmingham. I prepared this post in advance hoping that today, I would be in Birmingham with Holly and I was able to run the Mercedes Half Marathon! I'll have a full recap on the race for you later in the week.

Meanwhile, let's wrap up the week in the snow globe!