When it Rains, it Pours- 75 Hard: Week 7 & 8 Update

Last week's stats-

Books Read- Nature's Best Hope by Douglas W Tallamy

Miles walked/ran- 27.72

Pace- 13:54

Fastest mile- 12.32

Additional pounds lost- none, gained 0.06

This week's stats-

Books Read- The Lost Art of Reading Nature's Signs by Tristan Gooley

Miles walked/ran- 31.64

Pace- 11:19

Fastest mile- 11:02

Additional pounds lost- 1.8

Last week was a bad week. I mean just Murphy's law, if it can go wrong it will go wrong, type of week. It seemed as though literally every area of my life was taking a hit and I was the punching bag. While I only ran once that week, I did manage to get out and do my two 45 minute workouts, stick to a diet, drink a gallon of water, read and avoid alcohol every single day. It was hard and on a few of those days, this challenge was the only thing on my to do list because that was all I could handle at the time. I honestly think that I bounced back quicker from such a catastrophic week because I spent time moving my body outside in the sun and ate and drank healthy. One foot in front of the other, it will get better- even when it doesn't feel like it. This challenge gave me the focus I needed not to just go on a junk food and margarita bender, to which, I might still be suffering the consequences from.

This week, finally feeling more like myself again, and oh- could it be? Is that a hint of happiness and hope?? I started to buckle down again on running. After all, the 1/2 marathon is in about two weeks and we are in the final stretch for training! While my pace and fastest mile took a bit of a hit because I mostly walked last week, it is still better than my starting pace back in November. My thoughts wandered during my run and my ah ha! moment was when I thought: Maybe instead of thinking summer bodies are made in the winter, society can shift to healthy bodies are made everyday with intention and conscious choices! Seriously! How many diets have you done that were a quick fix or for a special event and the methods just didn't stick and all the weight came right back?? The best "diets" I have ever been on are daily exercise and calorie counting- it's not hard to do and it creates lifelong healthy habits. The 75 Hard Challenge has certainly proven to be a good way to reset all my bad habits and recondition myself to what I am suppose to be doing! I will be nice when this is all over to have a day that I can just rest or have a drink- it's all about balance.

The other great thing about this challenge is that I am finally picking up and reading books that have been sitting on my book shelf for months (or some years!). I LOVE buying books, but often times, I have the best intentions to read them and then it just doesn't happen. Not included in this challenge, but something I have been forcing myself to do is power through the book, even if I don't like it (what I did with The Secret). Last week's book was not what I thought it would be. I was anticipating Nature's Best Hope to be a step by step guide to all the different ways you can conserve in your backyard. There is some of that, but most of the book reads like a textbook. My main take aways from the book is that caterpillars are valuable as a food source for other animals and that oak trees are the best all around tree for the environment for providing food and shelter. I went in with the same expectations with this week's book, The Lost Art of Reading Nature's Signs. This one would actually benefit from being a textbook with lots of photographs. I am a very visual learner and if you do not already know how to identify trees, plants, fungi, lichen, clouds, and animals, you will might find yourself at a loss with this book. My main take away from this one is to stay away from oak trees in a thunderstorm because those (and ash) are the first to get struck by lightening. So, I am not too sure that I want to plant an oak in my yard as suggested by last week's book. I was also fascinated to learn that if your shadow is shorter than you, you will not see a rainbow even if other conditions are right. The sun has to be at about a 42 degree angle or lower for the best bow.

Just over two weeks to go! I am excited to see the final results!