Throwback Thursday – One Year Ago

I used to blog on SparkPeople and so I just looked at some of my blog posts from a year ago just to see how I’ve progressed or changed in the last year.

Around this time last year, I was pleased with myself for being able to run 5k’s with no problem.  I was starting to think about setting a 10k as my new running goal.

However, I was struggling on staying healthy during the weekends.  Although I would do really well with working out and eating healthy during the week, I would erase all of my hard work with weekends of binge eating junk food and drinking a lot of alcohol while out with my husband and friends.  Then on Mondays, I would feel like crap, but would be determined to start fresh and stay on track.  This was a cycle that I went through for quite some time.  It was both frustrating and discouraging.

Today, I’m proud to say that not only did I run a 10k, but I also ran a 7-mile race and a half-marathon.  I’m also planning on running another half-marathon this Sunday.  I’ve been in training for these long-distance races since the beginning of the summer, which has forced me to stay on the healthy track pretty much every day, even weekends.  No more of the Monday blues, regretting my overeating and drinking too much on the weekends.  No more “starting over” every week.

I’m not perfect, though.  I still eat things I probably shouldn’t.  I still indulge in french fries, a second beer, and cupcakes!  But I seem to have found a balance and it’s no longer a struggle to get back on track.  I don’t let one meal or one unhealthy snack slip me up for the rest of the day or weekend.

After Sunday, I plan on taking a break from training for long-distance races.  I feel myself getting a bit burned out, and so now that winter is just around the corner, I think it would be good to focus on other fitness goals and then in the spring start thinking about marathon training.

Part of me is worried that once I stop training, I’ll go back to overindulging on the weekends and get off track, but I honestly feel like I’ve made a shift and that I’ll be okay.