No choice but to listen..

Hey Everyone!

Happy Marathon Monday to all the amazing people running the Boston Marathon today, and a belated Happy Easter to all those who celebrated. The weather was gorgeous in these parts yesterday, and it was so fun watching PJ's little cousins running around in the sunshine hunting for Easter eggs. It just warms my heart to see how energized and excited little kids get at the prospect of finding a plastic egg filled with jelly beans or quarters! It's the little things, right? I unfortunately didn't snap any pics, but I will include the cutest Easter card in the world courtesy of my mama.

I mean, come on. That bow and those sparkly ears...how could you not smile?

Oh, and PJ digging into a giant bag of peeps that were given to us by my good friend Le-La to pass on to PJ's cousins. Apparently he needed to taste test and make sure those little marshmallow muffins were up to snuff. On a said note, did you know how many different kinds of peeps there are now?! Chocolate dipped peeps, birthday cake flavored peeps, chocolate mouse peeps?!

In other news, on Saturday morning PJ and I, along with some friends, took part in a Tough Mudder in the Poconos. If you aren't sure what Tough Mudder is, click here for some info. In a nutshell, Tough Mudder is a half marathon that included about 25 obstacles throughout the course. PJ has successfully completed two of these events, and this past fall he decided to sign up for another. I decided, what the heck, and signed up with him. Famous last words.

Getting my number written on my face so that my body could be identified if I was found face down in mud. JK.

My Friend Erin and I pre-mud.

Nervous.

So, let me tell you how this event went for me. In terms of pre-event training, in March, I started running about 6 miles 1x per week As I've said before, I don't really like running, but I knew that I needed to ramp up my stamina to make it through the course. The weather on the weekends has fortunately been on my side, so I actually haven't minded my Saturday jogs through Liberty State Park. With that said, nothing really could have prepared me for this whole tough mudder experience.  I was nervous going into the event, but I remained optimistic and was convinced that I was in- shape enough both mentally and physically to successfully complete the event. Mind over matter, right? Well... not so much for me.

Although it was sunny on Saturday, it was cold and windy in the Poconos. I figured I would warm up after I started running, which was the case for the first 5 miles of the obstacle course.  I think it was probably around mile 5 where the obstacle was to jump into a pool of ice cold water... literally ice floating on the top. Nothing could have prepared me for how my body would react to  that type of temperature change. I went under water and literally felt paralyzed and like I couldn't' swim back up. PJ said the look on my face when I emerged from under the water was pure terror.  Haha. Anyways, I managed to get my breath back and keep running, but then the wind picked up. Even  though my clothes were drying while running, my teeth were chattering and my body wouldn't stop shaking. I literally had no control over it. In terms of my endurance, running felt fine. My legs were kind of on autopilot even though I couldn't really feel them.  I pushed through for another mile or so and then we came up to another water obstacle. I told PJ that I was going to skip it and join the other cold people lying on the pavement trying to absorb any warmth they could. Didn't work. I literally was considering stealing a sweatshirt I saw on the ground or asking a bystander for their shirt. I got up and tried to keep running, but my body literally stopped working. PJ told me that I couldn't finish, and I that I needed to go to the medic tent to get warmed. Honestly, I was so upset and embarrassed that I started to cry. The little golf cart came and picked me up and brought me to the medic tent where I, along with tons of other people with blue lips and chattering teeth, huddled around a heater covered in silver warming blankets. PJ followed the cart to the warming tent and hung out with me for the 35 minutes it took me to stop shaking. I felt so bad... neither of us finished... and we were less than 2 miles from the end :( What's worse is that since I didn't finish I didn't get the orange headband! I was loaned the headband you see above to take a pic.  Womp, Womp.

I was honestly pretty bummed out when I arrived home on Saturday afternoon. I felt weak- like I should have been able to somehow push through. I knew that I didn't really have a choice but to forfeit the run; however, there was a part of me that was still pissed off at my body for shutting down. Yesterday at Easter brunch, I was discussing the situation with PJ's aunt, and she said something to me that I had been trying to tell myself  but hadn't yet been able to come to terms with. She said that it was amazing that I participated in the event, and it was even more admirable that I listened to my body-not my pride -and knew when to call it quits. While I was and am still kind of sad that I didn't finish, I'm realizing that I did honor my body. There is a difference between being uncomfortable and not wanting to complete something , and putting yourself and your health in danger. Sometimes it's appropriate to push through, and sometimes the harder thing to do is to know when enough is enough.

So,  the message today is not only to recognize when you've truly had enough, but to own your choice with confidence, not embarrassment. I'm going to strive to embrace this mentality, and I encourage you to do the same :)

xo

Sarah