Ms. Negativity and a bowl of #cleaneating Spicy Zucchini and Barley

Ms. Negativity.

Ms. Attitude.

Ms. I don’t want to.

That is how I chose to be this morning. Alarms were set for 5:30 am (which is sleeping in!) and I turned them off. After a bad dream, I woke back up at 6:30. I grumbled. I whined. I put on my workout clothes hanging on the dresser knob. I put one foot in my sock then the other. I tied my shoes and complained every. step. of. the. way.

I turned on my treadmill and watched the numbers reset. I turned on my ipod and started to walk…and then closed my eyes. I thought, “perhaps after I start moving, I’ll wake up,” but walking at a speed of 2.0 was apparently too challenging for me. I turned off the machine and made a big cup of coffee. Somehow I couldn’t mange to walk but I wrote a review on a fabulous local restaurant. Interesting.

I heard my son run across the hallway and into my room. “Good, he woke daddy up,” I thought. I escaped downstairs knowing that I only had this time to work out and nothing more today.

Again, I looked at the numbers reset to zero but this time I brought a new magazine…because this will help me…

I turned on my Ipod and walked and read and looked at the numbers changing slowly but surely.

Six minutes into my three-mile workout, I had a leg cramp. Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! No, Amber. Walk it out.

Ten minutes in, I thought I was going to heave over from that cup of coffee. You know, my stomach really hurts, I should stop soon…

Finally, I had a one on one with myself. It sounded something like this:

“Okay, you can do this. Stop thinking that you can’t. You can. Make it to two miles and then you can stop….finish the other mile later.”

But sure enough, two miles came. And although I was thinking these negative thoughts, I had to keep reminding myself to push them away. Now, after 2.5 miles, I could stop.

Then the craziest thing happened. I started to run, run and run some more. I mean I just wanted to hit that darn 3 miles so badly that I knew I had to go faster to get there quicker! So I ran and paused very little. Yes, my body is totally sore. This has been quit an active week for me but I had to make it. And to be honest, it helped that I was reporting my goals to you. 😉

I was incredibly happy for today’s countdown. I’m sure my husband heard me through the floors saying .7, .8, .9…THREE YES!!!!! SHUT DOWN!!!!!

I always wondered how people read magazines while running. I was just reading recipes and I still didn’t get it. Must be some training somewhere for that kind of thing…I sure don’t have it. Perhaps at a leisurely pace? But I did end up folding pages for meals I am going to make this week and I ran three miles!! Mission accomplished.

There is no point to having negative thoughts. I think it’s very common to have discouraging thoughts but I try hard to redirect those thoughts and even throw them away. Those thoughts will keep me from achieving my goals. Those thoughts will hold me back and I’m not about to let that happen. Ever. When I catch myself saying something negative, I try to change that thought around again. I can do this. I will make it. After all, running is very much so a mental challenge as well as a physical one.

I also realized that I hate my shoes but I love neon colors. I say hate very harshly. I have worn them in since Christmas. They are starting to hurt my feet but they are the brightest shoes I have ever seen and I love them also.

I asked Santa for some bright running shoes and he delivered perfectly as he always does…

My birthday is in a few weeks and I’m requesting new shoes and possibly some new running gear. (As if I have ANY!) So if you have any suggestions of what you couldn’t run without, pass the info along my friends!

I also signed up for a 5k on my actual birthday. I just thought that was really cool. Best part, some of my family will be there for the “birthday celebration.”

I’m sure you are as interested in my running as I am or maybe you’re here for the delicious spicy zucchini and barley recipe. Either way, I’m glad you’re here so I’ll give it to you. 😉

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Hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I will be this week. It’s my lunch and I’m looking forward to it.

Tomorrow is the close of my first week. Yup, I’m running 2 miles. It makes me feel good knowing that I accomplished week 1. Can’t wait to see how many miles these legs put on this week.

Thank you for all of your support and love this week!