August Round-Up

Right. Instead of trying to catch up on everything I’m just going to round up the month:

The Good:

• Dublin Rock’n’Roll Weekend with Babette was fabulous! Not only did we have a great time, we met several runners there and spent time hanging out, eating, drinking, laughing and having fun. I’ll do a post with the actual recap of the weekend (along with Liverpool…yes, I know…) but for now the highlights:

 

The only “lowlight” is that while I was running (and running quite well I might add), I fell; tripped over something, unfortunately downhill and pretty much launched myself down the road. Nothing broken, but no beating my PR. Just had to switch to “Finish this thing” mode instead of “2:20 or under” mode.  Maybe I’ll just keep going back until I get a PR?

• I entered the lottery for Tokyo Marathon. Of course I’ll get into Tokyo and London now that I’ve applied for both, right?

• I went to my new gym with my temporary “free” month (well, EUR 8 + EUR 5 admin costs) and decided to sign up for a year. I started my program officially Monday (28th).

• I got back from Dublin, did all the laundry and cleaned the house and a day later I went to Turkey (Okurcalar – near Alanya) with my husband for 8 days.

Loved this so much. It was an all-inclusive resort so all meals and drinks included.  Also the beach beds were included and the beach was just 100meters from the hotel pool.  It was hot, it was sunny, it was what I needed.  We went running a few times (well, I did twice, Ron managed more but he’s got Chicago Marathon coming up), I swam a lot and we even both had 3 massages while we were there.  One day we took the local bus to Alanya (challenging, but we managed) and started to walk up to the Castle (because we thought it was closer than it was)  in sweltering heat and a wonderful incline when we discovered that we were still a mile away from it… Ron decided we were fit enough to do it (true, but damn it was hot) and then as I took a breather I saw another bus going up to the castle so I flagged it down (that’s what you do there) and we jumped on!  So glad we went up there – stunning views!    Afterwards we had an amazing meal back in Alanya (we took a taxi down! Ha!) and then walked along the harbor and ended up doing  a little 1-hour boat tour as well.

Unfortunately the 8 days were over before we knew it and we were on our way back to not-super-sunny Netherlands.

The Bad:

Well, not so bad, but you know…

• I brought back 2 kilos of extra body weight with me as a souvenir! Also, I’m not going to continue with the food consultant – I am working on some other food improvements, I can log my food on MFP and the new gym will weigh me once every 4 weeks with the same exact scale the consultant has.

The Ugly:

• I’m not going to lie or sugarcoat but I won’t go into detail – the struggle is real with stepchildren, one of mine in particular. I have decided I need to back off completely to save not only my own sanity but also my relationship with my husband. Yes a divorced parent is a package deal. I accepted and loved them from the beginning but, wouldn’t you know it, I made some textbook mistakes almost from the start. It’s ugly now, but we are working on fixing it.   “We” are OK, more than OK actually, but there are some changes to be made.

• And … unfortunately I’ve thought long and hard about it but I made the decision to fully end a friendship that was eating away at me. I don’t want to say it was toxic, because I don’t think it was, but sometimes friendships are not meant to be forever. I know in my heart this is the right decision, feels like super crap right now but eventually it will be ok.

Things I’ve learned:

• I don’t have to have control over everything. I can take a deep breath and ask myself, “does this really concern me? Am I personally impacted? Do I have any control/ input in this situation at all? Does this bring me joy?”

• I pack way too much shit still when I travel!

Coming up:

My birthday
Ron’s marathon in Munster
Susanne Sundfor Concert in Cologne
Half Marathon in Cologne (while we are already in town, why not?)

Time to move on now!  I am putting positivity out to the universe for an emotionally better September!

How was your month? Did you take a vacation?  Do you gain weight when you go on holiday?  Do you remain active?