Happy

Mood rings for myself and my girls...our Welcome to Asheville present!  Our moods:  Alert,  Romantic, and Happy.  Seems right.  

I've tried to start this post at least three times.  I just have so much I could say that I don't know where to begin.  I guess I'll start with
HAPPY.
I am generally a pretty happy person all around but I feel happier right now than I've felt in a really long time.  Last night was the first time in forever that I woke myself and my  husband up from laughing in my sleep. You know, I can't tell you what it was that made me laugh in my sleep but I do know that I went to bed filled to the brim with
contentment
excitement
and that joy that comes from being right on the edge of possibility.

We don't have a permanent place to live yet but we are here in Asheville, NC and it feels like coming home.  My husband started work yesterday, we are staying in a really nice extended stay hotel/condo (I'll never want my own bed back), and are already finding some good places with potential.  So many different possibilities:  city living, city living with a view but not much of a place for kids to run around outside, country living, small town living but near the city, suburbs (last choice since that's what we came from), etc.  Today we will drive up to a small down that is only 10ish minutes out from Asheville called Weaverville.  I have a feeling it is the place we will live...I kind of fell in love last night just from learning about it.  Seems to have all the convenience of living near Asheville, but the quiet and quaint feel that comes with a smaller community.  And the library and schools seem to fit my criteria!  I know, funny that one of my standards is that we live close to a GOOD library (preferably walking distance) for my kiddos.  We see a house tomorrow that I think just might be a winner.  It is an old and small 1930's house on the corner of a pretty street....walking distance to all of the main places in town (coffee, bakery, library, art galleries, schools, parks, etc.) but the neighborhood looks beautiful and safe and clean.  We'll see what it looks like when we drive there today.  Google maps and online photos might lie a bit.  I've never wanted to love something more...does that make sense?  :)  The kids all seem happy too.  I think they will THRIVE here.  At least I hope so.  The second night here was hard for my girls though.  They missed home. But that is to be expected.  And even working through those sad feelings and talking about these changes, is a gift of a learning experience.  We are all going to grow in some way.

Running
Things are picking up on the running front.  People said that it takes awhile to raise the ferritin levels but I am certain that I notice a difference after a week of taking iron supplements and a multivitamin.  I feel stronger every day.  Sure some of that has to be mental.  You know, the placebo effect.  However, my body just feels more normal.  So thankful for this.  Yesterday was my first run in Asheville. It was only 4 miles but it made me so happy to notice the difference in how my body feels.  The past five or six weeks have just been rough.  I haven't been able to explain it all entirely...the weak feeling in my legs, the way my left leg pretty much gave out by the end of a week of running (and left me with no other choice but to take a full day off and then follow it by a recovery run), slow recovery, always feeling sore, hurting and discomfort that came from stopping mid run and then starting again, FATIGUE, not being able to hit paces that were easy just weeks before, feeling AWFUL during taper, and a really poor marathon in light of what I was prepared for with my training.  I was caught off guard during my run last night when I stopped at a stoplight and then started running again.  I was expecting to feel the usual discomfort, strain, and effort that has been coming with this start/stop mid run.  Even with a short and easy run.  But it wasn't there.  I felt strong and fresh.  Not 100% but definitely stronger.    This makes me HAPPY!  And optimistic about Boston truly having potential to be FUN.  I still don't plan on setting out for racing it though.  That's been determined.  If my body continues to say "YES" to workouts, then I will definitely plan on being in Boston and running whatever my body says to run that day. That might be 8:00 pace or maybe 8:45's or possibly 7:30's in some places.  Maybe even a few low 7's at the end if I'm feeling perky.  Or maybe not.  Maybe even some 9's or 10's.  I'm just excited to not have a plan other than to RUN HAPPY (in my Brooks Pure Cadence2's...Um, more later but I really like this shoe!).  The real test will be to see how I feel after my 10 today and my eight 800's tomorrow.  But I ran 15 on Sunday (with my body still not feeling so good) at a natural/easy 8:06 avg and felt okay so I'm feeling optimistic.

Last mail to get in Oregon before our move

Oh, and another perk of traveling to the east coast during spring break is that my kids are still on west coast time!  I've been up for two hours and they are STILL Sleeping!  Times almost up but this has been a slice of heaven in itself.

Happy Wednesday,
Amanda