Tag: marathons

I quit mid-run and also bought some geese

I quit mid-run and also bought some geese

by Aimee Settlemires ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Every week I devote one day to a long run. It’s usually on a Saturday. It’s usually my favorite type of run. It’s usually at a minimum of an hour. I look forward to it every week. Even on my work weeks I will miss out on sleep, but not my long run. Today those feelings of appreciation and enjoyment were not to be found.

It’s a holiday weekend. Happy Easter. So of course our itinerary is a little bit more busy than usual. Friday was grocery shopping. Then Friday night we have our bimonthly game night with the in-laws. By the time I crawled into bed it was late. I was exhausted. Poor sleep from being on nights during my work week. Poor sleep Thursday from just trying to switch back to days. Then a long day of errands. I felt ran down.

Saturday we were to drive two hours down for my brother’s and sister-in-law’s baby shower. I knew I had to wake up early if I was going to get my long run in. I am not currently training for a race, so I have been keeping my long runs at an hour. I set my alarm for 5 am.

When the alarm went off and my husband hit snooze, I didn’t want to get up. Alarm rings a second time. He again hits snooze. I peel myself from the bed and gather my gear. I stumble through getting dressed. I sit down with my pre-run eggo waffle and coffee. Of course I feel the normal dread before the run. I really want to go back to bed. I know once I get started I will fall into a groove and cruise it out.

I felt so out of sorts. I just skipped my warm up. Figured I would warm up in the run. I couldn’t decide on a Peloton class. I was going to do just a run and listen to a podcast only to realize my podcast was a rerun that I already listened to. I could not get myself in the right head space. I started anyway. Ran then walked. Ran then walked. My shorts riding up. My right knee felt off. Most of all my mind felt off.

All of a sudden I felt sadness that this will be my long run for the week. Full of disappointment and dread. I was going to do walk/run intervals for the whole hour at this point. I couldn’t bring myself to feel good in this run. My shorts were also really making me mad. Just stay down! I hit the 20 minute mark then hit the stop button. This could not be my long run. It was awful.

I know not all runs will feel great. Some I will dread from start to finish. Today I had the opportunity to move my long run. I won’t always be able to do that. For my mental well-being, I am calling today a 20 minute shake out and tomorrow will be “long run Sunday”. Fingers crossed for a better mind set tomorrow.

On a happier note. This weekend we had decided to add ducks to our growing little farm. We currently have a dog, two cats, two fish, and a bunch of cattle who roam the hilltop. We thought ducks would be a sweet Easter surprise for the littles. We went to a couple of stores and came up empty. We tried for a third time and I spied four little ducks. Except not ducks, geese! Clint and me shrugged our shoulders and said “why not?” We brought four sweet little goslings home. They are currently in the basement under a warming lamp. We can’t wait to see how they grow!

Mondays, Motivation, and Mel Robbins.

Mondays, Motivation, and Mel Robbins.

by Aimee Settlemires ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

It’s Sunday evening. Another weekend has come and gone. I look back at the past week, what I have or have not accomplished, and wonder how I can improve on the week to come. What can I do better? What can I do to make my routine smoother? What do I actually need to accomplish this week? I always get the Sunday Scaries.

I personally love Mondays. I know they are not everyone’s favorite day of the week. I know for a fact that Garfield the cat was never a fan. For me it’s a day to hit the reset button. Even if I had a terrible last week. Even if I didn’t run, bike, or lift one single weight. Even if everything that could go wrong went wrong. It no longer matters because Monday is a brand new week full of possibilities. Sunday evening I program my Monday work out and repeat the phrase “never miss a Monday.” I tell myself that this week will be my week. I set myself up for success no matter what last week looked like.

Speaking of routines and positive self talk, has anyone listened to the latest motivational speaker that’s trending? Have you heard of Mel Robbins? If you are on social media I am sure that you have heard of her. I recently came across a couple of Tik Toks talking about her viral morning routine. So, me being curious on anything that might give me some get up and go in my mornings, decided to take a deep dive.

I started watching a few clips and I liked what I was hearing. This “Let Them” theory of living life. I decided to buy her book The Let Them Theory on audible. I have never bought a self help book or had any real interest in reading a self help book. As I get older I find myself struggling to let some things go and focus on what really matters. Do I dwell on what other people think of me? I would be lying if I said “no”. We are human, we all want to be well liked, but sometimes that comes at a cost. If we are always worried about what others think when do we live for ourselves? I won’t say the book is life changing or that I am completely made over by reading it. I am not about to go tattoo “Let Them” on my body, which some people have done. I will say that it’s a really good book and has some interesting approaches to self care, relationship building, and pursuing one’s goals. Definitely a recommended read if you want to take a hard look at your life and see if there are areas that need improvement. Now that I have that crossed off my TBR I can continue reading my normal book interests of dragons, fairies, and orcs who make coffee.

As the night comes to a close, and I set my alarm to start fresh Monday morning, I know that I probably won’t feel like getting up. My motivation won’t be there, and I will have a million excuses as to why I should skip today’s already planned work out. When motivation fails me I hope routine will save me, because I know that I need to keep showing up for myself every week. Movement brings me too much joy to skip. Every Monday is one Monday closer to those 26.6 miles in Chicago.

Visit my Instagram average_girl run to get all the latest updates on my progress. See my post from today below about my long run Sunday.

Remember! I am still collecting donations for St. Jude. Click the link below to donate!

https://www.instagram.com/p/DGbZ2n6pyWB/?igsh=ZXU3emJwaXY3dGtq

From Sick Days to Stronger Runs

From Sick Days to Stronger Runs

by Aimee Settlemires ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

I never thought it would be this hard writing this blog. I love writing. I love running. Simple, right? No.

For the past 2 months life has been hitting me at full force. Thanksgiving morning I ran what felt like the perfect 3 miles to celebrate the holiday. That Saturday I started having cold symptoms. All the kids had some sniffles. I wasn’t surprised that it had now made its way to me. December held a slew of activities for our family ranging from birthday parties to overnight robotic competitions. Every week off consisted of doctors appointments, piano lessons, robotics practice (literally every single weeknight.) It’s that end of the year rush they talk about. When did we decide to schedule every possible thing in the first two weeks of December?

During this time my simple little cold became a full blown upper respiratory infection that would not leave. I would start getting better only to get sick all over again. One week I completely lost my voice. Another week, I was waking up in the middle of the night with fevers and cough. I had terrible sinus drainage and a hacking cough that made sleep (the little I get) impossible. Getting sick like this couldn’t come at a worse possible time. I had started running and increasing my mileage. Plus, I finally realized that running on our rural roads in the dark was not an option for training. It was time to buy a treadmill.

I won’t lie and say that I didn’t automatically want a Peloton Tread. I have the Peloton bike, and I love it! Plus, I use the Peloton app. Almost all of my workouts and runs are done with Peloton. It made complete sense to get the Tread. The downside was the price tag. I shopped around and thought about other treadmills; cheaper options. It was hard to spend that amount of money on myself. My husband knew I was struggling with the guilt of wanting one and told me just to get it. He didn’t need to say anything else. Peloton purchased. Of course, it would arrive right as I got sick. Running would have to wait.

I spent the entire of month of December sick. It wasn’t until the second week of January that I had started to feel better enough to start running. Of course, as I got better everyone else got sick. The first week my youngest baby got croup. Then next week my daughter came down with pneumonia that bought us a three day hospital stay. It felt like a never ending revolving door of what would we come down with this week.

Here I am in the last two weeks of January 2025 hoping for a much needed reset. Where am I at with my running and training? Pretty much square one, but that’s okay. It’s the life of a working mom. I took time off to get better and then took some more time off to focus on the kids. Some weeks or months will look like this. I have signed up for a 10k in May and have got my application for Chicago approved. I have started strength training and did an hour-long run yesterday. It hasn’t been consistent, but I am still making an effort. My real marathon training doesn’t start until June-I have some time. I am still trying to pick a training plan. My last marathon I used Peloton’s marathon training plan, but didn’t follow it to a “T”. I will either give that another go or maybe use a different one. Right now I am just focused on gaining strength and running at least 3 times a week.

Stay tuned as my next post will be all about Peloton and my full review of the Peloton Tread. 🙂

Remember, I am raising money for St. Jude Hospital. Please consider donating. Every dollar goes toward helping change a child’s life!

https://fundraising.stjude.org/goto/Aimee_Runs

Finding Motivation for Marathon Training as a Busy Mom

Finding Motivation for Marathon Training as a Busy Mom

by Aimee Settlemires ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

It’s been exactly one week since I filled out my application to run the Chicago marathon for St. Jude Children’s Hospital. Shall we reassess the progress that has been made? Honestly, no progress has been made. I wish I could say I got a solid training plan drawn up, but I didn’t. The first wave of excitement that came from confirming my commitment to the race faded pretty quickly. I got off work Thursday morning and fell right back into the day to day race of being a mother, one who was severely behind on laundry.

Motivation waxes and wanes. Consistency is what produces results. Isn’t that what they say? (Who is “they” exactly?) How am I supposed to become consistent if I am not motivated? I trick myself into becoming motivated. I did watch Legally Blonde this week. I did it just to see that one scene where she really starts to apply herself at Harvard Law. If you are a millennial woman, you recognize the exact scene. I was still hitting the snooze button and letting the day fall into place with no wish to “start”. No amount of watching inspiring movies was going to generate enough motivation to separate me from my bed. Early mornings are just plain hard. My bed is just not a place I want to leave in the morning. My body is smashed between two sweet baby boys. Their fingers are tangled in my hair. It’s their guaranteed move to make sure I stay put. Their warmth radiates off their small bodies. The soft sounds of their breathing lull me back to sleep after I hit the snooze. Pure bliss.

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I want to start jumping into marathon training right away. I want to download a marathon plan and have a guiding light lead the way. This is my second marathon, and, while my first one went awesome because my only goal was to finish, my training was less than perfect. My longest training run was 15 miles. I went into that race not knowing if I could even run 26.2 miles. My finish time of 5:30:13 was a blessing. This time around I want to be stronger, more prepared for the miles.We are still 49 weeks away. Most marathon plans are 16 weeks or 22 weeks long. I could train for one twice if I wanted to. Perfect right?

I am struggling to get anything in and there’s no sense of routine or focus point. It’s just whatever I can get in with whatever time I have free. Which isn’t a lot especially if I am in the middle of a work week. I will try and get thirty minutes of something, whether it is yoga or cycling. I haven’t found a consistent routine for my training. It just feels like I’m floundering with the physical part of marathon training. I don’t have a program to guide my daily activities. It’s also really early to be starting one of those programs. Besides I am not ready to even start a program like that because I haven’t been running. I sound like a broken record I know. Starting is overwhelming though.

I work night shift at the hospital as a nurse practitioner. My work weeks start Thursday night and end the next Thursday morning. Seven nights in a row, twelve hour shifts, no consistent sleep. During my “on” week I have to choose between getting more sleep or working out. I can’t just fall out of training every other week. When I trained for my first marathon I would run when I got off or run before going in. We have added a new baby to the mix since that last race. I need to get home to him as soon as I get off. I am still his main source of nutrition. I need to work out because I need to get stronger. I need to sleep so my body can recover. I am stuck in this endless cycle. Should I get some sleep? Or should I get in a quick workout? It can be maddening. If you have made it this far in reading my blog I bet I can read your mind. “Why on earth would she decide to run a marathon when she clearly has too much on her plate already?”

Short answer, because I want this that bad. There is never going to be a good time in my life to do this. There will always be something in my life that is taking up too much of my time. My kids will be this age or that age. They will still need me just as much as they need me right now. There is always going to be work. Maybe not the same schedule, but I am not going to quit. (Unfortunately, there is no chance of me becoming an endorsed marathoner.) My husband and I moved into our newly built house that we (he) built on our own. It’s not finished. We live in what I like to call “construction chic.” This house is a lifelong project that will fill my weekends up for the rest of my life. When is a good time to start training for a marathon? I want to do this so badly. There is no time like the present moment. I will have to make it work.

Now, I have finished thoroughly complaining about the situation. Only I can control it, so what am I going to do about it?

Create a Routine

Routines and consistency produce results. We know this. I know this. It may take time, but eventually, just like before, running will become easier to me. Most days I hope my love for physical activity will be enough to get me moving. I know some days I won’t feel motivated. I won’t feel inspired everyday to leap from my bed and hit the pavement before the sun rises. On those days my routine will hopefully save me. I will select my workouts at the beginning of the week and have them all written down. I am a girly who loves a list. Even more I love crossing things off that list.

Develop a Training Plan

Right now I don’t need a training plan for a marathon. It’s too early and I am no where near ready for that. I need to just be running in general. I don’t need to worry about how many miles I am getting in weekly. Don’t need to stress about how many miles my long runs are. I need to be strictly focused on just running. My goals should be time-focused. Running for thirty or forty-five minutes at least three times a week. I need to incorporate cross training days as well. I basically just need to move and do work outs that I enjoy. I love yoga, cycling, and strength workouts. Doing any one of those a day will be a step in the right direction.

Let Things Go

I cannot do it all. Despite my amazing efforts trying to be everything to everyone in my life. It’s just impossible. Some things are going to have to take a backseat and that’s OK. Laundry will have to pile up. Household chores will have to be outsourced to my two teenagers. (I am sure they are going to love that.) I will miss coffee dates with friends. I won’t make it to every event that I am invited to. I am not a super social person so those last two things won’t really be a problem. 🙂

Set Small Achievable Goals

Reaching a goal feels so rewarding. When I reach my goals I feel successful and it drives me to continue to work for the next goal. If I set unrealistic goals like running a 3:30 marathon, I will feel defeated. I will give up quickly when I realize that goal is unachievable. (At this MOMENT!) If I set smaller more realistic goals I will keep returning to feed that desire I have to achieve. Right now my goal is just to start running more. It’s a simple goal. I haven’t run for 9+ months. Running one to two times a week is goal completed. Another of my goals is to run a race. I signed up for a 5k last month with no goal time in my mind. I wanted to just run a race. It felt fantastic.

Don’t Be So Hard on Myself

I started writing this post a week ago. I forgot my charger for my laptop at work and didn’t write during my entire week off from work. It’s been almost a month since I signed up for the marathon and my routine is still in shambles. I have only ran once since I ran that 5k in October. What can I say? I am a mom! My life stays busy. I have constant interruptions that cause me to rearrange my plans. This is why I am blogging this journey. I want to show anyone who has a life, a career, or a family that even though it is hard to train for a marathon, it’s doable. I will have setbacks, but I am going to keep showing up week to week. Not every training week will be perfect, and that’s okay. There will be some weeks that will be amazing, and that will be great. I just need to keep running. It will all be worth it in the end.

Why I Choose Charity Running for St. Jude

Why I Choose Charity Running for St. Jude

by Aimee Settlemires ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

It’s the morning of my first half marathon. I dress quietly in a dark hotel room. Lacing up my sneakers, I eat a cold pop tart. I should have packed my toaster. My husband holds my hands in the back of the Uber as we ride silently to downtown Memphis. I’m nervous. I stare aimless out the window at the passing buildings. My only focus is making it to the starting line. Missing the start of the race has been one of the many fears I’ve had during marathon training. It’s still dark out. Only street lights and buildings light our way. The sun hasn’t risen yet, but downtown Memphis is buzzing with race day festivities. People of all ages dressed in brightly colored attire. You can distinguish a support person from a runner by looking at the types of shoes they are wearing. After weeks of training, St. Jude Marathon weekend is finally here.

Thousands of runners gather to run a marathon, half marathon, 10k, or 5k, all in support of St. Jude Children’s hospital. The course takes me through downtown Memphis, past historic landmarks, right through the campus of St. Jude Hospital. Spectators waiting along the way have so much energy I can’t help but smile from the start. I try to read every sign, high-five as many people as I can, and just soak in the race. It’s obvious that this weekend is a much-loved event in Memphis. The city shows up and shows out.

When I reach the St. Jude Hospital campus my breath hitches in my chest. Patients and families are lined up. Children of all ages are wrapped in blankets. They stand, sit in wheelchairs, or are held in their parents’ arms. They smile wide at me. This race is for them. I am running for them. They are out here to see me. My heart just wants to explode. I slow my pace and give high five and hugs. I shed tears behind my sunglasses. This isn’t just any other run. It means so much more.

There is some criticism with entering the World Major Marathons with a charity bib. Why? Some feel that charity runners have not earned their spot because they didn’t meet the qualifying cut-off times. They feel these runners are not “real” runners, at least not “marathon quality” runners. I like to believe that it’s a small group of people who feel like this. I have found the running community as a whole to be welcoming and supportive. They welcome everyone no matter what their distance or pace is. Besides, 26.2 miles is still 26.2 miles no matter if you run it in 3 hours or in 6 hours. It’s still a long way to run.

I knew I would never meet the qualifying times for a World Major Marathon. My average pace is around 11:00-11:30 minutes per mile. The fastest pace I can sustain for about 6 miles is around 9:30/mile. It took me 5:30:13 to run my first marathon. I knew the only way I could enter a major marathon was by raising money for charity. The alternative was relying on the lottery.

The first time I ran for St. Jude Children’s Hospital was in December 2022. I chose to raise money for the half marathon in Memphis. It holds a special place in my heart. I don’t reside far from Memphis, and St. Jude has a pretty phenomenal reputation. I was in nursing school when I first toured their facility. I was blown away by their approach in caring for children. I walked away a changed person that day and decided I would like to work there. After I graduated nursing school and started working, I realized quickly that my passion was in critical care nursing. It takes a special person to be able to work with children, and I knew my limits. My heart just couldn’t handle it. Still, my love for St. Jude didn’t change. It only shifted. If I couldn’t work there I would support them through donations.

St. Jude is dedicated to treating children with cancer and other life-threatening illnesses. They are leading the way in childhood cancer research. Families never receive a bill for treatment, travel, food, or housing. Since opening in 1962, St. Jude has pushed the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20% to 80% within the U.S. Donations help aid in cutting-edge treatment not covered by medical insurances. It’s a special place that is changing lives everyday. While I might not have a personal story of how St. Jude changed my life, I am a mom. A mom that knows when your child is sick nothing in this world matters until they are better. Every child deserves to be healthy, every child deserves a fighting chance. I choose to run for St. Jude to raise donations and to spread awareness. So I might be able to give just one child that chance.

In the words of St. Jude’s founder Danny Thomas, “No child should die in the dawn of life.”

First half marathon 2022

To donate on my behalf for St. Jude click the link below:

http://fundraising.stjude.org/goto/Aimee_Runs

To learn more about St. Jude and their mission to save children visit:

https://www.stjude.org