TGFS (Thank God for Starbucks)

Good Morning all my loyal readers (haha)! As you may know, Rich and I are training to run our 2nd half marathon together (my 3rd, but hey who's counting) on Valentine's Day in Myrtle Beach, SC. I hope this blog will help keep me accountable with training. Yesterday was pretty busy for me. I got off work and headed straight to the chiropractor. I have been having a lot of pain in my right arm-I thought it was carpal tunnel but the chiro thinks it is from nerves being compressed in my upper spine. Who knows...in fact, I don't care what it is as long as he can help! Rich has been going for a couple months for lower back pain and has had good results. I don't enjoy going, it is very uncomfortable for me to lay there and let him move the bones in my neck and back around. Anyway, yesterday was a 3-mile run + strength training day. After the chiro I headed to the gym and did 3 miles on the treadmill which was torturous. Treadmill running is the worst in my opinion, plus I forgot my headphones so I just had to stare at Oprah and try to guess what fabulous words of wisdom she was dishing out (sorry Rich, I know you think she is the devil). Then I am feeling super proud of myself for actually getting thru the run, but no time to dwell on that because it was time for Body Pump (BP). Now I really enjoy BP for the most part--it is a great one hour workout that really works just about every part of your body. For those of you unfamiliar with the wonder that is BP, it is broken down into songs, and you work out a different muscle group to each track. I like them all except for the lunge track. It is at that point in every BP class that my mind starts telling me "Hey, a saggy arse is not that big of a deal...this pain is not natural, it's not good for you, stop lunging!!!" But I didn't stop, I toughed it out and soon it was over. This morning I have that pleasant soreness that lets you know you accomplished something, and it makes me thankful that I did not listen to the voice in my head telling me to stop.

After BP I had 45 minutes to drive home, shower and change for dinner out with work friends, feed and play with the dogs and drive downtown. Several people from work and I went to dinner at a nice restaurant in downtown Charleston that was celebrating it's 9th birthday with lots of yummy specials, including $5 expresso martinis. To me, delicious martinis are like cookies or potato chips, maybe there are people out there who can have just one, but I am not one of them. I knew it was going to be a late evening, and that I had to get up early this morning for work so I told myself that I would not have any alcohol at dinner. So I was the only non-drinker at the table, and had to reiterate multiple times that I am in fact NOT pregnant (apparently that is the only acceptable reason for eating without drinking). It was tough to resist the martinis and champagne that everyone was enjoying, but it was pretty entertaining to be the sober observer. So now to the title of today's blog, this morning I rewarded myself for my incredible (one) night of self-discipline with a pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks, and it was worth it. Have a great day everyone!