Running- my current reflections

Hi friends!
Let's take a time warp back about 16 months.

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Ok, 16 months in the past, here we are! (sort of)
Looking at my life around this time, things were pretty similar... and pretty not similar.
I was still a girl (shocka there) who loved nourishing her body with the best kinds of foods, cooking all the time, reading healthy living blogs and generally fantasizing about food.

There was one big difference though. Running hadn't entered my life quite yet. And then a month or two later I started to run. And then I comfortably ran for 10 minutes each day for a while.
It was just another healthy addition I decided to add to my life after seeing so many of my healthy living blogger idols expressed their adoration for the sport.

I didn't really know anyone else who ran, so I didn't know if 10 minutes was long, or how far I was going, or anything really. I plugged in my headphones and took off around the local park, huffing and puffing, feeling exhausted and exhilarated and returning home with a massive smile on my dile.

This easy distance suddenly became uninteresting and dull (no wonder seeing as I was doing the same small route day in, day out) so I started doing at home workouts instead, and enjoyed them more.

Then the school cross country carnival happened. I ran. I did well. And the spark was re-ignited once again.

This was longer distances than I was used to and trying was hard and testing but the buzz I got after finishing was like nothing else I had ever experienced. After the inter school carnival came and went my love for running remained and my distances had increased dramatically. I was now running 30 minutes at a time- sweating like an ice cube left out of the freezer- but running further none the less.

30 minutes seemed a crazy long time back then and seriously wiped me out- in a good way! I guess I just went too far, too hard, too fast. My first injury soon ensued. This was awful for me. I wrote about it a bit here and here (although I didn't want to go into it in too much detail as it just made me more upset) and it just seemed like recovery was taking forever... and I just wanted to run! (I think that's when I truly identified myself as a runner).

Eventually I did recover and slowly (oh, so slowly!) worked my way back to my previous fitness level (I started off with my long forgotten 10 minute runs once more, adding another hill, or another lap of the oval each time when I felt ready) I took a break every second day, so I ran, didn't run, ran, didn't run and so on. I made it back to where I was and then... I just kept going.

Cross country opened my eyes (and ears?) to running without head phones and so I haven't run with them since. My physio helping me through my injury said to me on my last visit that I'll 'be back to running marathons in no time!' and that stuck with me too. And now? Now I run. And I run far. I run for 90-100 minutes (1 hour 30-45 mins) with no headphones, with a motivation of one day running marathons (when I'm older and wiser :) and some days return home, think of my 10 minute runs of just over a year ago and think to myself;  'what the...' when I realise just how far I've come.

 Running has given me so much- strength, determination, patience, energy, an escape for my crazy, stressful mind... and I'm just so thankful that I've finally found something that now makes up such a huge part of who I am. I guess it's pretty hard to understand unless you've gone through the same thing (with running, or another aspect of life) then you would understand exactly how I feel.

And along with the awesome endorphin high, and awesome fatigue at the same time, I also definitely feel hungry after such a long period pounding the pavement grass (a lot nicer on the knees)!
Today's post-run brekky?

 PANCAKES! It's a public holiday over here in Western Australia and so my Monday feels like a Sunday... so I made pancakes!

 Some vanilla protein powder banana bread pancakes. Similar to this recipe, with a scoop of vanilla protein powder stirred in.

 Along with a side of blackberry fro-yo ( handful frozen blackberries + 1/2 banana+ 3 big scoops of greek yoghurt).. because- YUM!

 Topped my delicious 'cakes off with some almond/sesame/chia seed butter and some smooth peanut butter. Nice and heavy-handedly :)

 This fro-yo was on point guys! So creamy, perfectly sweet and fruity!

 I love having enough time to make pancakes after a run. So easy to eat up, enjoy and replenish all my hungry cells. Break down all the glucose!! (Thanks human biology ;)

 So the two loves of my life now? Running and nut butter food. It's like food was my first-born and I loved it very much, but then along came it's new brother, running, and I had to love both of them just as much. :D

 But food will always hold a special place in my heart.

 I mean seriously, I'm drooling and I only ate this about an hour ago!

Happiness in the form of pancakes. :)


What about you?
Do you have an aspect in your life that you just couldn't live without?
Has your life changed in the past 16 months?
What did you have for breakfast?

See you guys later! I'm off to enjoy my free day and rest up my tired legs! Maybe eat some more food. Well, definitely eat some more food! Bye friends! :D