Re-Entry and Listening to My Body

After three weeks of straying far from our normal routine, it's no surprise that coming back to life as usual in Eugene wasn't seamless. In fact, I woke up from a nap yesterday totally confused as to where I was and sure that we were still in France despite the fact that I was in our living room.

As we left Paris, I could feel the beginnings of a sinus infection coming on - sneezing, itchy nose, foggy head, sore throat, etc. It's as if my body knew the honeymoon was over! We touched down in Eugene on Wednesday around 9:00 p.m. after about 20 hours of travel and limited sleep.

Not taken while traveling home. We looked much worse than this.

We crashed hard and survived two days at work. While it hasn't been easy and I'm still sick, a few things have been important to getting back to normal:

• Sleep - while we both napped a bit on the planes, we tried not to sleep too much so that we would crash hard when we got in that night. And crash we did. 
• Healthy eats - Thursday evening, I went straight to the grocery store and loaded up on veggies, fruits, yogurt, milk, oats, kombucha and some other staples. 
• Exercise - I have still tried to do some exercise each day because it makes me feel good. Two short runs, a walk with friend Stef, long dog walks and a little strength training have helped me feel better about myself. 
• Couch time - While we took the trip of a lifetime and had some relaxing moments, we really were on GO for three weeks straight. A few hours of reading books, scrolling social media and watching the Tour de France were much needed. 
• Laundry - clean clothes and the act of doing laundry just helps me feel as if I'm getting my life back in order.

Listening to my body

It's probably some small miracle that I returned home with only 5 lbs of extra weight on me. After all the pasta, cheese and bread we consumed in Europe, I knew I'd be a bit heavier than when we left. 

Lunch at Mercato Centrale in Florence, Italy

And that's okay! I was prepared to not only fully enjoy our trip, the food and the moments, but not obsess about the work I'd have to do after to not only feel healthy, but get ready for that 50K {eeps!}.

Delicious strawberry cheesecake gelato also in Florence, Italy 

But I won't lie that running with five extra pounds doesn't exactly feel graceful and wearing tighter pants isn't my favorite. All that being said, I'm trying to be easy on myself and realistic as I let my body recover from this sinus infection and get healthy. 

Thursday, I ran 30 minutes after work knowing I probably shouldn't, but just wanted to get my run and sweat on! Victory: limiting myself to nothing more than 30 minutes

Friday, I did a short 15 min run around our neighborhood followed by 15 min of strength training in the garage before work. I had considered doing something else after work, but knew my body was run down and didn't need it. Victory: Being okay with 30 min of exercise

Saturday, I took Jonah Bell on a long walk while talking to my mom and then took a 45 min walk with Stef before Team Run Eugene's RUNderstand event on marathon nutrition. Victories: no strenuous cardio, tons of veggies & fruits, serious couch time and taking a long nap

Today, I did 25 min of strength training (two videos via Sarah Fit) + 25 min of yoga in the garage. Victory: not running

The moral of the story is, despite feeling a little uncomfortable in my own skin and being a bit undertrained for a 50K that's in 7 weeks, I'm letting my body tell me what it needs right now. And hopefully in return it will reward me with ridding this sickness so I can get back to some serious running real soon!

What was the highlight of your weekend?