Oh, February.

February was quick. Unfortunately, this winter is not. However, the snow and cold are making me excited for spring like never before! As I type this, I'm trying to keep the stress low: soul music playing in the background, a candle lit, some mint tea, and banana bread cooking in the oven. I feel comfort. Comfort in the midst of stress.

Running this month went very well. I have one more easy run tomorrow to close out the month at 30 miles a week with a little speed training thrown in the mix. My speed is pretty much the same as it was last fall. I'm set to run a 2 mile race on March 12th, mainly to see if there are any differences in speed. Endurance-wise, I'm in a great position right now. Easy run paces have improved significantly and my longer runs have found me pushing the pace quite often. Hills aren't too bad either. After the 2 mile race, I'll settle back into building mileage and focus less on speed work, or intensity, as a precaution to injury. I'll continue to do tempo workouts but will be careful with them as my mileage goals for March will be the highest they have ever been.

So about that stress. I've got a lot of stuff due for school this week and the next on top of a comprehensive exam next weekend. This exam requires a certain passing rate to graduate from my program. I've been studying but standardized test freak me out! There's also a somewhat important mid term for a class next week and then I have to teach a six session program at a local high school. The thought of all of these things and being prepared enough are what stress me. It even effected my sleep this week, where I found myself on the sleep schedule of a newborn baby- waking up every two hours in the night! Last night, however, I tried some relaxation thoughts, such as, "I'll get the work done tomorrow, it will be fine, I'm in control." These thoughts worked and I slept through the entire night! Ha.

Running has still been helping with staying somewhat sane during these stressful days. I feel like I found a purpose again with running. And many of the mental battles I deal with on my runs, I can look back on when I'm struggling with other things in life to find a way to keeping moving along.