Tapering: Yup, the tapering mood swings have officially started to begin. Being busy at the shop keeps my mind preoccupied but eventually the reality hits me that I’ve barely ran these past two weeks (hiking and a pulled neck/back muscle) and I start to have a little internal panic attack. I’ve also been motivated to clean and reorganize everything in the apartment. Clean home = clear mind, right? Right! I was fine, really, until quite a few people on my team raced yesterday at both the marathon and half marathon distances. That only means one thing, it’s my turn in exactly one week! This past month has flown by. I thought of them as I set out to run my ten miles and last long run of the cycle.

Confessing: It actually takes me a long time to clean despite being motivated to have a clean home. I love listening to music while I clean, but only on my headphones. Sometimes I get distracted and turn it more into a dance party. And then sometimes I think of a blog post and sit down to write before I forget… Hey! The bathroom is done and all surfaces in the living room have been dusted.

Eating: Well, I kind of fell off the healthy eating wagon and decided to eat any and all foods possible. Including countless servings of french fries from McDonalds, The Ruck, Hannaford’s extra crispy shoestrings and Beirut’s garlic fries with mint. I’m also on a huge refried bean kick. And a fresh everything bagel with hummus from Psychedelicatessen kick. And I’ve polished off two entire bowls from Chipotle with both beans, sofritas and all the (vegan) toppings. I can’t be stopped! Operation portion control and healthy options over the next six days has officially commenced… but I can’t promise some of those items won’t creep in.

Missing: Miley girl. A couple of weeks ago we gave back the cat we had been fostering since January. Her owner is a friend of mine and moved closer, so I’ve been able to see her a couple of times before heading out for my early morning runs. She seems to have adjusted fine to her new home and is happy to see me, but I miss seeing her when I come home in the evening. She also liked to snuggle and sing along to my morning tunes. I don’t miss her middle-of-the-night sprints across the bed and cleaning a litter box shared by two cats, but I think the good outweighed the bad; I wouldn’t have been able to put up with her for so long if not.

Planning: my fitness goals after the marathon. I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again: I’ve enjoyed training for this marathon. Never did the distance seem daunting and I think that’s because I’ve surrounded myself with some pretty kick-ass running people/friends. I probably only ran solo three or four times over the past four months. My mom asked me not so long ago if I was done running and of course my answer was no! I do want to make some changes with my schedule and how much I am running. I’m a cold weather runner for sure but I’m also a winter hiker. My last trip into the White Mountains reaffirmed my fear that I’m not hiking enough — my legs were toast the day after! I’ve got to find balance for everything that I love to do and being in the woods is at the top of that list. I’d also love to focus on my strength and toning up. More on that to come as soon as I get everything worked out.

Watching: the METS! The beau and I travelled back to Queens the last week of September to sneak in a night game before the season ended. We’ve been watching almost every game – even at the shop – on the computer and good golly, they made it to the post season! I was pretttttty disappointed about missing the game last week when they clinched the division but it was an awesome text to receive at the top of Mount Washington. Baseball is new to me but the best part is seeing the sparkle in the beau’s eyes; he has been following along since the age of ten and from what I’ve learned over the past four years, it’s been hard to be a Met’s fan. The excitement is contagious! Even my mom has begun to watch! Which is huge because her bedtime is at like seven o’clock. Ha! I’m pretty excited to head to The Ruck to watch a game and be able to enjoy a beer (or four) after the marathon.

Loving: this season! The cooler (running) temperatures, the smell of the crunchy leaves, the love in the air. Can’t get any better than this.