2 weeks without running

Apologies to all first, for the long blog hiatus.

Here's what I've been up to:

The Big House Big Chill hockey game took place a few weeks ago and covered a hockey game between Michigan and Michigan State. Michigan pulled out with a 5-0 win! Also, this game broke the world record for most people in attendance at a hockey game with 113,000 present.

My favorite part though was the sponsored curly fry goalie who helped out with rink events during commercial breaks.

Back in the world of science, I took two final exams and finished up my lab rotation. A good friend of mine defended his thesis and graduated from the PhD program! Congrats, Dr. Brian!

My desk during finals week looked like a tornado had run through it. It was my home base though, and I finished up the semester very nicely.

Finally, Sam finished up his internship in Tennessee and came home. We spent time making delicious gingerbread cookies. So fun!

But something I didn't do for 2 weeks? Run! After the Holiday Hustle 5K, I got sicker and realized I had probably pushed my cold into a sinus infection. Antibiotics and a week off of exercise helped immensely, but then it was finals week. I didn't have any time to exercise and couldn't prioritize that over my classes and research.

Finally on Monday, I got into the gym for a 2 mile run. It went well, and from this break I can say I learned the following lessons:

-The world will not end if you can't work out

-It's hard to motivate yourself if it's 20 degrees and snowy out

-Don't run when you're sick

-There are other ways to stay active. During this break I biked to work almost every day (~2miles) and did some stretches and calisthenics

-Stopping running will result in a 5lb weight reduction-- likely dwindling muscle mass

Ultimately though it was reinforced to me that weight is just a number. After being so successful this year with weight loss, I was getting annoyed that I had flatlined when I was still eating healthy and running a lot. Now I realize that I was fueling my body properly and it was maintaining itself in a healthy, fit state. As soon as I stopped doing that, I lost weight, muscle and fitness. I'm glad I have reached a healthy outlook on weight loss-- the number doesn't matter!