Wednesday, October 10, 2018

Ups & Downs


This last week has had some major ups and downs. I've been struggling more than normal with my mental health lately and I don't know what it is. I keep looking to find reasons, but I'm coming up short at this point. I'm trying to be super gentle with myself, though, and focus on what I can control. It's just been hard to escape the cycle of my bed and ignoring all the things I want to accomplish when I get home in the evening. It's hard for me to be okay with that, so I'm trying to strike a balance and cope the best way I can, but it's been tough. I know it's a downer, but I think it's important to be up front and real with you all. I know I'm not the only one that is struggling in the world, and maybe someone reading this will feel comforted knowing they're not alone.

I've also been weirdly been dealing with this sore throat/croaky voice for the last few days. I woke up with this raspy voice on Saturday out of no where and it has progressed into a cough/sore throat situation. Not sure what's happening because I feel fine otherwise (no other cold symptoms, just the throat... >_>), so hopefully it's just a passing thing. Not trying to get sick!

Now that I've gotten the major negatives out of the way, let's focus on the positives the last week has brought which include:

1. RUNNING!

A post shared by Riley (@rmfickfack) on

Now that I've deferred my Newport Marathon registration to 2019, I've been feeling super motivated to go out on more runs! Over the weekend I logged a total of 20.2 miles across two days (6.2 on Saturday, 14 on Sunday) and I felt great after each run, albeit pretty sore after #SundayRunday. I will say that I am SO glad I opted to defer my Newport registration because there's honestly no way I would have made it 26.2 miles. My legs were DEAD after 9 miles so, as I predicted, I don't think Newport would have been fun at all. I am really looking forward to Richmond, though (and now I'm officially registered!), and I'm aiming to do a 16 mile day this weekend!



2. READING!



Since we're once again in ~spooky season~ I've been really eager to read through some spooky books! I've somehow already flown through 4 books (admittedly, only one spooky so far, but we're working on it!) and am in the middle of a handful of others. I just started Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero on Monday and I haven't quite gotten into it yet, but I did start An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green last night and I have been loving it! I'm about 50 pages in as of writing this post and I cannot wait to pick it back up. I'm so happy that I always have books to count on as a resource of comfort.

3. LETTING MYSELF LAUGH AT DUMB INTERNET MEMES ALL DAY!



Because honestly it's the only way I get through the pain of how messy the country is these days. #ironicdetachment (but in all seirousness, vote on November 6th, k thanks). 

Side note: have y'all been watching Shane Dawson's Jake Paul series? What have you though about it so far? I know there's a lot of criticism on how he's handling the subject matter, but I honestly think he and Andrew (lol I use their first names like they're my friends) are doing a fantastic job. They're doing something that you rarely, if ever, see on YouTube and are basically single-handedly (is it still "single-handedly" if there's two people?) changing the game and raising the standard. There's a link to a great video at the bottom of this post that explains this a bit more and I think it's a unique perspective to keep in mind as the series continues to release. If anything else, the series is entertaining AF and I'm having a great time watching it. Especially this part:



4. BRETT!

Honestly Brett has been such an amazing support these last few weeks while my mental health ha taken a bit of a turn. I know he's super busy with work and he's dealing with his own stress, but he's making me feel loved and supported and less alone through this time which has been so incredible. I feel really lucky that he's by my side. 

Speaking of Brett, his surgery for his nose is tomorrow. We're hoping for a speedy and safe procedure and recovery, and we're ready (Brett is ESPECIALLY ready) to put this all behind us! I'll keep y'all updated on how everything goes.


This upcoming weekend is #ReadYourFaceOff October! Woop woop! It's always fun to participate in RYFO every month and really take time to focus on reading and nothing else. I do have to bring my car in for an oil change on Saturday and, like I mentioned earlier, I want to run 16 miles, but other than that I just want to read and spend time with Brett and the dogs. That's all I ever want to do! :P

LINKS I LOVED THIS WEEK

I thought I'd start sharing a list of links that I'm a fan of every week, both to share with you all but also to keep a bit of a record of the things I'm loving/thinking about from week to week. These could include articles, blog posts, podcasts, videos.... really anything! I'll put this section at the end of each Wednesday Life Update post so you'll know where to find them. :)

8 Realities of Marathon Training from Relentless Forward Commotion

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