Puckett’s | Jen Chooses Joy

This week was all about marathon recovery and, of course…my birthday:)

Sunday:

The day after the Memphis Marathon, with trepidation, I got out for an easy shakeout jog. After Chicago, I could barely walk. I ran a faster time in Memphis and was actually able to go for a jog the next day!! I think the hills really helped my legs:)

Perk to early morning runs: I was the only person on Beale St. the morning after the race.

Of course I had to treat myself to a celebratory breakfast…

with biscuits!

Monday:

7 miles. Yet again, I was so happy that I was able to run…even though it was slow. P.S. I love this Brooks Run Happy Christmas Tech Tee!

Tuesday:

8 miles. I met my friends on the track. I didn’t do the speed workout, but opted to jog. I was frustrated that I couldn’t do more, but tried to be grateful that I was even running.

I did PiYo Core afterwards.

And much to my chagrin, Jason brought home Christie Cookies. Their white chocolate macadamia nut cookies are SOOOO good! My willpower was non-existent. Tis the season!

Thursday: My 34th birthday!

I met my sweet friends for a 6 mile run and breakfast afterwards! I felt so loved and it was the perfect way to kick-off the day:)

My Nana sent me a birthday mouse:)

My husband leaves me daily post-it notes. I loved my birthday note..

Speaking of #pimpinjoy, my hat arrived just in time for my birthday. Love it!

We had a dinner date at Moto for my favorite blueberry lasagna.

It sounds odd, but it’s amazing!

Cheers to 34….

and to presents that come in black boxes;)

And dessert!

Friday:

After a fun night, coffee was my best friend.

It was 22 degrees and I ran 8 less than stellar miles.

I’m doing my best to be patient…to remind myself that I ran a marathon 6 days ago. Nothing really hurts. I just have heavy, tired legs. Tomorrow I’m going to get out for a “long-ish” run. I’m going to cut myself some slack and be flexible with my mileage. Fingers crossed I’ll feel great!

Thanks again to everyone for your kind birthday wishes this week!!!! It was a wonderful day:)

Do you have any birthday traditions? I always have a special breakfast!

How quickly do you get back to speed work after a marathon?

How many cups of coffee do you typically drink a day? Sometimes I’ll have 1 in the morning, and I always have 1 in the afternoon as a pick-me-up!

#choosejoy

Saturday:

This was our coolest temp in months and it showed up just in time for my last group training run before Chicago.

Lots of Saucony Vizi!!

I’m always sad when the training ends. I love the journey so much more than the race. And, my favorite way to run is pacing a group. I love that Fleet Feet gives me so many opportunities to pace 🙂

Every time someone uses a search engine that sends them to my site, it shows up on my blog stats page. Normal searches revolve around running and recipes. This happened…

I’m not sure what is says about me or the person searching! FYI: I never know the identity of the person, so if it was YOU, your secret is safe.

I finally bought mums for my front porch. Lots of yellow for my planters!

After the Depot, we went to Chuy’s for my favorite guacamole taco salad.

We were both worn out and decided to stay in and use our new outdoor fireplace for the first time. I was giddy and bought the jumbo marshmallows for roasting!