Back in the Saddle - aka - Cancelling the Pity Party

Today is the day  that I start again. Well, technically yesterday I took the first step, but today is the day where all the pieces are back into place.

See a week ago today, I had my lower left wisdom tooth removed. It was impacted below the jawline so it had to be removed by an oral surgeon in the fun, cut your jaw open kind of way. I was told before the procedure I was off any kind of heavy exercise, running and whatnot for 5 days. That was a rough pill to swallow for me.

Me, looking pathetic right after surgery

Well, I'd love to say that things went smoothly from there, but unfortunately not so much. See my tooth was a stubborn little bugger and didn't want to come out without a fight. The doctor eventually won, but not without a bit of damage to the nerve that runs right below there. Long story short, today is Day 7 of not having any feeling in the front of my face. Well, no feeling isn't exactly right, sometimes it feels like crazy. But only randomly. Needless to say, I've been a bit down in the dumps about the lack of activity and lack of feeling in my face and have had pretty much a week-long pity party.

But that's over now. Time to get back to work. Numbness or not.

So here's where I now. Basically, the not being able to feel my front teeth thing has made eating an issue for me. Most form of chewing are right out as of now which has made it a challenge to eat enough protein and veggies without actually having to chew protein and veggies. I've had to been creative in order to get in the calories I need, and I'll be honest, I've been failing. I met with a nutritionist last week and she wants me to eat 1300 calories per day. I've been averaging around 700 on a good day. I know, not cool.

Yesterday I picked me up a big ol' container of Plant Based Protein shake stuff, almond milk and berries and made up some overnight oats and a smoothie. I also cooked up some chicken breast and blended it within an inch of it's life along with some celery, onion powder and mayo in order to make pasty chicken salad. I will attempt to consume these items today to hit my calorie count.

Meanwhile, I ran a pretty slow 4.5 miles yesterday at Riverwalk to get back into the swing of running. This morning, I did the Bi/Tri/Shoulder class at Burn. That felt pretty good. Had half the smoothie before and half after, and while typing this, I am working on the overnight oats.

Also, this morning I set my weekly plan for both workouts and nutrition. I've never been consistent with keeping a bullet journal, but I am hoping that this week will be the one where I can make it stick.

Mostly, this week I'm working to get back in the saddle of my active lifestyle despite my new normal. Hopefully the numbness is temporary. But there's no way of knowing at this point when or if feeling will return, so sulking over it any longer is not longer an option.

For the Love of Chocolate

Disclaimer: I received free entry to the Hot Chocolate 15K race as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!"

Ever since I have heard about the Hot Chocolate race series, I have always wanted to attend. The race jackets were awesome and who doesn't love being  handed a heaping bowl of chocolate at the finish line. Plus, I love me the 15K distance - it's super challenging but is over before things get really rough (mile 11 seems to be my nemesis). But unfortunately, despite being a large city, Charlotte, NC was never on the tour schedule. Atlanta was always close enough to race, but the weekend that the Atlanta race fell on was the same weekend as my daughter's birthday, which meant the only chocolate I was getting was birthday cake.

Soon you will be all mine!

Imagine my excitement when this year, the Hot Chocolate 15K/5K announced a Charlotte race! I signed up for the 15K IMMEDIATELY. I'm not even kidding. I got the announcement and clicked register. All that yummy chocolate and awesome chocolate bar race medal and cute jacket will be all mine this year! (Well, technically next year, the race is February 10th).

But wait, there's more...

Also this year, the Atlanta race changed dates and is no longer in mid-January, instead it is the first weekend of February. Not only that, I had just gotten accepted as a BibRave Pro which afforded me the opportunity to get a free entry. I had a tough decision - Do I dare run two Hot Chocolate 15K races back to back? Can I handle that much chocolate?

Ummm.. YEAH! 

So I've gone from being sad and not being able to do a Hot Chocolate 15K to doing two!! Not only that, I am road tripping to the Atlanta race with one of my running besties so it's going to be an adventure! I can't wait!

What about you? You want in on some yummy chocolate? I can sweeten the deal for you even. Use the code "BRHCATL18" for a bonus Hot Chocolate Cap when you check out.

To register:
Atlanta - https://www.hotchocolate15k.com/atlanta

Charlotte - https://www.hotchocolate15k.com/charlotte/race