Bed Brain

As my alarm went off this morning, my brain was ar inner dialogue went something like this:
~Oh, it feels so good to sleep.  I'm sleeping so good lately.  My eyes feel tired, maybe I need some more sleep.
~That workout I was supposed to do last night didn't happen.
~Rest is so important for healing and growth.
~I'm already out of bed, I should just work out.
~Look at that warm bed over there, so cozy, so fluffy.
~Even if I sleep 40 more minutes, I will still feel sleepy when I wake up again, but a workout would make me feel awesome.

So I hit the pavement, and I was right, by the end of my high-intensity interval cardio, I was feeling so awake and good.  Sometimes I hate the fact that I have these little sticky spots in the mornings, but it's better than not arguing at all and just going back to bed every day.  My knee was bothering me a little bit during the walk, but I thought to myself, if I wait until my knee doesn't hurt, I will be 500 pounds!  It's really nice that the sun is partially up now when I walk in the mornings.  Being able to see where I'm walking and which animals are preparing to pounce on me is definitely a bonus!
My recent shift in diet has me a little confused yet, mainly because I don't really feel that I'm eating "meals" as much as snacks, but it's getting me through the day.  Yesterday I ran out of time to eat my normal breakfast, so I made a vanilla protein shake, and blended it with frozen blueberries, spinach and flax seeds.  It was so good that I decided to have a shake for breakfast again today.  This time with straberries, blueberries, bananas and flax.  I realize it was heavy on the fruit carbs, but they have so many health benefits that I can't overlook.  And boy does it taste good and save time in the mornings!  I might try to make that concoction and freeze it in a bowl as an iced treat for the weekend.  Totally on-plan and fairly nutritional.  And not meat.  Today's lunch is quinoa stir fry with snow peas, mushrooms and green onions.  I have been eating nuts and cottage cheese for my snacks, and drinking protein shakes as needed.  It works for now.
Yesterday I got notice from the marathon website (that of which I ran my 5K) that the official results were up.  It turns out my time was actually 1 minute less than the finish line said as I crossed it.  At the beginning of the race, there were so many people in front of me that it took more than a full minute from gun time to cross the chip mat at the starting line.  Not a huge deal by most people's standards, but it was a bit of a moment for me.  I did even better than  I thought, and I didn't run the whole thing.  That means when I was running, it was at a faster pace than the first one.  This should bring closure for me and running, but there is something in me that likes the torture.  Or maybe I like the idea of being a runner.  Yes, I think I like the thought of running more than the actual act of it.  The topic deserves a deeper exploration for me. 
I am starting to see some really nice changes in my physique as my body recalls where it was that we left off.  I am so fortunate that this little miracle still happens to me at my age, and as far off-track as I allow myself to get sometimes.  My metabolism has been an absolute firestorm, with my stomach growling every 2 hours.  There have been times when I think of how fun it is to have junk food, but then I remind myself how bloated and over-full those things make me feel, and to be honest, being hungry actually reminds me that I am doing things the right way.  I know I'll have a cheat meal this weekend, but I am going to challenge myself to keep it to one meal and be done.  Going crazy on the weekends, especially since this is a holiday weekend, only makes me keep climbing those same 100 ft of the mountain.  I want to work my way back down to where I was.  152 lbs was the lowest I got, I want to try and get past that and keep going.  This morning I was 166.  I think I can reach my goal of 130 in the next year if I keep a positive mindset and stop living as if I'm already in maintainence phase. 
Lately I feel like my thoughts are so thick that I can't write much/well, and that these blogs are so boring, just me droning on and on, thinking out loud.  But it helps.  And if my progress sustains, I'll have more of those positive, uplifting blogs coming again.  Right now I'm just trying to figure things out, so I can keep the ball rolling. 
For my readers in the US, enjoy your long holiday weekend!  Everyone else, hope you have a fantastic weekend full of great weather!  Thanks for reading.