I've decided that my latest mantra is every step a victory  because with each step I take running I am declaring a victory over congestive heart failure. That in no way implies that I am throwing caution to the wind (not that I wouldn't love to do that!) but that every step I take I can cherish as one more that keeps me ahead of the game. I hadn't run since the half on Sunday partly because I have been sore this time and partly because I didn't want to take a chance at overdoing it. One of the things I have planned into my marathon training is taking days off. Days following long runs and even harder runs I'll have scheduled off. I think this is necessary in order to protect myself from overdoing and getting myself in a bind again. So today I went out to grab a couple of easy miles and I did pretty good I think. I didn't try to go fast or hard, just enjoyed the sunshine on my skin and the fresh air in my face. The park behind my house is the perfect place to...

This week I have a renewed determination to do this thing right. Overall, I had a pretty good week last week and only had a couple of times where I slipped up and fell off the low sodium diet wagon. So I reported it to a running group (Coach Jenny Hadfield's Challenge Group). I'm trying to build circles of accountability so that I am not so likely to do stupid stuff -- or at least not repeat them over and over... lol. I got chewed out for eating one little can of ravioli last week. At first I was like "If that's all  I did I'm doing so much better!" But they didn't let it go - in a good sort of way. A whole conversation opened up about sodium and how much is in our foods. There are some types of foods that have sodium naturally. And there is added salt. Somehow I thought that "table" salt wasn't as bad as the sodium found in prepackaged foods. So I've been shakin' that shaker all over my foods. I was also making some other mistakes....