Sunday and Monday

Just stopping in with my run update.

On Sunday I did 1.5 miles

On Monday I did 2 miles.


Didn't run Tuesday. Will run again tonight.

Trying This Again???

I wonder how many times I have to start and stop training before I actually stick with it??? Once again I have fallen off the wagon and once again I am disappointed in myself. I love running and one of my goals is to actually train for a marathon, so why can't I stick with it long enough to actually accomplish my goal?? It's so frustrating.

I find myself making excuses for why I can't run, but the fact is it's just plain laziness. I really can't run outside - there is nowhere to run near our house and I would be running in the dark if I drive somewhere and do it either before the kids wake up or after they go to bed, so my only option is to run on the treadmill. I would much rather run outside, but the treadmill is going to have to do. That is one of my excuses as well - I don't like the treadmill, so I'll make excuses to not run on it. I can come up with any excuse in the world and they all seem plausible in my head at the time. But, when it comes down to it I am only sabotaging myself and not setting a good example for my kids. I don't want them to learn to give up on things and take the easy way out. That was the example that was set for me my whole life and now I am following in that same pattern. I don't want to be that type of person!

I want to be someone who accomplishes my goals. I don't want to talk about my marathon goal forever and not follow through on it. But, as of right now I am all talk. I am almost 35 years old and have had this goal for at least 5 years now, but I am nowhere closer to it than I was 5 years ago. That is pathetic.

I tell myself that I want to lose weight but when I don't see the results quick enough I give up. This time around I'm not even going to concentrate on weight. Yeah, that would be a nice benefit, but my ultimate goal is just to be healthier and to set a good example for my kids. I want to run a marathon and once I accomplish that maybe even run it with a good time. But, the first hurdle is to actually complete one.

Baby steps, baby steps - that's what I have to keep reminding myself. I set these huge goals for myself and tend to give up because they seem overwhelming. I first need to meet smaller goals in order to build up to the big one.

Here are my current goals:

Be able to RUN a 5k in 6-weeks time (I need to start training all over since I basically gave up again and will be starting from scratch)

Be able to run a 10k in 12 weeks time (this is definitely do-able and as long as I can stick with my training I should be able to go straight from 5k training to 10k training)

I would like to run in the Flying Pig at the beginning of May. Right now I'm not going to set the specific race goal for that one. I would like to at least be able to do a half-marathon, but depending on how training is going, maybe even the full marathon. I will re-evaluate this goal in 12 weeks.

So, by February 1st I want to have my goal accomplished of being able to run a 10k. That will be the beginning of racing season again and I can start entering some races and gearing up for the Flying Pig.

My ULTIMATE goal would be to qualify for and one day run in the Boston Marathon! Wouldn't that be awesome! I can just picture my husband and kids there cheering me on. What an awesome example that would be for my kids! Okay, but lets not get ahead of ourselves here - remember, baby steps for now. I don't want to overwhelm myself and give up again :)

I am going to start prepping myself to get back in running mode. Gonna dig out my ipod shuffle and download a few songs tonight. I plan on doing my first run on Saturday morning. I'm also going to keep track of weight and inches. While I'm not going to concentrate on losing weight I have gained WAY too much weight and just need to overall get healthier. I'm hoping that running will be an added boost for that and I just want to keep track of where I am in all things.

I'll let you know how things go.

Update

I've been doing well with my running but forgot to upate, so I'll catch up here.

On Saturday I did 3 miles on the treadmill.

I rested Sunday.

On Monday and Tuesday I didn't stick with the start of the training schedule because we went to a party on Sunday and had friends in town Monday evening and were up late both evenings so I let Monday and Tuesday slide for the training schedule but I did walk at lunch with the girls at work both days and did about 3 miles each day.

This morning I got up and did 2 miles on the treadmill (in accordance with my training schedule). The first day actually calls for stretching and strength training but it also says feel free to mix up the days, so I decided to start with the 2 mile run first.

I feel great today and today was the first day that it was easy to get up (although I did get to bed early last night to guarantee that I could get up). Hopefully things just get better from here!!

Over the weekend I also bought a bike trailer for the kids. I hope to get a couple days in of bike riding each week as well. I was planning on going tonight since it's beautiful today but I have about a million loads of laundry to do tonight as well. We'll see which one wins!! If laundry wins then the bike ride will be tomorrow night.

2 More Miles Today

I got up this morning and did 2 miles today. I REALLY didn't feel like getting up this morning but I talked myself into it and felt better afterwards. Good news is that we got satellite (with DVR) installed on the TV in the work-out room, so now I can actually watch my shows while I run!!! YAY! That will make my long runs when I don't run outside go much more quickly.

2 Miles Today

I got up and did 2 miles this morning. I am still having issues with being able to get up early in the mornings, but I just keep reminding myself that I will be disappointed if I don't get up and just do it, so I am able to talk myself into getting up. Once I get up and start running I feel great! But, it's just the actual getting out of bed part that's hard for me. Gary says the first two weeks are the hardest and then you get into a routine, so I will just keep pushing myself for these first two weeks and hope that it will keep getting easier. Until then I have to have a 20-minute conversation with myself every morning in order to talk myself into getting out of bed early!!!

Anyway, I hope to do 2 more miles tomorrow morning, 3 miles on Saturday and then Sunday I will start my "official" half-marathon training. Sunday calls for strength training only.

Feeling Motivated Again...

I'm back and I'm feeling motivated again. I took off running for a while - I just couldn't get back in to it, but I've been feeling that itch again and seeing the pounds add up on the scale, so I decided to get into a program again. I am starting a half-marathong training schedule to run a half-marathong in September. This is my first week - it's my warm-up week, so I'm not on the "official" schedule yet, but I will start that next week. Yesterday I did 1.5 miles and today I did 2 miles, plus I walked across the river with my friend at work today which was probably another 2.5 miles easily. I plan to run again tomorrow and then will stick to the training schedule next week, which calls for 6 days of either running or cross-training and then 1 day off. I hope to stick to the schedule as much as possible and will post my updates here. Gary is also going to run a rac with me - I think we are going to do a 5k in June. We need to buy a double jogger or two single joggers though so we can take the kids with us - I want them to be involved too!!

Run Update from 3/10/09

Last night I took the kids to the park since the weather was so nice. Gavin took rode his scooter and Avery rode her bike. My dog, Cheerio, and I ran alongside them around the walking trail. It was a good work-out, especially since I had to push Avery up the hills ;) My guess is that the trail is about a mile long. We had a good time!