To be or not to be… that is the questions. oh yeah no, today I’m asking is it better to walk or run. I’ve always LOVED to walk. I love hiking and I could walk forever. When I was obese I avoided walking anywhere. Once on a cruise I was so out of shape I opted not to leave the ship at a port because I didn’t want to walk to the venues. I knew I need to change then.
My smile has been coming back. I was at the office yesterday which had me out of the house. I found my long commute freeing and my music which always plays in my car made me happy. But I think the biggest positive was I was back into the gym!
I’ve been in a rutt. I’ve been sick. Not feeling well. Feeling sad. The sad piece really makes me concerned. Sad is not an adjective I’d use to describe myself. But saying I’ve been sad is honest. It’s a general sadness. I’ve recognized it and shared it with my husband. The sadness has been affecting everything I do. Today I’ve decided to confront the sadness.
It’s been more than a week since my Birthday 5K race. But I wanted to weigh in with all of you on my results. I received so many great NIke + cheers during the race and many well wishes as I prepared and during the day. All of your motivation carried me through the race.
In 6 weeks I will be 47 years old. I will also be running a 5K. It is how I want to spend my birthday. I find this really strange. But wonderfully strange. How is it even possible that I could be excited about running 3.125 miles while someone times me. It’s mostly because I now know how a good run makes me feel.
Today I’d like to tell you a story about my friend Marlene. Well I’m going to let her tell you. She will be my guest blogger tonight. If you want to get inspired by someone with rock strong determination you will find it HERE. Marlene is one of my exercise muse. She helps me get on my treadmill. I think of her when I am doubting my workout. I think “I know what Marlene would do!!
Back in November when I ran Gabe’s Run, the 5K trail run the day after Thanksgiving, my husband bought me these wings after the race. I LOVED them. I had such wings that day. Wings that took me through the 3.25 miles of trails. Wings that soared with my son as he ran his first 1 mile race. I held my breath the whole way and I was elated as he crossed the finish line.
Sometimes too much of a good thing is not a good thing. You’ve been in a good routine. No running two days in a row. I know you’ve been delighted with how your running feels but don’t do it two days in a row.
First week of the year. The gym is packed with people filled with passion towards their new years resolutions. Did you know that 80% of new years resolutions are related to health? Some of the new people at the gym this week are there to lose weight, others to tone up, others to get fit, perhaps others to please someone else.
Today is Christmas. Merry Christmas to everyone who celebrates today. There are a lot of emotions that go along with holidays. I shudder a little bit each year. There are a lot of expectations and some how I never quite overcome them all. This year was different. I walked bravely towards this holiday.
It’s three days until Christmas day. At my house like everywhere there will be extra special foods around the house. Foods I don’t really want to eat but do appeal to me. How am I going to deal with the holidays? What is my plan to stay on track and exit the holidays in the same condition I entered them in?
Snap a picture when you are done with your work out. Then go back and take a look at your progress. It helps to see the changes. The pictures clearly show you. My changes have been slow but I can see them. This picture collage covers about eight months.
So this is my long awaited recap of my 5K. Race day was perfect. Dry and warm for a November morning. I was ready and nervous. I was on my own. I know that is a funny thing to say, but I was physically on my own. When you run a race you are a team of one in a mass of other runners. I felt very alone. And then that felt ok. I had been running by myself for months, why did I all of a sudden feel like I needed someone else there with me?
Well I’m not sure I did the right thing. Yesterday I had a chance to walk the 5K route that I will run on Friday. The organizers for this charity event had cleared the trails on Saturday and were walking the trails with the volunteers for familiarization and to mark support points on the route. They opened this walkthrough up to the runners if you wanted to see the trail. Yes, it’s a trail run. NOT on the road. Have I made the right decision?
I’m not sure why my mind is fooling with me. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. Arch enemies typically play on vulnerabilities. My mind has always been my worst enemy. My doubter. It knows I am easily affected. And it’s really working on me about my race next week. But wait!
After you’ve made it through that work out, you know the one you didn’t think you’d get through. You know the one that almost didn’t happen because you started late, because you were thinking “maybe I’ll do it tomorrow.” After that work out the shower is the best. When you climb into that little booth of private celebration.
I wrote an email reply today and it struck me hard. I’ve been thinking about it all day. I thought I’d share it with you.
Just a quick video blog today. We made it through Hurricane Sandy with not much damage. Lots of branches and leaves down. My heart goes out to the those in NJ and NY. I work with many people in Manhattan and Jersey City and they have been hammered by this storm. You are all in my prayers. I tried to get out for a run today. The sun came out and by the time I got my kicks on it started to rain. So I headed for the treadmill and kicked 5K. That’s my number now. 5K and this is why.
Has anyone ever told you that you can’t do something? How did it make you feel? Did it make you angry? Did it make you feel defeated? How did it affect your next move? Were angry and became so determined you motivated yourself? Or did you retreat from the defeat you felt, with your bubble burst, walking away from what could be? Some of us are defeated by those who tell us we can’t. But what about ourselves? Are you your own doubter?
What do you think about as you prepare to exercise? I do my exercise in the morning before breakfast before anything. It takes some thinking and some preparing and some motivating to get me out of bed and get those running shoes on. There’s a lot of mental work to getting started for any kind of exercise or movement. Here’s what I figured out over the years that makes it work.
My summit of my three mile mountain is complete. I did it. I feel as if I can now do my regular run at 3 miles. Consistently. I created a quick video about the mental aspect of this summit. All comes down to Just Do It!
There were a couple of surprises for me today. First off I jumped on the scale and felt really good about what I saw. I haven’t weighed myself in a while actually let’s be exact, since August 27th. My losing my regain page can show you my history. But I was exactly the same weight. I love that. I didn’t expect that. I was ready to be accountable for my last four weeks of no weighing in and there it was. I was happy. I have been running three times a week and watching my portions, but to be honest have not focused on losing. I’ve been more focused on running, I’m committed to three days a week. So why was I crying?
Do you remember when you learned how to whistle? Was it easy? Did you ever really get it? My son recently took on the skill of whistling. Or should I say, he has started to teach himself how to whistle. I’ve been watching the process and listening with much patience. He has a good approach. First he asked almost every adult he has contact with to tell him about when they learned to whistle. He listened to their stories and asked questions.
I’m cracking myself up here! I love to blog. And I am trying to live blog from my iron infusion. Thought I’d hit you with some pictures from the event! It’s nice and quiet here. Sometimes it can be busy. I found a great seat in the corner and the nurses were so friendly and helpful. They loved the fact that I had brought my computer with me and I was documenting my infusion. I know many of you want to know what this is all about so I am going to try and do my best to show you.
You need to try to determine what made you keep going today! What was it? I struggled today to stay on my timeline. There were torrential rains. The commute was a challenge. I arrived late to work. But I still kept it together.
