Monday, May 25, 2009

Fear....

Fear is some crazy thing that sneaks up on you when you least expect it. I've been struggling with what I thought was motivation issues, when really, what I've discovered today, is that I was simply allowing fear to control my decision to get out and run. I think I've been dealing with this on and off since the hip injury and I've been allowing it to hold me back. It's interesting because this is exactly what I preach to those around me....yet, here I am allowing fear to take the wheel in my life.

So, I pushed through today and hit the road for an easy 2.25 mi run. Nothing crazy, just wanted to get out there because it had been a while......actually, many weeks have passed since my last run! I needed to start somewhere and this was a simple run I could use to get me started. Now, my road is rather hilly, so not only did I get my starter run in, I also made it over some hills. I felt pretty darn good when I got home and started thinking, what the heck was I so afraid of?!?

This week I'll probably keep to the 2.25 mi run, maybe move up to 3.5 depending on how I'm feeling. I'm planning a longer run, maybe 5 mi max, as my long weekend run. I'll still be keeping my gym workouts in check, so the running will be added exercise this week. Boilermaker is only 48 days away, so I need to be very diligent about getting my runs in and increasing my miles over the next few weeks.

Friday, May 22, 2009

Motivation.....

Please, someone help me locate my motivation to run because I seem to have misplaced it!!

I'm really struggling to get out there and I can't pinpoint the issue. I had been doing an incredible job of hitting the gym almost daily, but I still wasn't running. Now, officially a solid week has gone by and I haven't even been to the gym. What is up?? Last weekend was incredibly high stress because my wonderful husband forgot he put something on the stove and a beautiful friday afternoon turned into grease fire insanity!! Firetrucks, cops, marshalls, and shutting down part of our street until everything was squared away. We then cleaned the kitchen, repainted the ceilings, and washed the walls until 3am because graduation was the very next day and about 30 people were slated to be coming over for a celebratory party. Awesome! Thank god for amazing friends (Derek, Alana, & Chris) who came over and helped us until the wee hours of the morning. Now, for some reason, this has thrown off my entire exercise regimen. The exhaustion from the weekend really hit me on monday & tuesday and I was blindly tired. I need to cut myself a little slack and know that I probably needed the rest and time off, but I'm really hard on myself and a week off is something I have a hard time excusing.

Anyway, I'm hoping to start fresh tomorrow morning. I'm planning to get up and go to my usual Body Pump and Body Attack classes and then go for a nice run on sunday morning. I need to snap out of it because the Boilermaker 15K is sneaking up on me as we are moving into June. Time is ticking and if I want to come close to beating my time from last year, I need to get on the ball!!

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Back in Business...

The Running & exercise business that is!

My thesis is done, classes are ancient history, & the poster session is over. In fact, at the poster session, I was completely shocked to be awarded an Exceptional Student award from the Faculty!! Seriously, me, a B/C student most of my life (straight A's in grad school though) who has had to bust my butt in every academic venture, received and exceptional student award! Now that grad school is officially over and my only remaining duty is to walk across the stage on Saturday, I can refocus on what is incredibly important to me, exercise!!!! Yay!!

The past 2 weeks I have been pushing myself to new places at the gym and feeling like a million bucks. I'm finally getting my energy back and my stress level is at an all time low. It has been a true struggle to fit my workouts into my crazy schedule over the past few months and I have definitely felt the difference. It's amazing how much your emotional well being is tied to your physical well being. I am acutely aware of how much I need exercise in my life and what an integral role it plays.

My gym began a program called Art of Strength that is focused around kettle bells, ropes, logs, etc. It started May 1 and I absolutely love it!! In a little over a week, I can already feel changes in how my muscles are working together as a team and strengthening my overall body. In addition to that, I tried a Body Attack class with has been supplementing some of my running. It is a high intensity, fast moving, cardio class that works well as a running alternative. While I'm not talking about actual running a great deal, I'm working on exercises that will help me run better and safer so I don't have a repeat of last years accident.

For now, this is where I'm at. I'm hitting the gym all but 1 day a week and running when I can. At this point, I've adjusted my running schedule a bit b/c of how hectic things have been. I just don't feel ready for the Buffalo 1/2 marathon, so I've axed that one. I also was a no show for the Pink Ribbon 5K, I had worked a 7 hour shift at Beale St the night before and Sunday morning my legs were shot. Right now I am really focusing on Boilermaker in July and the Rochester 1/2 marathon in Sept. Still haven't decided what fall marathon I want to do, but the ones I'm looking at still have a good deal of time before they will be full or registration closes. I need to see where my training goes over the next few weeks.