Committment

I'm doing it. I'm running right after work today! This is my committment post. There's no turning back now!

Edit: I got dressed in my running clothes, put on my running shoes, and got on the trail today right after work. And then I ran 2 miles. It may only be 2 miles, but that's better than the past couple of weeks.

And.it.was.great.

It's so much nicer to run on a trail outside in the beautiful weather and see all of the different people sitting near or walking on the trail. I think I may have to make running outside a weekly event. I'm going to try and run again on Weds. I've gotta go to dinner tomorrow night but Weds should work out well.

Oh and an update on the pushup challenge- I got distracted when I went to Kansas so I'm going to start again on week 2 because I don't think I can go to week 3 after taking two weeks off. I'm almost motivated again.

My First and One of Only a Few Weight Loss Posts

I may throw a weight loss note in here every once in a while. I hate to go on and on about weight loss so it will be an infrequent occurrence. I’ll still make this blog mostly my exercise/running blog so no worries. But last night was monumental.

Mom and I made a deal last night- if we lose 10 lbs by October 1st, we are going to do something extremely fun together to reward ourselves. I’ve got 10 weeks. Better get on it. Now. I think I might go to a Weight Watcher’s meeting on Saturday. I think the only way I’m ever going to actually make any changes is if I have someone (not myself) keeping me accountable. I’m not a very good liar so it’d be much easier if I had to go to a meeting and tell someone yes I worked out, because I actually did. $40/month is a small price to pay for my mental and physical well-being.

Great News!!!

I started my new job today and they told me my schedule is going to be from 9:30-6:30 rather than the 8-5 shift I'm used to. That means I can actually get up and run in the morning, shower, be ready to work and still get to work on time. I love to workout in the morning but couldn't drag myself out of bed at 5:30 for any reason let alone run. 7:00 sounds much more doable. Oh and did I mention this doesn't start until we move in a couple of weeks. The gym is still too far away for me to drive and go before work in the morning. When we move, there will be a gym on the ground floor of our new apartment. Then I really won't have any more excuses :)

Back and Ready to Go

While I was gone last week I exercised more than I have in the past couple of weeks, and I remembered how much I love it. I went for walks, ran (once), played racquetball (for three hours), and watched basketball and baseball. Sports have always been a part of my life and it's about time I put them back in.

I went to the library today on my last day off before the new job starts tomorrow and checked out two books on running. I skimmed through them both quickly and realized that it really is just about getting out there and running. Almost everything I read in the book about the benefits of running I already knew. All of those benefits (weight loss, feeling better, more energy, eating better, etc.) are things that I want so it's time to go get those benefits.

I looked up some new half-marathons since this summer's training just didn't work out. There are three great options on Saturday, December 6th that are within driving distance of my place in DC. December 6th is about 4 1/2 months away. My typical training plan is about 12 weeks or 3 months. That gives me a month and a half to get back into the groove of things slowly. I'm getting back into it gradually this time so I don't have the excuse of injury anymore.

One part of the book that I really liked was the part about setting goals. It talked about setting goals for each year then setting short term (2-3 months) goals and then setting intermediary goals to lead up to reaching that short term goal. I like that idea.

So here are my goals to lead up to the half marathon on December 6th. These may have to adjust based on my progress, but these are the goals for right now. I'll cross them off on my sidebar as I hit each of them.

Long Term: Half Marathon on December 6th, 2008.

Short Term 1: Run 6 miles (10K) by October 18th, 2008.

• Intermediate Goal 1: Run 3x3 (3 miles 3 times a week) by August 15th.
• Intermediate Goal 2: Run 4x3 by September 15th.
• Intermediate Goal 3: Run 5 miles by October 11th.

Short Term 2: Run 13.1 miles (half) by December 6th, 2008.

• Intermediate Goal 1: Run 5x3 by November 1st.
• Intermediate Goal 2: Run 10 miles by November 22nd.

On to Week Three

Two weeks ago I started the One Hundred Pushup challenge and have been very optimistic about everything. I started only being able to do four pushups. Last night I did 16 without stopping so I guess you could say it's working and I was excited to be able to do 100 push ups a month from now.

Until.I.looked.at.week.3.

Week 1 and 2 had me doing intervals of 3-6 push ups; week 3 has me doing intervals of 16-20 push ups. I can do 16 push ups without stopping but don't know if I can do 16 then sixty seconds later do another 16. We'll see how it goes. I may have to do week 3 a couple of times to get through it. Either way, it's working since I can do 4x as many push ups now than when I started.
If you haven't joined in on the challenge, you should. It only takes about 30 minutes, and I already feel a little stronger. As for the rest of my workouts lately, they've non-existent. I'm hoping to get back in the mode next week while I'm in Kansas. My brother and dad have been running, and I'm hoping they'll be the motivation I need to get the ball rolling. When I get back, I'm going cold turkey into working out and eating better.

I know there are at least a few of you out there doing the challenge with me. How's it going? Have you seen any progress since you started? I'd love to hear it's getting easier (or harder) for everyone else too. Good luck in week 3.

In Theory, If You Roll a Ball It Will Keep Rolling

There have been very few time in my life when I have felt completely content with my life. Well that's kind of a lie. There have been very few times in my when I've felt completely content with myself. More specifically content with my body. It's amazing how if I'm not content with myself, it makes everything else just a slight shade darker in my eyes. Every one of the times that I've felt completely at peace with myself I was doing two things. I was taking care of myself physically and spiritually. I've never felt better about myself then during those three 12 week periods of half-marathon training.

Why am I writing this today? Because I realized today that I'm not content with myself. I'm not even close to content with myself. So many great things are going on and all I can think about in the morning is how bad I look in anything I put on or how thin the girl ahead of me in line is. Or maybe it's something else. I'm sure everyone has days this like, but what about months, years maybe? I'm going on a year now.

And you know what -I've done absolutely nothing about it. Nothing other than let the weight continue to pile on and continue to get more and more out of shape. This time I've really let it get too far, and it's taken a pretty big toll on my confidence and really every other part of my life. I don't know how I let it get this far, but it's time to take a stand for my physical health.

I'm not gonna make the Virginia Beach half marathon in August (who was I kidding??) but I'm going to run a half-marathon by the end of this year. And after that one, I'm going to sign up and run another one the next year, and the next year after that. I am not going to let the ball stop rolling again because like the law of physics, a body in motion stays in motion. I'm ready to get back in motion.