Becoming a Morning Person

So, I'm clearly an excuse maker so I am trying to create a situation where excuses are no longer viable. See, running after work poses multiple problems and prime excuse making moments. For example...Monday, way too tired after the crazy weekend, Tuesday, no food at the house so had to go grocery shopping, Wednesday, didn't work and had girly sickness so no running, today, again, no food so picked up the child and went out to dinner. SO...in order to get rid of all outside excuses, I'm going to start running in the morning. Now, I am completely aware that this poses a whole new set of excuse making opportunities, however, the excuses will all be personal excuses that I cannot justify. See, the difference is after work, I MUST provide nuritment for the child so I can't go running if we have no food because then she would starve, some days my wonderful husband gets caught up a few minutes at work so I need to pick up said child; can't leave her stranded at the babysitter; some days she needs her hair washed which is a pretty big production. See, evening runs provide a whole set of excuses based on other people. Morning runs pose the following excuse possibilities: 1. I'm tired and don't want to get up 2. I'm lazy and don't want to get up 3. It's cold and I don't want to get up. Common thread: I don't want to get up. Well, that's an April excuse, it involves no one else and I can force myself to make sacrifices (45 minutes of sleep is a big sacrifice but fitting in my skinny jeans is SO worth it). So, how to become that morning person? My problem isn't once I get up, it's putting my foot on the floor...tomorrow will be interesting, I think I'll make my husband bribe me or something. Guess we'll see how it goes; who knows...I may love starting my day off running...ha, that's a funny joke!

Run Training

So, I finally made it through the weekend from hell and I lived to report about it. On a positive note, the event raised $245,000 for my work (I work in non profit fundraising event planning). However, it left me absolutely exhausted and physically beat. I didn't get too much sleep, I was on my feet and moving stuff (we had a silent auction with 250+ items in it that had to be moved a few times). Needless to say, my back is not my friend today, my right arch is aching and my calves could use a good massage. So, you guessed it, no running for me today BUT, my plege was to run 4 times a week and I still have 5 more days this week (to be honest, I doubt I'll go tomorrow but I think I'm taking Wednesday as a "me" day so that will be a definite running day). I did start a new book "The triathlete's Guide to Run Training". Now, I know I'm not a triathlete, nor am I trying to be (I thought about it for a second then I remembered I HATE swimming so that is what prompted the marathon). Anyway, my dad is a triathlete and highly recommended the book for running fundamentals so I'm reading it and it all makes a lot of sense. I'll keep you all posted on if it really improves my energy expenditure ratio (the whole goal).

Rough Week

Excuses, excuses, excuses...I swear to you all, I am full of them. I must say, for the record that I promised myself I wouldn't get super serious until after my big event this weekend so, I guess it's somewhat okay that I didn't run this week. HOWEVER, it is not okay that I ate like absolute crap and really just masked my stress with food and wine. It's been nice but I feel like I have a food hang over, I hate how I feel when I eat like crap day after day. Don't get me wrong, every now and then, a trip to Wendy's is totally acceptable (maybe not to Skinny Bitch but I'm human) but the repeated shit I've put in my mouth this week was terrible. I can blame it on many things, work stress, this event looming over my head and some intense family drama but when it comes down to it, no matter what is going on, I have the choice to put the french fry in my face or grab a carrot. That is why this week, despite the craziness I know I"m going to experience, I pledge to eat well and work out at least three times. I know that's not enough but, you have to give me a little break as I'll be working late and have no opportunity to work out Thursday, Friday or Saturday (and I'm not making excuses, that's really reality in my job). And, next week the real fun begins, here are my post January 26th goals:

-Run at least four times a week
-Lift weights at least three (so I may have to...gasp...run and lift on the same days if I want any days off)
-No more fast food, none, zero, zilch for at least four weeks (once I pass the four week goal, it will just be nasty to be and easy not to go back to)
-I'm not putting a weight goal down, per say but I pledge to fit into my skinny jeans by tax day and if I do, I get a new pair of skinny jeans (not actual skinny jeans like you see in fashion magazines, those totally don't work with my thighs but my personal "when april is skinny, these jeans fit" skinny jeans) with my refund money, assuming I get any...and can convince my husband that's a viable use of our new found funds!
-Blog after every run, so at least four times a week, I have to keep my fan base growing!

Gettin' back in the game

So...you are probably wondering what happened after the big first run on Monday (I say big because it was monumental as it was my first run in a LONG time)! Well, I woke up on Tuesday SORE as poo! My groin hurt, my quads hurt, my calves hurt, I was in pain. I didn't help matters by deciding it was important to wear my favorite boots (side note: they are TOTALLY worth any pain they cause...adorable luggage brown Cole Haan Nike Air boots that I LOVE); this combination left my limping around all day like an injured puppy. Needless to say, I didn't do much of anything yesterday. I know, I know...had I done something, anything, it probably would have helped me out but I was done! Anyway, I did get out today and did the same run, added a tiny bit of distance (like .2 miles but hey, every little bit counts) and I actually feel really good. The run was a bit harder today but that's normal for me; I generally find day one pretty easy then day 2-4 kinda hard and then it gets better. My legs are feeling a little stiff so I went on a little walk with my trusty doggie, Bailey and stretched so hopefully tomorrow won't be too bad. I have to work late tomorrow so won't have time for a run but I'll be back on the streets on Friday (that makes it sound like I'm a hooker, doesn't it?!?)

Change in plans

First, I want to say hello to the people reading my blog. I can honestly say when I started this, I didn't think a soul would read it and it is quite exciting, and inspiring to know people actually are keeping track of what I do. So, thanks for keeping me honest! It's been a week since I've written so I'm sorry about that; I've been in contemplative mode this week as work has been super stressful. I have a huge gala coming up at the end of the month and it is truly sucking the life out of me. I'm at work early, working late; the days I don't have late meetings, I'm working from home. I know I'm making excuses and I'm trying hard not to but I also need to be realistic. Without the ability to be 100% dedicated this month, I can't push myself to do the Shamrock half by March. So, I'm planning on doing the 8k in March and doing a half in April in Chesapeake. I think that by giving myself those extra few weeks is really preventing injury and burnout. I've done this before (told myself I was training for a marathon) and I always quit. I am not going to quit this time, I'm not going to make excuses. I'm going to do it and I'm going to do it right, I'm going to take my time and listen to my body and train the right way.

On that note, I have a LONG way to go. I went on a little run today; it was my first run in awhile and my first outside run in a LONG time. So, we all know what that means, it was a lot harder than I would have liked. I ran a little less than 2 miles and felt pathetically tired. I have a long way to go and I have a tendency to get really down on myself so any and all encouragement that I can go from huffing and puffing 2 miles to 26.3 in 11 months would be greatly appreciated! I'm trying to get at least 3-4 runs a week through January. Once my big event is over, life will be much easier and I'll be running seriously 5 days a week, that is when the real training begins; I guess right now I'm just trying to get back into it and find that love I've always had for running.

So, here is my new schedule, for what it's worth:
Feb. 24 - Anheuser Busch 5k - Williamsburg, VA
March 16 - Shamrock 8K - Virginia Beach, VA
April 19 - Dismal Swamp Half Marathon - Chesapeake, VA
May 24 - Elizabeth River Run 10K - Portsmouth, VA
Aug 31 - Rock and Roll Half Marathon - Virginia Beach
Nov. 15 - Richmond Marathon - Richmond, VA

I may not do them all, might change up some of the shorter races depending on the bank account. These races are more expensive than I thought and I'm a poor newlywed! Luckily my husband is the most supportive man on the planet and he'll make sacrifices for me :) Well, that's it for now. Planning on the 2 mile run again tomorrow and yoga tomorrow night, hopefully I'll have a great run to write about tomorrow!

That's all for now,
April