Struggles

Its been a while since my last post. I know, I know... One starts off with a bang, then the excitement of the moment fades and the day-to-day realities set in and...nothing.

A whole lot of something's been going on. Everything from injuries to lack of motivation to a renewed sense of accomplishment, etc., etc. I have to be honest. I hate getting up early in the morning. Its not been my nature to rise with (or before) the sun. I love to linger in bed in the morning. I lay there, thankful for waking up, and then reflect on the day prior, and contemplate the day ahead of me. That's all fine, but does not make for getting the walking/running in a timely manner (before I go to work.) What I've learned from his experience so far if that I must put the effort in before work. Lunchtime runs have caused me to be very non-productive in the afternoons. I take far more time than my lunch break allows and have to make up the excess time at the end of the day. And post work session are even less successful as I find that once my work day ends, all I really want to do is go home and have a glass of wine and dinner.

My coach, Bruni, will begin joining me on Sunday mornings beginning April 11. She wants to see my form, pace and rate my progress to date. My first race, a 5k run on May 5, is soon approaching. That run will be my first milestone and I must reach it. I am anxious for the first day of registration for the MCM on Wednesday, April 7. I have it bookmarked on my calendar and a reminder set on both my cell phone and computer.

My progress in the Couch to 5K program has been slow. I repeated weeks 3-5. I should be up to week 8 yet find myself at week 6. Its fine. I'm not worried. I was sidelined for a week in late early March due to an ankle injury. I was walking with my (awesome!) boyfriend and tripped on a deep crack in the sidewalk. At the time I was more embarrassed at my clumsiness than I was hurt. However, a couple of days later my ankle was still swollen and my pain worsened from my lack of attention to the matter. Use of an elliptical machine would have been a good option, but I find those machines as monotonous as my accounting job. Biking would have been a better option for me, but I should own one of those contraptions to go for a ride, shouldn't I? :-) I've had tendinitis for nearly two weeks. It sucks but I can push through that. I know I need to go back to the hot yoga classes I used to take. My muscles are still too tight. But budget constraints prevent this for the moment.

Craiglist or the flea market will net me an adequate bike for my trail riding needs. A friend and former coworker invited me to join her when she uses her company's gym. I've been reading a lot about fitness and preparation for distance running, and weight training is mentioned often as a benefit for marathon training. I have a set of dumbbells. A bench (an under $50 investment) and a weight bar (another minimal cost) should do the trick. And to give myself another kick in the butt, I began reading Dr. Wayne Dyer's book, Excuses Begone!.

My eating has improved. I'm eliminating most of the sugar from what I eat. Yes, that means coffee black, no cream, no sugar, or those God-awful flavored creamers. My biggest obstacle lately has been sleep. Some night I'm lucky to get 5 hours. Waking up tired is no way to be ready for a run.

Waking up motivated is the answer. 4 days until registration; 31 weeks until race day. And you will see Mo run.