@MamaKautz and I before Bloomsday 2011
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I recently mentioned that my husband and I are wanting to take control of our eating and eat better so we’ll FEEL good. Along with this goal, I have another one. You see, I’m a wanna-be runner. I enjoy running, most of the time. Okay, actually I don’t enjoy it unless I do it fairly often. Then I LOVE it.
I ran this morning. I made it 3.03 miles. The last mile I was able to get into my “zone”. I wasn’t looking around, or thinking about a whole lot, or dodging rocks, I was just running. I love it when I get to that point. I can just GO. But I lost “the zone” after just a few minutes when a dog stepped out of its driveway, causing me to be on the alert. Then I was tired. Seriously tired.
You see, I have a bigger goal than just running: I’m running Bloomsday again this year! Bloomsday is 12k– 7.46 miles of fun with 55,000 other people! And if that sounds kind of crazy, that’s because it is. It was my first real race ever, last year, and I had so much fun! Mama Kautz and I both ran it last year. Not together, because she was in an earlier start group than I was, but we rode the shuttle there together and met up afterward. Do I want to win it? NO WAY. I’m happy with my 10.5 minute miles!
My plan this year was to get a personal record–a PR– on last year’s time. Last year I finished in 1:35. This year I want to do it in 1:25. Only trouble is, in order to get ready for something like shaving off ten minutes, I need to actually BE RUNNING. Regularly. This week, I ran Tuesday morning (2.68 miles, following my boys on their bikes) and this morning (Sat., 3.03 miles). First runs in 3 weeks. I’m back to needing to walk a lot more. I’m fatter. I’m tired-er. This is not going down the way I’d planned it.
Bloomsday is Sunday, May 6th. I have 21 days. Three weeks to try to get myself ready to run it. I can do this! Last year I didn’t do much training at all and I did pretty good. I have somewhere between 9-14 training runs I can take before the race. Potential. Motivation.
They say the hardest thing when it comes to running are the first few steps out the front door. I agree. And I’m going to do it anyway.
So tell me, what do you have to psych yourself up for in order to get it done?
Today’s Ultimate Blog Party free download is McGuffey’s Eclectic Speller! <– (downloads expired) And here are Friday’s and Saturday’s freebies!
I don't need to work up as much motivation for running as I do for laundry or the dishes! And running is a lot more fun once you get going! I've been running for about 15 years, but there have been off times, and, I agree, it's just not as much fun if you don't keep a pretty regular schedule of runs. Good luck to you and your race!
Michelle @ Changed B recently posted..Make Life Meaningful Monday: Parenting
Thanks Michelle! My planned run this morning was scrapped because I woke up with a stomach bug. Hopefully tomorrow will be better, but more likely I'll run on Wednesday. I DO love to run, it's just getting started again that's tough!