I've got my running groove back!!! And it's better than ever!
This freedom of not training for anything specific: No race deadline or goal marker, except of course to beat my previous times, is...well freeing! It also helps that I'm not running in circles around my parking lot anymore. While that had its time and place while I was getting my running legs back under me, I'm on to bigger, better, and more importantly, more exciting things. I'm running on campus now. The far outside loop of campus is over 3.5 miles, and I have several smaller loops mapped out.
My play list? You know those songs you hear in movies that give you goosebumps and motivate you to take over the world? The ones that you turn up all the way and sing along in your car (or wherever)? For example, in Legally Blond, when she's becoming the successful bookworm proving everyone wrong, the song they play is Watch Me Shine by Joanna Pacitti. My play list is made up entirely of those. Upbeat, awesome, I rule the world songs. Um, because I so do. I end up smiling while I run, and I can't wait until the next time I get to hit the pavement. I'm in my running clothes now, trying to get to a good stopping point in a program I'm writing, so I can go run!
I don't hurt. I avoided running for a while because I was convinced it hurt my shoulder and back and on and on. I'm being careful, but for the most part, since I'm concentrating on my form and breathing, it doesn't hurt to run. Which is fabulous. :)
And because I'm the mix-master in the h-iz-ouse (couldn't resist), I have them timed just right so when I'm needing a special boost of motivation, the next song is just that.
So I'm sure you're curious to the results of all this dedication. Yesterday I ran 2.5 miles in 30:20. I'll help you with the math, because I'm a geek. That's a pace of 11:59. That would be over one minute FASTER PACE than my fastest ever 5K pace. EVER. Like all of them. Here we go again. :)
I am participating in a challenge on Map My Fitness (www.mapmyfitness.com). I may have mentioned it in a past post. The challenge is to do 30 minutes of some kind of activity 20 days out of the month of December. It's a motivation to keep moving through the holidays. Yesterday was day 1. Today will be day 2. And look at that. It's December 2nd. I'm on a roll :)
I think I figured out the motivation behind all this change. I changed the rules of my own life. No more games, no more bull...stuff. :) I am no longer putting up with it. From anyone else, or me! I deserve better. I deserve the best. And it starts with how I treat myself. Anyone is welcome to try to play games with me, but you better watch out; the house always wins :) and I WILL come out on top!
I DECIDED I would be happy, no matter what anyone said or did. And I am! I had left it up to other people, then wondered why I was disappointed. I'm making friends with the voice inside my head. I'm making friends with her. And no, I don't have multiple personalities, and I am not weird. I think we all need to talk to ourselves a little more. That voice makes a lot less trouble when she gets attention. She plays nice now :)
I have a few quotes, some I've heard, some I've come up with. I keep them on my white board and look at them regularly. I always thought that things on a white board or mirror wouldn't work because once you see them so many times, you know they're there. But if you look in that direction, you know what's there, and it puts it at the front of your memory, whether or not you have to actually read them.
"Remember why you're on the journey, and how you'll feel at the finish line"
"It is a marathon until the finish line is in sight. Only then is it a sprint"
"Focus on form and distance. The speed will come"
"Don't hurry, don't worry, and don't forget to smell the flowers"
"Don't think about how far away the finish line is, think about how far beyond the starting line you are"
"It's a CHOICE"
Until next time,
:)
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