On goals, the road to them, and life in between.
I had a mentor once that told me I didn’t celebrate my victories enough. So this post is about celebration. I have finally moved up to Week 3 of Couch to 5K (after idling at week 2 after being sick for so long). You know what this means? I ran for two minutes. Multiple sets of two minutes. And I (mostly) survived.
Two minutes is a long, long way away from the 5 hours it takes most women to run a marathon, but it’s still progress. So I’m celebrating!
I have to be honest with you. I’ve been sick in various ways for the past three weeks. I haven’t been getting up at 6:45AM these days because I want my body to have all the rest it can get so my nose will stop running and I’ll stop coughing and sneezing. I have kept running, but only once a week (instead of three) and a more low-key run. You know what? I’m still quite pleased with myself!
It has taken determination to get out on those runs when it was -5ºC out and I was coughing up tons of phlegm and I did it with the encouragement of my husband. I didn’t want to lose the memory of how I actually enjoyed the runs and they weren’t as bad as my mind was making them seem. I’ve been too afraid to increase the intensity of the runs while being sick, too, so I’m still on week 2 of Couch to 5K. But again, I’m OK with that. I realize that part of what I’m doing is developing habits of running and so it’s not the end of the world if I’m not increasing intensity every week because at least I’m running.
Sometimes ‘productivity’ isn’t just about getting things done, it’s about the long-term implications about the choices we make every day. Which is why, I’m perfectly happy to not push myself maybe too hard and believe that it’s 100% perfect or don’t bother. There’s something worth celebrating in that last sentence. I used to be a person who thought if I couldn’t reach my standard of perfection I might as well give up entirely.
I’m really looking forward to this cold going away so I can not be a disgusting mess in public, but also so I can run again (because I actually like it!).
I’ve had a few people text me and leave comments to congratulate me on starting to run. I’ve also had people tell me I’m crazy for doing both at the same time, which is not all that far off, perhaps. Aside from being sick last week and this week which affected my runs, things have been going well. I managed to desire to get up and go, but just take it a little easier, which has been good.
It’s a good question. I think part of it is is that it doesn’t feel like it’s requiring that much discipline, but here are a few more reasons.
So far, I have runs scheduled into my week and I look forward to them. The days I’m not so sure I want to go, my husband reminds me that I’ll enjoy it. I always do, so that’s a big win. I’m ahead of schedule so far on the novel in terms of word count. I’ve got nearly 10,000 words which is 1/5th of the book (obviously). I feel confident because I have lots to write yet in plot development etc. I should be able to finish no problem unless life just suddenly goes crazy, which is totally a possibility.
Remember when we talked about our morning routine and I wondered if it was even possible if I could become one of those regular human beings who can wake up at a reasonable time in the morning? Or at the very least that it would be a bit more normal for me to be awake at 7am.
I can’t even believe I’m about to write this. I had a celebratory moment with my mentor as I shared this with her. “I can’t believe I’m hearing you say this!” was her exact words and you know what? SHE’S RIGHT.
I wake up every morning either right before my husband’s 6:45 alarm or even 15 minutes before.
WHAT THE CRAP.
Also, I’ve managed to survive every day that I’ve woken up at this hour without a nap.
WHO AM I?
I cannot give enough props to the light therapy because it’s all thanks to that blessed light. In effect, it re-calibrates your circadian rhythm so if you look at it in the morning when you wake up, it will make sure you keep waking up at that time. Glorious.
But what about the actual components of my morning? How is that going?
Currently that schedule is pretty tight to fit everything in. I need to be more intentional about not reading twitter while I stretch after my run and think more through my day. Or find a way to add that elsewhere.
So far, though, I’m still in the honeymoon phase. It’s still exciting and fun and I’m running off the thrill of feeling like a totally different person. If I learned anything from writing that novel in 30 days when I was in first year university, though, soon the excitement will wear off and I’ll be stuck with a commitment I no longer like but am determined to finish for bragging rights.
This week I have been working on the Couch to 5K program week one. It’s getting easier every time and I’m already starting to enjoy it. Maybe my running location has something to do with it. Here are some pics from my run (note: week 1 of C25K still involves a good chunk of walking).
Then I made a smoothie that was super duper good! I call it the Very Pink Smoothie because it just tastes pink! I like that. I concocted this one. It’s a strawberry banana cranberry flax dealio. Cranberries are great for Vitamin C but taste nasty so I’m glad I found a use for the extra cranberries we had left over from Thanksgiving. Yum yum.
My sleep was being affected by my lack of exercise.** Two weeks of no biking or running, I was sleeping 30 minutes to an hour more than before. I was getting home from work, eating, and by the time my head was screwed on straight again the sun was going down.
I determined to run anyways and did my third run with shoes, since it was getting colder out. As soon as I tied them up I was surprised by how heavy they were. I was afraid I was going to hate the experience again.
I was surprised by three things:
So I’m happy to say that I’m OK to run with these shoes I have, but I still would like to get some barefoot running type shoes, either Vibrams or some of the more normal-looking “minimalist” shoes.
**I wrote these three posts a few weeks ago.
