How important are goals?

Running is something I toyed with for about a year, maybe more, before I committed to actually running last summer.  I would be reading Facebook and see all sorts of friends running in races or organizing races and think, "I should try that."  The I would remember that I hate running and it makes me feel like I am dying and think about doing it "someday".  Well last school year I started back to work and I gained weight so I tried out running for a few weeks, talked enough about it to have a friend at work suggest I enter an upcoming race, then stopped running for over a month.  Obviously I took it back up, entered the race and completed it and have gone from there.  But here is the thing, the real reason i took up running was to lose weight.  In the seven months that I have been running I have lost 15 pounds.  In my head when I started I was going to lose five pounds a month and by now I would have reached my goal.  Why hasn't that happened?  I added calorie counting in, most of the time at least, in October.  I use My Fitness Pal most days to track both calories in and those used by exercise.  Do I need to run more?  Eat less?  Relax more?  Get rid of some stress?  I am at a loss as to what goal to set next.  I can keep going as I have been and enjoy slow weight loss, but I would love to see it go faster.  Starting on Wednesday I am giving up potato chips and french fries for Lent and, as those are two of my high calorie fun foods, that usually helps a bit.  Plus my training should be upping my miles soon so that may help too.  I want to do this smart, and keep running as a healthy pursuit, but I am ready to feel like  me again and that still hasn't totally happened.

Extreme Shed and Shred

My goal last week was to make sure that I was doing some sort of cross training with the running and walking, but I didn't do so hot on that front.  As with a number of other goals I am trying to look at things from the perspective that what is done is done and I can focus on doing  better in the future, instead of beating myself up about slip ups or missed opportunities.

This morning I planned to run.  My children have been wanting to run with me so we were going to go to a park with a paved and marked track to run/walk this morning.  There is a sandbox in a separate loop and I figured I could run around that to get more distance in once they got tired and I would still be able to keep an eye on them.  Once I got ready I checked the temperature and it was only 20 degrees.  They would have never lasted long so I changed my plan and tried this instead.  Michaels recommends doing Level one and two at the same time, but with the kids around I opted for just level one.  The workout part is a half hour and then stretching and so yoga moves are the last fifteen or so minutes.  I know that is working out too, but it doesn't feel like it all the time.  I am glad I tried it, I think I still like the 30 Day Shred one better, but it is good to be able to mix things up.  Hopefully I will work myself up to the point where I am getting up early to do one of these before I start the day except on the days I have plans to run with friends.  I love when I get the workout in before I start the day and it isn't hanging over me for the day!

5k number 3 and counting!

I know this picture is a proof, but I did buy a copy of it, just not a digital copy.  This was from the race I was getting ready for this summer.  As of last weekend I have run in three 5K's and registered for two more 5K's and one 10K.  I haven't gotten as much faster as I would like, but I am also trying to look at what I have accomplished so far.

The first 5K was in August and I ran it with my husband.  At the one mile mark I was already feeling tired and running quite a bit faster than my usual pace.  I think I might have been better not knowing my time because it got into my head and then I ended up taking a few walking breaks, pretty brief ones, but breaks just the same.  I completed it and felt good about the accomplishment.  My time was 33:13 which was better than I expected.  I came in number 206 out of 260 runners.

In September we were signed up for a 5K the day after a terrible rain storm that caused a lot of flooding.  The race went on, but there were quite a few spots of puddles and muddy areas on the course and next to the course.  This time my husband and I started out together, but halfway through we split up because I was having to walk again and I could tell he was itching to go faster.  This time was my worst at 35:46 and I was number 75 of 105.  This race had a lower turn out because a lot of people thought it was canceled because of the storm.

Last weekends race had another weather issue, we got an early snow storm.  Luckily the worst hit after the race happened.  We got 6 to 10 inches of snow and tree limbs were falling all over the place because they were still covered with leaves.  Many people lost power and school was canceled Monday in many places.  We lost power later Saturday and didn't get it back until the afternoon on Tuesday.  Looking back maybe we should have skipped it, but it really wasn't that bad while we were running and it was kind of neat to have my first snow running experience on a race day.  My goal last week was to run without stopping.  I can do this on the treadmill with no problem, but don't get too many chances to run outside to try it out there.  I ran the whole way with no walking breaks.  My time was 32:56 and I was number 64 of 93.

I had one more race already registered for this month but I know me and I need motivation to keep me from finding an excuse to quit, so today I registered for one more 5K at the end of December and, this is the scary one, a 10 in February.  10K sounds really scary to me.  I've run that far without stopping on the treadmill twice now, once last week and then again today, so I know in my mind that I can do it.  Plus February is three months away, it is actually exactly three months away.  If I gave myself three weeks to get ready for a 5K, 3 months should be more than enough for a 10K.

Am I ready to run a 5K? I think so!

So back at the beginning of the summer I decided I was going to run in a 5K that is coming up in two weeks.  There was plenty of time to get ready and my best friend said she would run it with me.  So I started getting ready and felt good and then I stopped.  There was always tomorrow.  It was too hot.  The heat index was above 100 degrees for over a week.  Then i looked at the calendar last weekand saw that there were three weeks left.  So I was going to quit.  Until I decided to see if I could still make it happen.

Last week on Wednesday I started seeing if two weeks plus a little was enough time to get ready.  The first day I ran a mile and a half.  The second day I ran 2.25 miles and the third I ran 3.3 miles.  Then I gave myself a one day break and got back into it today.  I planned to make today a little bit lighter so at 3 miles I let myself ease back into a cool down.  So the plan is to run at least four days a week and get up to four miles at a time so that if the course has hills I hopefully still have the endurance to complete it and there is always the option to walk, not that I want to walk, but as I've never done one of these before just completing it is my first goal.  There are local 5k's in both September and October so I can keep up my motivation.  I'm sure they go past October, I've already seen posting about the earlier months.  Now to keep up the motivation for another 13 days to reach my first goal!

Does timing matter?

Before I had children I would exercise right when I got up or as soon as I came home from work.  When my oldest two were younger and I became a stay at home mom I would work out during their naps and we took a daily walk to the park, weather permitting.  Now that I have four and they don't all nap, I work part time and have a husband who works nights and sleeps during the day I find it harder to prioritize exercise.  Mostly I get on the treadmill or do a workout video around 9 pm when they finally all go to sleep.  Sometimes when I don't have to work I fit in a walk with the kids in the stroller while the older two are at school.    Does it make a difference when the exercise happens as long as it happens?  I guess consistency is the key.

Day 2 (yesterday)

I am not sure if I buy the idea that you need to have rest days if you are only working out for a half hour and most of it is walking.  We all walk all day, on and off.  I can see for people doing really strenuous things or working out for hours a day, but for most of us a half hour or more a day doesn't require a break.  Unfortunately for me if I do take a break for a day there is a good chance I'll take a break the next day, and the next and then I have to start all over.

Yesterday I did a half hour on the treadmill again, this time I ran for 13 minutes of it, so just over a mile.  I'm not sure if I will keep adding a minute a day like I did the other time I tried this, but I am going to commit to the half hour on the treadmill and be a bit more flexible with the rest of it.  Maybe without putting too much added pressure on myself I will stick with it past 11 days this time.