Giving Up the Mill

Can you spot me? I am in the crowd, somewhere. Its like where's Waldo, except you don't know who I am and what I look like. I'll give you a hint, I am one of the runners, not one of the onlookers. 

I have given up the treadmill. My very first race a few years ago was a 10 mile trail run. I trained for it everyday on the treadmill. At the time, I didn't know much about running. I had no plan and no gear. I just put on my tennis shoes, got on the old mill, hit start and ran. Everyday, I ran on the treadmill. I told myself that if I could run 8 miles on the mill, then I could handle 10 miles outside. Looking back on it, I don't think I even realized it was a trail run until the day of the race.

Once I decided to do my first marathon, I did all of my runs on the treadmill except for my long runs on Saturday. Again, every evening after work, I went to the gym, grabbed a mill, and ran mile after mile on that thing.

How the heck did I do that?

Today, I hate the treadmill with the passion of 1,000 suns. Seriously, I hate the treadmill. Last week, I had an easy 3 miler on deck, and I wanted to get some cross training in afterwards. Those 3 miles were the longest, most painful miles I have had in years. I was bored out of my mind, even though there were 10 t.v.'s hanging in front of me. I seriously could not handle how bored I was on the machine.

Running outside, and being outside is more enjoyable than ever now. I find that I am inside so much these days, that any chance I have to get outdoors, I leap at. Even if I am not somewhere particularly beautiful, I still crave the fresh(ish?) air filling my lunges. There is something so much more serene and peaceful about running outside for me than hitting the treadmill now. I am sure I will chicken out one morning when its 30 degrees outside and head for the gym rather than tough out the cold. For now, I'm going to keep hitting the pavement.

Are you a treadmill runner/walker? What do you do to make the time pass quickly?

Running on Angry.....or pure frustration

You may have noticed the running talk has been pretty slim these past few weeks. Thats because, the running has been, pretty slim in these parts.

Basically, my stupid whore foot was giving me some major problems. I went back to the podiatrist, a different one this time, and she looked, we talked, she did some things to me that hurt so badly that I wanted to call her some names that rhymed with itch, stitch, and witch. But, whore foot is still around, and still hurting, but in a different way. The course of action we are taking this time is a bit...different, I will spare you the deets. It hurts, its painful, but I'm willing to try anything to get rid of this thing.

It still hurts all the time, but its a different kind of hurt right now, and I am really not sure how to describe it. Its just so frustrating that this is on the ball of my foot, so EVERY TIME I TAKE A STEP, it hurts. No matter if I am running or walking, it hurts.

Lately, I have been running less, and cross training more. Doing the elliptical hurts, so I have been riding my bike more, and walking more, and doing more pure barre b/c it seems that I can tolerate that better than the pounding that comes from running.

This afternoon, I was annoyed with my foot, frustrated with work, and wanted to get my sweat on, so I laced up, not expecting much, and hit the road. I worked out this morning, so I told myself just get through 3 miles. It hurts, I am going to be in pain, but just press on and finish, no matter the time.

I feel out of shape right now. Because I have not been running much, I know my fitness is not where I want it to be.

Mile 1: Start out fast, but thats normal, and kept running, and zig zagging around the area, and when I looked down at my watch, I was hovering in the 7:00's. I have not hit 7:00's in quite some time.

Rather than tell you, I'm just going to show you.

Ahh yes, beautiful cheap laminate floors that are covered in dog hair. Ignore that and look at the watch.

Boom. 

I have no clue where that came from. I ran the same 3 miles last week, and I ran it in 27:00 minutes. I got home, nearly heaved my brains out, and stood outside in shock. I highly doubt I could do it again, at this moment, but I will take it.

I feel like running is a lot like life. When we enter into situations with expectations, and they are not met, we beat ourselves up, blame our circumstances, and walk away bitter. But, when we are open, relaxed, and free ourselves from some preconceived notion, we may just be surprised what is in store for us. 

So many times when I start my run, and I don't hit my time on the first mile, I get discouraged, and stop pushing. I stop trying to do better, and I automatically accept defeat, accept failure, and allow myself to swim in the sea of mediocracy. I allow myself to be slightly better than average, rather than sucking it up, pushing through the pain to make myself better. The line between good and great hurts, and to get past that line takes dedication, motivation, and desire. 

In the end, it felt good to push myself. To breath heavily, to sweat buckets, to push through the pain, and realize, I am made to do things that are hard. I am made to conquer. I am made to be strong. 

Show me your strength. How how you pushed yourself physically/mentally/spiritually/emotionally lately?  

Once a week I am shutting it off

You know how this is supposed to be the slow time of year, where we all stop what we are doing, we all give thanks for all that we have, then we rush around spending money we don't have on presents we don't want to buy, and going to parties with people we don't really like. Yea--it kinda blows. And it seems as if we are busier and busier. We constantly multi-task, speed eat through lunch just to get more done at work because when we were supposed to be working we are shopping for said presents, and working on our social calendars trying to fit everything in. 

I am making a stand (metaphorically) right now. I am stopping the madness, stopping the craziness, and I am going to reclaim my December. I am going to say "No" if I am invited to a gathering that I don't want to go to, and not feel bad about it. 

I am not going to try and cram in 100 activities into my day. I am not going to feel bad if my to do list is 4 pages, and I only cross of two items. 

Let's take back our holiday month, and enjoy it for once. 

Who is with me?

In an attempt to do this, I have decided that once a week, I am going to turn off the t.v. No movies on the ipad at lunch, no Hulu in bed at night. Once a week, I am going to give myself a break from media to get things done, to read a book, or just take a walk. 

Studies show that we average Americans spend at least 6 hours a day watching t.v. 6 hours! 

Do you know what we could do in 6 hours? We could cook enough meals for the week. We could clean the house, do the laundry, walk 20 miles, or finish 3 books. 

Who is with me? Who wants to give up t.v. just one day a week? 

If you are in--let me know, and let's keep each other accountable and see if by focusing our efforts we can be simplify, live better, be more rested, and enjoy this month even more.