Doldrums

Remember how I said that I was not going to let my wonky weekend define my whole week? Yeah, no. Monday was crazy, yesterday was bleh, and today was just... not awesome. I can't even pinpoint what was wrong with today, it just wasn't good. Worried about a few friends who had (separate) surgeries today, then I had a few rude encounters (hey, if I say something tastes like Christmas, yes, I meant to say it). And it seems like everyone around me is either having a rough week or the best week ever. Feast or famine, I suppose. I'm praying for a better tomorrow. Actually, I'm praying for a great tomorrow!

My new exercise routine is going well. Of course, today was on the day 2, so I guess we'll have to see how the next 40 days play out. And I've picked a local 5k race to run. I was thinking of doing Color Me Rad again, but I can't really afford the registration right now. So I picked the Resurrection Run. It is the weekend before Easter (hence the name), and I think I have enough time to get ready. I'm going to go ahead and write it on my calendar, then register when I get paid. I think once I put out the money, I will be more likely to stick with my training.

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For those of you who were wondering, I have not forgotten my cousin's hat for February. I was waiting to see if she mailed me back her survey. Since she has not, I'm struggling a bit to decide what to do. I think I will probably end up making her something similar to this:

[source]

I don't know yet. I actually have a hamburger hat that I already made. I was planning on saving that one for summer, but desperate times call for desperate measures... And time is of the essence. Oh well, I'll keep y'all in the loop! 

Ah, so that's why...

Last night I discovered why some people call it the dreadmill. While I am proud to say that I finished W4D2 without incident, I have to admit I almost stopped due to total boredom! I started praying for God to keep me from looking at the clock. I was literally thanking Him for every little thing under the sun until I heard the beep to change pace. I never felt like I couldn't do it anymore, I just felt like I was going to die of boredom. I'm not really sure why I felt that way. I didn't have my iPod with me, but I haven't used that in a few weeks. After reading an article in Runner's World, I decided to try jogging without it so I could listen to my breathing.

For the record, my breathing was good, but I haven't started using my iPod again. Since I want to start taking my runs outside soon, I want to get used to doing them without it. I don't live in a bad town, but I want to be able to hear what's going on around me.

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Today was a weigh-in day. I overslept HORRIBLY. I am supposed to leave my house at 7:40, and I woke up at 7:20. I'm not sure what my problem was. I remember my alarms going off. I guess I just turned them all off. Luckily I had everything ready to go, I just had to go in a hurry. I did remember to check my weight, but I forgot to take a picture. My weight was 211.0. :-( Up 0.2 from last week. I'm HOPING that my muscles are just holding on to water because of my run last night, but I did have kind of a cruddy food weekend. I'll weigh myself again tomorrow, and hopefully remember to take a picture as well. Even if it's bad, I still need to document it.

Love affair

So, in my first post, I mentioned a new love affair. I figured I should explain... although you might have figured it out. My newest love is running. Although, I guess what I'm doing at this point is still jogging. As I mentioned yesterday, I decided that I wanted to run a half marathon. This was after the most recent time of me starting the c25k program. I've started it I don't know how many times, but this time I made it a little further, which made me think I might actually finish. And as I've progressed further, I like it more and more. Actually, I like the running about the same, but I'm getting addicted to the after effects. :-)

I really do want to run a half marathon. I'm taking it one step at a time. I need to finish the c25k first! I was reading a blog, shocking I know, and she said that she a good plan was to pick a race, then go ahead and sign up for it. Then I will be more committed to my training, because I don't want to waste my money. My initial thought was to do the Music City Half, but I can't figure out how to register for the darn thing! But, that's probably good, because it is tentatively scheduled for my mom's birthday weekend, and I really want to do the Color Run, which is also scheduled in Nashville in October. If I have to choose, the Color Run wins. So, I'm still looking for a place to do my first Half. There is a marathon series close to me, but it is super hilly, and just no. Not yet anyway.

Like any good love affair, this one has given me a bit of a confidence boost as well. There is just something special about doing something I've never done before. Like making it to Week 4 in the c25k program. I've never made it past week 3. I'm not even sure I've ever made it pas W3D1... Knowing that I did it once and can absolutely do it again makes me feel almost giddy. I'm hoping to be able to complete W4D2 today.  

I was supposed to do D2 on Saturday, but I just couldn't. I only got about 4 hours of sleep Friday night, and I hadn't eaten much before I was going to run. I tried though. I really did. I started the program and got to the first set of jogging for 5 minutes when I realized it was a bad idea. I'm not going to lie, it did make me feel like a little be of a loser. It put me in a bad mood for the rest of the weekend. But I know that it was the smarter thing to do. And I don't want to get into the habit of trying to do too much with too little. That's a fast track to a burnout. Or breakup I guess.