Much-Needed Structure {Weekly Summary}

I love order and structure.

This is not to say that I am rigid -- I enjoy being spontaneous and deviating from routine on occasion. But it's very important to me first to have that routine in place before I can deviate from it.

So to satisfy my craving for structure, I'm resuming my weekly summary posts. I am going to keep track of most of the same things I did before, but I've re-ordered them according to my new priorities. I might also add or delete some as time goes by, if I find this list doesn't capture adequately my progress and goals.

Without further ado, I give you my week of Feb. 10-16:
Total # of Workouts: 3
Total # of Runs: 2
Longest run without walking (time): 7 minutes
Highest total running mileage in one day: approx. 1.25 miles
Total running mileage for the week: approx. 2.4 miles
*Fastest speed sustained over a mile: N/A
Progress on training plans: I'm on day 5 or 6 of the ab challenge I'm doing. I'm in week 2 of the 5K training plan that I'm somewhat following. It's a Jeff Galloway plan, and while I don't follow his specific instructions for run/walk intervals, I do take walking breaks whenever needed. At some point I will set goals that involve more running without walking, but for now I am focusing on total times or mileage, with as much walking as necessary.
**Progress on safety goals: Now that I'm exercising fairly regularly, I am working steadily toward being stronger and faster. Next I need to look into self-defense classes. I think I might want to start by just learning a few basic moves to protect myself, and then research and select a particular discipline to study.
Injury Report: Nothing yet. I do seem to be coming down with a cold today, but hopefully that won't hold me back much.
Weight: 229
Weekly Change: N/A
Overall Change: -1 from new starting weight of 230
BMI: 33.3 (obese)
Jean Size: 20
Waist Circumference: Have not measured lately
Next event goal: None yet.
Last week's goals: N/A
This week's goals: (1) Run 3 times. (2) Do at least 5 ab workouts. (3) Write 2 or more blog posts, including this one.

Analysis: I'm a little disappointed in myself for not running over the weekend, but otherwise I'm satisfied with my progress thus far. I know from experience that once I get used to exercising regularly, it will be easier to make myself do so even on the days when I'm tired or just not in the mood. Finding the time is always a challenge for me, but I think I'm doing a decent job. So basically, I want to keep doing what I'm doing, only MORE!

I want to explain my two new summary stats:
*Fastest speed sustained over a mile: Part of the reason I'm getting back into running is so I can run away from would-be attackers in the future, if necessary. Unfortunately, I'm a very slow runner. Normally I don't mind being pokey, but I can't count on the person chasing me also being slow, so I need to focus at least a little on increasing my speed. I don't care if I can't maintain a higher speed over long distances -- I figure a mile ought to be enough for me to get to safety in most situations. This isn't something I will work on every time I run, but once in a while I will hop on the treadmill and see what's the highest speed I can maintain over a mile. Of course, I need to be able to run a solid mile without stopping first, even at my slow speed, so this spot might remain blank for a while.

**Progress on safety goals: I'm not sure exactly what I will talk about here each week. I just know I want to stay focused on why I'm doing this right now. I want to be stronger and faster and better able to defend myself should I ever again come under attack. I'm starting with core strength and running, but I want to add other strength training, cross training, and self-defense/martial arts. Right now it's sort of all open-ended...I will follow wherever this journey leads me. There might not be too many specific, measurable goals to address here, but I want to give myself a chance to reflect on whether I feel stronger and safer, and why or why not, and what I can do to keep improving.

This is a lot of variables to keep track of, but I love to be able to measure my progress. The numbers will only tell part of the story, though, so I'll try to post more often and reflect on all the other ways this process is affecting my life! I'm working on real change here. Big change. Positive change. And the best is yet to come!