Thursday, May 22, 2014

The Kick I Needed {Inspiration of the Week}

Sometimes what I really need is a swift kick in the pants. I got one of those on Monday, and the kicker is now my Inspiration of the Week!

You may have noticed that I've been biding my time with getting back into shape, in no real hurry to reach my goals. Part of the reason is that in recent years, every time I have tried to "go all in," so to speak, I've ended up failing and getting frustrated and discouraged. This time around I thought it might be better to go easy on myself and slip back into healthy habits gradually.

I was motivated to commit to running again only after I was assaulted and felt a desperate need to get my power back. Though I've managed to stick with it and make steady progress, I wasn't ready to set any concrete goals in terms of what I want to achieve. I was kinda sorta starting to think maybe I'd run a 5K or two in the fall (and made some tentative plans with a friend to do that maybe), and I was kinda sorta starting to think maybe I could manage a 10K in the fall also, but still something is holding me back from making the commitment.

Maybe what has been missing is inspiration -- the kick in the pants, the lighting of a fire beneath me!

Remember the beginning of this blog, when I had a very specific goal? That idea has continued to exist in my mind, but more as a dream than as an actual goal. I have done nothing to work towards it in ages. I planned to revisit the idea once I was swimming regularly again, but I kept making excuses not to get back in the pool. My most recent excuse was that I wanted to get into the habit of getting up early every morning so I wouldn't be oversleeping and wasting my pool membership. Well now I'm taking the opposite approach -- I've paid for the pool membership, so that is my motivation to get my butt out of bed in the morning and not waste the money!

What led me to change tactics so suddenly and drastically? On Monday morning, my friend Candice sent me a Facebook message and said she wanted to try a triathlon -- did I want to do it with her? My first panicked thought was "OMG NO!!! I'm too out of shape! There's no way! I don't even own a bike!!!" But at the same time the thought excited me -- is it time to change the dream back into an actual goal?

As I explored the logistics, looked at training plans and researched events, I realized that it would be quite a challenge. We don't have a lot of time to get ready for the event that would probably work best for us. It actually might not be feasible. But we're going to give it a "tri" anyway! :) Our plan is to jump into training for the next month, and see what kind of progress we are able to make. If we're doing well, then we'll register for a women-only sprint tri that is in mid-August. If we're not doing well, we'll scrap that event and regroup. Maybe we can find another race later in the season, or maybe we'll have to give up for this year.

The destination is uncertain, but the path for now is clear -- I officially am training for a triathlon FINALLY!

There are still some tricky logistics to handle, such as finding a reasonably-priced bike, but I'm pleased to say I've really hit the ground running with the training. I designed my own plan based on a few I was looking at and what my needs are, and I've already been swimming once. I might write a whole separate post about that experience! I'm really excited to be working towards a goal again, beyond just wanting to be stronger and less fearful. This is more positive and perhaps even more therapeutic!

Naturally, I owe a huge thank you to my pants-kicker, fire igniter, inspirational friend, Candice. We haven't known each other very long, but I'm so grateful she has come into my life. She's a remarkable woman and I'm enjoying getting to know her. It will be fun to train for this race together and continue inspiring each other along the way! Okay, Candice, thanks for the jump start -- now let's do this!!

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Starting (Again) From the Middle {Weekly Summary}

Total # of Workouts: 2
Total # of Runs: 2
Longest run without walking (time): 30 minutes
Highest total running mileage in one day: approx. 2.5 miles
Total running mileage for the week: approx. 5 miles
Fastest speed sustained over a mile: approx. 5 mph (12 min mile)
Progress on training plans: I'm on day 5 of the ab challenge after starting over from the beginning. I repeated week 8 of my 5K training plan, but now I've designed a new training plan based on some shifting goals for the summer.
Progress on safety goals: I'm still considering doing self-defense classes this summer, but I'm not sure if I'll have time. More on that in another post.
Injury Report: I'm still having trouble with my knees but I've realized that I can minimize the pain by wearing only flats, no heels, for the rest of the day after running. Heels are fine on my non-running days. I had some back pain over the weekend that kept me from getting in my 3rd run for the week. I'm just not that familiar with back pain so I'm a little hesitant to risk making it worse. It went away after a few days and I hope it doesn't return anytime soon.
Weight: 224
Weekly Change: None
Overall Change: -6 from starting weight of 230
BMI: 32.6 (obese)
Jean Size: 20
Waist Circumference: 40.5 inches
Next Goal Weight: 220, and when I reach that I will have lost all the weight I've gained in the past year since my daughter was born.
Next event goal: No official goals set, but I have my eye on a couple of events this summer. I'll discuss those in a separate post this week!
Last week's goals: (1) FAIL: Ran only 2 times. (2) ACHIEVED! I did 3 ab workouts! Yay! (3) FAIL: Only wrote one blog post.
This week's goals: (1) Run 3 times. (2) Renew pool pass and swim at least once. (3) Write 3 or more blog posts, including this one.

Analysis: I feel pretty good about getting back on track with the ab workouts. I could definitely feel how much strength I'd lost from not doing them in weeks, but it wasn't as difficult to get started this time as it was the first time, so I guess I didn't lose ALL of my progress. Yay! If it weren't for the back pain, I think I finally would have achieved my goal of running three times in a week, and that continued failure is a continued frustration as well. Maybe this will finally be my week! I'm still struggling with getting up early every morning -- if I can conquer that obstacle, then I should have no trouble getting in enough runs and other workouts every week! And as for Goal #3, I think this might be my week for that too, because I need to devote a little space to my new focus. So be on the lookout for more posts, possibly as soon as this evening!

Monday, May 12, 2014

Back from Commercial Break {Weekly Summary}

***Updating based on the past week, May 5-11***

Total # of Workouts: 1
Total # of Runs: 1
Longest run without walking (time): 30 minutes
Highest total running mileage in one day: approx. 2.5 miles
Total running mileage for the week: approx. 2.5 miles
Fastest speed sustained over a mile: approx. 5 mph (12 min mile)
Progress on training plans: I'm going to start the ab challenge from the beginning again. I just finished week 8 of my 5K training plan, but I'm thinking of repeating the week a couple of times to get really comfortable at running for 30 minutes at a time. Since I don't have a specific event on the horizon yet, there is no urgency to extend my distance right away.
Progress on safety goals: Started researching self-defense classes; hoping to start a class this summer while the kids' activity schedules are lighter and thus I have more free time.
Injury Report: My biggest issue currently is my knees. They tend to ache a lot throughout the rest of the day after I run. I don't think I've injured them -- I think it's just the strain of so much weight pounding on them while I run. I'm hoping that as the weight gradually comes off and my muscles continue to get stronger, the aches will diminish.
Weight: 224
Weekly Change: N/A
Overall Change: -6 from starting weight of 230
BMI: 32.6 (obese)
Jean Size: 20
Waist Circumference: 40.5 inches
Next Goal Weight: 220, and when I reach that I will have lost all the weight I've gained in the past year since my daughter was born.
Next event goal: None yet.
Last week's goals: N/A I took a break from the weekly goals while getting through a big work deadline.
This week's goals: (1) Run 3 times. (2) Do 3 ab workouts. (3) Write 3 or more blog posts, including this one.

Analysis: Let's just pretend the past month didn't happen, okay? I was stuck with a huge work deadline during what was also a very busy month for my family, so certain things fell by the wayside. This blog was one of them. I did manage to keep running, though it slowed to once a week most weeks. Luckily I was still able to make progress and can now run 30 minutes without walking! And I managed not to gain any weight, which is practically a miracle considering how much junk food I ate in order to fuel my long hours. Now I'm ready to get back on track, and I have high hopes for this week! I'm working on getting up earlier in the morning so I can do all of my workouts then, which should make it easier to establish a good routine. I'm going to keep this post short and sweet, but I'm looking forward to writing more often now that I'll have the time!