My Motivation Has Abandoned Me

As I sit here typing this it has been a week since I have gone for any type of run.  The last time I laced up my running shoes was when I was headed downtown for the ABB 5K.  I have had absolutely zero motivation to get to the gym since then.  This is exactly what happened last time I did a 5K too.  It took me forever to get back into the gym.  I set a goal for myself though.  That goal was to run at least 300 miles this year which comes out to 25 miles a month...There are 7 days left in the month & I'm halfway at my goal.  To make 25 miles I have to run just under 2 miles a day, everyday.  In all reality that shouldn't be hard...2 miles is nothing.  The hard part is that I just can't get myself to get up and go.  Even the part of me that's feeling fat can't get myself to go.  There's a part that says "Bitch, in the last week you have eaten Whataburger, McDonalds, AND Burger King!  Get your ass to the gym!"  Then there's the part that fights back & says "So what!  I'm still at my goal weight so why is it so imperative to go?"

I just need to go.  There's nothing more to it than that.  The only thing that's going to get me to go is just...going.  The longer I don't go, the harder it's going to be to go.  So as soon as I finish this post and eat a spoonful of peanut butter (seriously I've been craving that shit like crazy lately) I'm going!  Ok, and finish this episode of Dawson's Creek...  Give me an hour & I'm gone!  I have a good 4-5 hours before I head over to see Mr. Fireman anyway so I might as well do something a little more productive than watching Dawson's Creek for the entire day...although tempting...

**Fingers crossed by the time you read this I'll have run a good 6 miles already**

A Near Perfect Day

Saturday morning I woke up bright & early, 4:15, so I could get ready for the ABB 5K.  Luckily, I had been exhausted the night before so I really wasn't all the tired surprisingly when I woke up.  I made sure I had everything packed: iPod, arm band, Polar watch, water bottle, camera...and then started my car so it would warm up while I made myself a smoothie.  At 5 am I hit the road for downtown Houston with the address for a parking garage in my GPS.  Due to the fact that it was the ass crack of dawn on a Saturday traffic was a breeze, even with shut downs & re-routes on the freeway.

I arrived at the parking garage around 5:45, at the same time I got a text message from Mr. Fireman wishing me luck on the race (good timing Mr.!).  Unfortunately, that parking garage, along with most others that I saw, were closed to the public.  Due to the chaotic mess of shut down roads the day before I didn't even try to get closer to the convention center.  (Turns out I should have)  Instead I found a valet parking garage that would let me park there for $10 for the entire day.  I was so stressed out because, well driving in downtown Houston does that to me, that I thought I had put my car in park when really I only still had my foot on the brake.  When I took my foot off the brake so the guy could get in my car started rolling forward... finally I got my shit together & grabbed everything I was going to need for the day.  I didn't know exactly where I was so I whipped out my GPS so I could figure out how to walk the 3/4 miles to the convention center, at 6 am, alone, it was slightly scary & slightly exhilarating.  I made it, unscathed, only to find out that on that day, unlike the previous day, the lot right in front of the convention center was open...for $10.  I got my race packet, checked in my stuff, & then sat around waiting for the race to start at 8 am.

At 8 am the gun went off & I was on my way.  It was a chilly morning so I wore my fleece zip up for the first half of the race until I got so warm that I needed to not only take it off but move my bib & arm band with my iPod in it.  Skills people, I got skills.  I took moved the bib from my fleece to my shirt, my armband from over my fleece to on my arm, & my zip up from on my upper body to around my waist all without stopping...granted I did slow down to do so.  Official times still aren't in & I didn't do real awesome or anything (somewhere around 36-37 minutes) but that's around 6 minutes faster than the last 5k I ran in September.  After the race I had planned to take pictures around downtown (which I did some with my phone) but it turned out that my camera battery had died so I decided to just snap some on my walk back to my car before heading home.  For the record, the 3/4 mile walk wasn't as scary in the daylight.

On the way back I was craving pancakes like no other.  I was hoping that by the time I got back home Mr. Fireman would've had a long enough nap that I could get him to go out for breakfast with me.  Unfortunately when I text him about the race & what not afterwards he said he had just gotten home because they had gotten a call at 4 am.  So instead, I let him sleep & headed to Whataburger.  Twice before I have been a part of the whole pay it forward thing.  Once in college at a Burger King & once not that long ago when I decided to start it by paying for someone else's Starbucks behind me.  When I got to the window to pay at Whataburger it just so happened that the person in front of me paid for me so I did the only logical thing & paid for the person behind me.  That was the icing on the cake.  It wasn't even 11 am & I knew it was a great day.  After not really hearing much from Mr. Fireman the previous 2 days due to his hectic work schedule I got an early morning good luck text, despite having not trained all that well I beat my last race time by 6 minutes, & then once again got the chance to pay it forward.

I was so exhausted when I got home that instead of showering like I should have I ate my breakfast & then passed out for a few hours.  Finally I got out of bed & showered and then sat around most of the day just relaxing.  The plan was for me to go over to Mr. Fireman's house that night around 6-6:30 so we could play card games & drink.  Instead I got a text around 5:30 asking if he could come over instead.  At 7 pm he showed up with a case of beer and my very own set of Phase 10 cards.  We started a game & then ordered some pizza and wings.  Once the food arrived we took a break from the game to eat & watch the end of Talledega Nights on TV.  We then finished the game (he won) & then tried to watch some Breaking Bad.  Unfortunately, something was wrong with my TV/laptop connection so the sound wasn't right.  We found some Dave Chapelle on TV & he almost instantly passed out.  The next morning we decided to play another round of Phase 10 (I won) & then we went out for breakfast.

All in all it was a pretty fantastic day!

That One Day I Ran A 5K & Bought A New Car

I was originally going to link up with "This Weekend I..." & talk about these but then this weekend took a dramatic turn & well I've basically been a zombie since Sunday evening.  At some point that story will come out too but for right now I'm not ready.  So instead I'll give you some happy news.

 

On Saturday September 7th I ran my first solo 5K.  Back in March I did the Warrior Dash with a few friends & in July I did the Color Run with some other friends, but this is the first one I've ever done by myself.  Honestly, I kind of liked it that way.  There was no pressure to wait for others or feeling like they were waiting on me. 

 

 

 

The night I came home from the Color Run I decided I wanted to do another 5K.  Since I wanted to do it alone though I didn't want it to be another fun run, I wanted it to be a race that meant something.  So I searched what 5K's were coming up in the Houston area & found the 9/11 Heroes Run.  Sold.  I signed up instantly with the intent to train regularly...that didn't happen.

 

 

 

I was so nervous for the race.  Luckily I had Mr. Fireman texting in the days leading up to the race constantly telling me that he believed in me.  The race was at 8 am with an opening ceremony starting at 7:30.  The race ending up starting a little late but I had no real other plans for the day so it was no big deal.  It was fairly cloudy & there was light breeze so it was perfect.  It even started raining for a little bit which made the run even better.  However, after the rain it got super humid & sunny which made the end of the race terrible.

 

 

 

I didn't have a real goal for the race other than finish it & I was just hoping I'd do it in under 45 minutes.  I know I definitely could've done better.  I walked more than I needed to but seeing as it was my first actual race & the weather got hot & humid fast I didn't want to over do it.  Even with my walking I ended up finishing it in 37 minutes & 25 seconds.  Now I have a goal to beat for my next one...whenever that may be.  I finished in the top half overall & in the top third for women overall.  I know I could've done better but considering it was my first race & that there were military personnel, police officers, fire fighters, & first responders running I'm quite pleased with where I finished.

 

 

So after the race was over I headed 30 minutes away to test drive a car.  My GPS got my slightly lost & told me that the dealership was a field...LIES!  So I tried the GPS again and found "it."  I saw a dealership on the other side of the freeway & assumed that to be it so I shut my GPS off.  It wasn't until I was in the salesman's office that I was at the wrong dealership & didn't have the heart to walk out & go next door after I marched in there asking about a certain car... Fortunately, it seemed as if the guy had nothing to offer me so I thought I was just going to leave & then head next door.  Wrong!  He did end up finding a car!  A 2010 Ford Fusion which is what I had been looking for.  So he tells me he found a gray 2010 Fusion & to sit tight while he brings it up front for me to test drive.  All while I'm sitting there thinking, "odd, the car I wanted to test drive was a gray 2010 Fusion."  So we take the test drive & I love it...that's when I get nervous & ask how much... Weird...it's the exact same price as the one I wanted to test drive.  It wasn't until all negotiations were over that I find out that this was in fact THE car I had gone to test drive.  They went to the dealership next door & got it.  I'm in love y'all.  Nervous now that I have a payment again, especially one that's more than my last one had been, but in love nonetheless.

 

 



5k Friday

I'm starting yet another weekly post.  Because I don't have enough of those already right?  At least these keep me posting even when I don't have anything to say time to write out posts about my life.  These weekly posts force me to keep up with my blog.  I don't need another one of my former frequent blog hiatus.  So what is 5k Friday?  Well as of right now I'm signed up to do the Warrior Dash in March, which if you knew me is ridiculous.  What's even more ridiculous is the fact that it was my idea & I talked 3 other people into it.  Why is it ridiculous?  Well I don't run...EVER.  So I decided to start the Couch 2 5k program.  THERE'S AN APP FOR THAT! (and it's free!).  I included a link for those of you unfamiliar with C25K or for those of you wanting to start it!   I'm here to take you along on my journey to being a runner.  It's a 3 day a week program so I'm going to do MWF.  I'll write about it each day but I'll only post on Fridays at to not overwhelm anyone, myself included.  I'm also going to weigh myself each Monday so I'll include that jazz at the bottom.  So now that that long intro is out of the way...

Monday November 26: Today was my first day back in Texas after being in MN for 10 days.  I decided what better day to start training for a 5k.  (Plus I'm possibly also doing the Color Run in February & this is an 8 week program so I needed to start now just in case!)  It was supposed to rain which slightly worried me because as you read above I'm not a runner so I may have used the rain as an excuse to put it off.  Luckily, it didn't.  It was 80 degrees outside!  But it was cloudy & breezy so it was kind of perfect.  I learned 2 3 things on this run:

A)I am out of shape!  I'm not fat by any means.  Sure I have some weight I could lose but nothing drastic.  On a bad day I weigh 170 & I stand 5'10.  However, even with my at least once a week 2 mile brisk walk I've been doing...I'm still terribly out of shape.  Throw in a few intervals 60 seconds worth of jogging & suddenly you'd think I was on the verge of death or had just run a marathon...

B) Before I do run my 5k I need new shoes.  My tennis shoes are so worn out & my feet actually hurt while some of the time while running.

C) I need a longer route.  I used the same route that I had been for my 2 mile walk which normally takes me about 30 minutes on the dot. Once you throw in some jogging though, even if it is slow, out of shape jogging, that 2 miles isn't long enough.  I shaved off about 4-5 minutes & the program takes 30 minutes.  Plus a 5k is just over 3 miles.  I'm going to have to think about this one.

Wednesday November 28: Remember how it was 80 degrees outside when I was jogging 2 days ago??  It was right about 60 today.  It felt great to run in but on my cool down walk back it got slightly chilly...I'm sure the sweat didn't help.  I'm still in desperate need of shoes because they still have holes in them but I tightened them up more this time & my feet didn't hurt near as bad today.  Also, I didn't want to die on my first 60 seconds of running.  Actually I had pretty steady breathing the entire time except for it started getting a little bit harder on my last 60 seconds of running. (I do 8 intervals of 60 sec. run/90 sec. walk).  I also added distance onto my route so my cool down actually ended up being longer than the 5 min I'm supposed to do.  Friday I'm going to have to hustle home after work to get a run & shower in because I'm pretty sure I'm going to a hockey game Friday night.

Friday November 30: Today's run felt like it went by a whole lot quicker.  I can feel my stomach tightening up.  It feels amazing in a sore sort of way.  I also noticed that I was running faster.  Not only could I feel it but I got to a farther point by the time my workout was over than I had the past 2 times.  However, during the middle part I felt like I was going to die again.  Maybe it's because I went an hour earlier than normal?  Maybe it's because I was running faster?  Maybe because despite the fact that it's cloudy & only 75 there is absolutely no breeze!  I also definitely need new shoes...maybe I should just add them to my Christmas list since the rest is kind of crap stuff anyway...except for the acoustic guitar...I want that.  Today I had to pause during walking like 3 or 4 times because the laces kept coming undone.  I was totally excited for today's run too.  I booked it out of school so that I would be able to have time to run, shower, & get dressed before heading out to the game...which I should be hopping in the shower like NOW.

Day 1:
Weight - 168.6 lbs
Body Fat Weight - 44.8 lbs
Body Fat Percentage - 26.6% (On target for my age/gender is 18-28%)
Body Water Percentage - 53.5% (On target for age/gender is 45-60%)
Bone Mass Value - 7.2% (On target for age/gender is 6.2-7%...does this mean I have heavy bones??)
BMI - 24.4 (On target is 20-25)
...oh yeah my goal weight is to be 160 because that's what my driver's license says & it wasn't a lie so I want to be back there.