Running Update

I wanted to give an update on my running. I am currently in week 3 of my training program. If you are decent at addition you may wonder why I’m a little behind. The truth is, this Christmas season has been a challenge for me. It was hard to figure out when to ‘fit in’ my runs. So instead of trying to fit those in I just didn’t do them. Anyway, I am back on track!

I had been dreading Week 3 since I started. See, Week 3 Day 3 requires a 2 mile run with no walking. This was a hard for me to believe I could do from a mental stand point. And this morning, when I got on the treadmill, after walking my warm-up lap, I was flooded with excuses for not being able to finish.

First I thought: I ran last night, I shouldn’t be running again already. My legs are already hurting, there’s no way I can run 8 more laps. Then I told myself: if I make it to one mile, I can just take a quick walking break. I deserve it. I can’t finish this without a break.
I felt like the whole time I was running today I had to convince myself of all the reasons I shouldn’t quit. My legs really weren’t that tired. I wasn’t too short of breath. I didn’t need to slow my pace. I realized I just had to want to finish.

And you know what? I did it.

I ran all two of those miles at the pace I wanted to run. I know that’s not an amazing distance, but it was a challenge for me. And I did it. I’m proud of my accomplishment and I’m ready to do it again tomorrow on Day 4. This is the way I needed to end 2009. I’m not going out feeling defeated, beat up, put down, frustrated with my self, or on the heels of personal let down. I’m starting 2010 with a sense of self pride and a belief that if I want it, I can get it. I can’t think of a better way to start a new year and a new decade.

How are you going out?

A little bit of Christmas

I thought I would share some of my favorite Christmas decorations. I was inspired, yet again, by The Preacher's Wife. Enjoy!

I made these letters using plain, cardboard letters from hobby lobby, gold spray paint, scrap book paper, and the amazing Xyron machine. Here they are in the kitchen.

My husband and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary on November 25th. He got me this beautiful nativity scene. I've loved it from afar for years and I'm so excited to have one in my own home. I'm looking forward to adding to it each year.

And here is our tree! I only have a mixture of the ornaments I've received since my very first Christmas and a few I've collected since. I have to fight the urge buy ornaments to fill it up. My mom always had a full tree and so that's what I think a tree should look like. One of these days...

Can you tell I've just started my collection of Christmas decorations? :)

Couch to AnyK

Yesterday I joined a gym. Well, actually, I went to a gym to join it and got a free 7-day pass, but my intention is to join. I had been looking for a while but couldn’t decide what my priorities in a gym really were. Since Matt and I moved to our new house (Oct. 1st) I have not been to the gym. I take that back, I have been to the gym once or twice to drop Matt off but that's it. In no way am I an avid exerciser nor do I enjoy it. But I do believe it is necessary in my life in order to ‘maintain’. This being said, I was able to generate a list of things I needed in a gym. Here they are in random order: proximity to my home, group fitness classes, cardio (treadmills), and friendly staff. I chose my gym because they have all of these things. I’m actually excited to go work out today.

I have never been an athlete or an exerciser of any kind really, but my husband is. He loves to exercise and exercising totally changes his mood. And since he loves exercising, particularly running, so much he decided to sign us up to run the half marathon to raise money for a local school. Yeah, both of us. By now you could probably guess that I do not run. Until yesterday. I started a program called Couch to 10k. It’s a training program for total beginners. It starts from the couch and 10 weeks later you’re running a 10k. I’ve looked at this program a lot and have actually had it on my iPod for a couple of years. The only problem I’ve had with the program is starting it. I’ve never even tried. Until yesterday.

Yesterday I finally completed Day One Week One. Today I will complete Day Two Week One. I finally have the motivation and a goal in sight to help make this program work for me. If you know me, or even if you don’t, please ask me if you think about it how this is going. That will give me extra motivation to keep it up.

Have you ever tried Couch to 10k or something similar? Did it work for you?