It's Morning, Get up!

I feel great. Well, my body is a little stiff, but my mind is doing great. Between the yoga and running, I’m feeling content and very comfortable with life right now.

On Monday, I got to the gym. I packed my lunch the night before to get a few extra minutes. The first mile was hard. I felt out of practice. I had on long leggings and my Great Pi Race tech shirt. My trusty phone was distracting me with Daredevil Season 1. I’m not a hundred percent into the series but I like to stay up to date with the all the marvel universe stuff. The long leggings were maybe a bad choice. I got hot right away and starting sweating. Like serious sweat dripping from my brow. Sometimes, I get a little self-conscious because I know my face is tomato red and I sweat like a pig (Pigs don’t actually sweat do they?) My pace is slow.

PreRun Picture

But I am running. This in and of itself is a success as I never thought I would be running and especially not at 4:30am on a weekday. I like the idea of sweat is fat crying. I know it’s not true because if that was the case, I would be at my race weight, but still it sounds cool. The red face lets everyone know I’m working my butt off and maybe it inspires someone else to give a little extra. And my pace, my pace is slowly growing faster. I started running slow a 13:00 pace and now I’ve improved to 11:30 on my morning runs. It’s still slow but I’m continuing to improve.

At the end of my Monday run, I had gotten in 6.13 miles. It was nice to get that distance in. I’ve still got the half marathon and that’s 13 miles with hills. There is still a lot of work ahead of me but I did it in the past and I know I can do it again.

Wednesday night I had a full class. 3 regulars and 3 newbies. I made sure to make it fun and light. Sometimes, trying new things can be very intimidating. We worked on getting comfortable with the fabric. Lots of rolling from front to back and returning to the front. My mind got a little creative so that the regulars and new people were all on the same foot tackling new asanas. Plank and boat series made appearances. Hips and shoulders got worked out. One of my regulars had brought her daughter and after class we worked on coffin to help with tightness in her shoulder and neck.

Inversion Hair. Don't Care

This morning I went for another run. I got a little later start. A little extra sleep seemed good. Driving thru the icy rain this morning, my stomach rumbled with hunger. It probably wouldn’t hurt to put my Gu Chomps in my bag. I don’t mind fasted runs, but it might be nice to do a few runs with the chomps. Especially, when I start going longer. The little boost you get with these gum drops really does help you dig a little deeper.

I was smarter today and wore a tank top and capris. And my brooks. My Saucony trails have gotten a bit of a break. Though I might use them for my half marathon. The Wi-Fi was uncooperative this morning. I thought I might have to run with no music and no daredevil. I’m quite spoiled. I don’t want to hear my panting and pounding feet. Some people feel like it’s a good thing or comforting. I just find it distracting and making my effort more prevalent in my mind. It makes me want to quit because who wants to keep going when they are trying that hard.

It wasn’t an easy run. I ran five min intervals at a comfortable speed and then a much faster speed. If I thought I sweated hard on Monday-well, Monday had nothing on me today. I tried not to watch the clock but it was hard. Very hard. Thankfully, the episode of Daredevil was very engrossing. When I finished, I felt wiped. I wished I could go take a nap rather than hop in my car and go to work. I took a cold shower to halt the sweat and wake me up. And off to work I went.

On my drive, I was feeling accomplished. The sun was just starting to come up and I had already run nearly five miles. I am achy but it was a suck it up buttercup moment this morning when my alarm went off. I made a race commitment and a commitment to myself. I will run that half marathon and I will continue to lose weight and get healthier.