Long Run Randomness 9 - Saturday Seven

You know, I think if there was a marathon designed for people who run about half a mile, stop and take a picture, take off for another half a mile, then stop and take another picture, and so on, I would probably win that race.  One day It might be a good idea to try running my long runs non-stop. You know, kind of like a race, considering I am training for a non-stop race.  But, what fun would that be?  And how boring for you?  You'd have to hear all about pace and form and real runner stuff.  Luckily for you, I spent this Saturday seven stopping along the way.

I took a trail that I really rarely take because, frankly, it feels a little lonely to me.  But then what happens?  I run into two of my favorite runner friends (and their adorable baby girl, but she wasn't in the selfie mood)!  You might remember Michael, he ran the Houston Marathon with me back in January.  It is good for the soul to see runner friends on the road.  Even if they are more disciplined and don't want to stop and chit chat forever (they obviously don't ascribe to my stop every half mile training plan--they are smart).

My neighborhood is kind of known for the curb painting, but this one is just cracked me up. 

Guys, this is totally unacceptable. I am still eating Halloween candy. In fact, we still have Halloween decorations up.  These people are clearly overachievers. I have (for self-preservation reasons) chosen to believe that this sign and these lights are leftover from last Christmas. 

Seriously, no Christmas lights when Pumpkins are still out. 

This trail is actually pretty scenic (for being inside the City and if you call old tires in the bayou scenic) and I got to see some cool looking cranes. But cranes aren't very willing subjects, so all you get is this lousy picture. 

Seven miles at this pace. I'm pretty happy with today's run. There is still some work to be done if I want to maintain/improve this pace for my next half marathon in five weeks. But, I'm ready for that and happy with where I am right now. And isn't that what it's all about? 

Just Do It

Today's long (okay, it wasn't long.  It was very short) run lesson comes in the form of a Nike slogan.

I was not in the mood to 'just do it' this morning.  I was up, as usual, in the very early morning hours and I made it to my 6:00 a.m., Bar Method class, but after that I was just not in in the mood to run.  My training program said I needed to do a quick 5k run, but my legs said, "B%tch, please."  So, I did what any sane runner would do.  I drove to the gym and sat in the parking lot with my car running for half an hour just texting with anyone who would respond at such an early hour, hoping that I'd suddenly find the motivation to get running.  I even sent out this tweet as I waited:

I'm not sure I ever really found the motivation to go in.  Mostly, I was shamed into going in because someone pulled into a spot next to mine and I felt kind of silly just sitting in a gym parking lot with the car running, so I eventually made my way out of the car.  And lo and behold, guess what wonderful treat was inside waiting for me...

That's right, rows and rows of fancy-shmancy new treadmills!  I was so excited to jump on a brand new treadmill, I completely forgot about my lack of motivation.  It was great being able to watch/listen to any TV show I wanted and feel the smooth, unused, tread beneath my feet (sorry 24 Hr. Fitness, your old treadmills had gotten plain ol' sad).

So, here is the lesson:  Just do it.  You'll always be rewarded for it. 

Your reward may not come in the shape of a new treadmill (those things are big and expensive).  It may be small and it may be subtle, but there will be a reward waiting for you.  It may be the self-satisfaction of doing something harder than you felt you could do.  It may be the cookies you get to treat yourself with after the run (or is that just me?).  It may be a friendly smile and wave from another runner.  It may be getting to see a beautiful sunrise as you run down the path.  The point is, I don't know exactly what your reward will be, but I do know it will be there waiting for you.  So, get out of that running car and JUST DO IT.

Busy

Please bear with me, this post might be a little unorganized.  I'm writing this blog in between bites of lunch at the office because well, you know, I'm busy as hell. 

I know I've mentioned to you that before my long runs, I often sit for a few minutes reading inspirational running quotes to help get me motivated to get out there running.  Well, the same is true for my every day.  Each morning, as soon as I turn on my computer, I spend a little time reading inspiring/motivational/calming quotes and then I pick one, print it, and hang it where I can see it all day long. 

Yesterday, I came across one that hit me like a ton of bricks.  As my girl Oprah says, it was an Aha moment! 

 

STOP THE GLORIFICATION OF BUSY. 

Here is the Aha:

Busy isn't best. There is no prize for busiest. The person who drives themselves into the ground in the name of being busy does not win. 

Let's all stop for a minute and take that in......We need to stop the glorification of being busy. We must accept that how busy you are does not correlate with how good you are.. Being busy just means that you are busy. Nothing more.  Being busy doesn't mean that you are effective or productive or happy. Being busy means that your days are full, but it doesn't mean that you are fulfilled by your day.

Okay, now that we've taken it all in and we understand busy isn't where we want to be, let's stop beating ourselves up about taking time to just BE. Let's all vow to get more comfortable with allowing ourselves time to rest and recover and rejoice.  Let's agree to give ourselves and each other a break from the busy,

Runner Problems

There are certain problems that only runners face. I happened to face three of them today. 

1.  You didn't have time for a run in the morning, but this is the afternoon forecast:
 

2.  When you go get your hair cut and styled (and I mean styled  as in that super awesome way that can only be done at the salon and never duplicated by you at home)

Only to have it look like this an hour later because you still had a run to squeeze in:

3. Any shoes that aren't running shoes!  Why?!?!?  

Real Life - this might be harder than I thought

Just one day ago I committed to write to you every single day for the month of November. Yet, here I am, 24-ish hours later admitting to you that this is going to be hard.  Very hard.

 

See, here is the thing:  I have a real life.  And that real life is full and hard and consuming.  It's 23 of the 24 hours (at least) of my day.  It is non-stop, here it comes, duck if you can (but I never can), real life.  Not that this blog isn't part of my real life. It is.   I love this blog and I have promised to you many times that I will always it real here, but that doesn't keep the real life and real important life stuff from coming at me full speed.  Stupid real life doesn't realize that I've taken on the NaBloPoMo challenge.  Stupid real life doesn't care that it's hard to be creative or witty or well presented every day.  It doesn't care if I would  really rather sit and write than face it.  Real life is going to come at me ninety miles an hour no matter what I planned and committed to.

 

So this is today's update.  I had another post all planned out in my head, but I just can't write it.  I'm sorry that this isn't longer or funnier or more inspiring.  But, it is honest. It's as honest as I can be.  Things aren't always easy.  In fact, things are usually anything but easy.  Life can't always be presented in a cute, lots of pictures, easy-to-read manner.  Sometimes all you can do is the very bare minimum.  Sometimes all you can do is  get by.  But guess what....barely getting by is still getting by.   Life requires nothing more of us than to get by.  I wish I could give you more, but today it's all about just getting by.


***Edited, after a night of sleep, to add that I am okay.  I know people are going to wonder about my sanity with the above post.  I was just having a moment where all of the must do's and the want to do's and the should do's all collided on me at once.  And when moments like that happen they can tend to make me overwhelmed, dramatic, and a little whiny.  Unfortunately for me, when you hit publish, those moments get sent out into the world for everyone to see. 

Firsts of the Month

Okay, so I know it's really the third of the month, but a couple of firsts happened today, so I'm going with the first theme here.

My firsts:

 

1.  First run of the new training cycle for the half marathon I'm planning on running in December.  And guess what I'm using this go-round? 

 

That's right, I've decided to use an actual training plan for this half marathon.  Running unprepared two weeks ago was fun and all, but for this half marathon I'll be running alone, so I won't be able to count on my girlfriends to carry me through the miles I'm not really ready to run.  Plus, I have a little thought in mind of going for a PR in December.  It's just a thought right now, so don't hold me to it, but I am ready to put in some serious speed work and even hill work (groan!) for the next six weeks.  Today was an interval run (sandwiched by twenty minutes of warm up and cool down running).  I found it to be moderately challenging, which is really difficult for me because I'm a 110% kind of person, so it's hard when I feel like I'm not pushing at full capacity.  Does anyone else have this trouble?  I was tempted today to do more intervals or increase the pace, but I decided to go with a long-term view.  I still have six weeks of training (coming immediately off of about six weeks of training for my last race).  That's 42 more days.  I need to let my body build up to peak racing shape instead of pushing it too hard right away and dying out as the race approaches. 

 

2.  This is my very first NaBloPoMo blog post.  Are you wondering if I just fell asleep mid-typing and my head landed on the keyboard?  I did not.  NaBloPoMo stands for National Blog Posting Month.  Through www.blogher.com I pledged to write a new blog post every day of the month.  And yes, I realize that the first day of the month was Saturday, but today was the first day I knew about NaBloPoMo, so I'm counting it as the first of the month.

 

It's a little ironic (I'm never sure if I'm using that word correctly) that I've chosen to take the NaBloPoMo challenge this month considering the fact that just yesterday I sat at the computer screen for 30 minutes trying to come up with something to write.  That's how you ended up with the incredibly interesting and ridiculously short happy Halloween post.  But they say the best way to beat writers block is to just write something.  So, that is what I am vowing to do.  Writing is like running in that the more you do it, the better you get.  Consider yourself warned.  For the rest of November I will post at least one new entry a day.  Please keep in mind that for five of those days I will be in Mexico (where they serve lots of tequila....), so I can't promise that every post will be long or deep or even very entertaining, but I'm going to give it a try.  I look forward to talking to (writing at) you every day.  

 



Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween!  I hope you had a spooktacular weekend. 

What's the secret to a great Halloween costume?  Being able to wear your running shoes all night!

As you know, I'm all about the fitness, and I'm so lucky to have married Mr. Simmons who is also all about the fitness. An added bonus: we can share leg warmers. 

Our families must be so proud.

 

I haven't run in a week. Not one single mile. This afternoon, I came across this and decided that I will get back out on the trails tomorrow.