Summer Season Slimming

Besides the summer months being full of essentially idle worthlessness on my part, I have several exciting goals.

1. Exercise every day (Run and Yoga preferably, Weight training, Cardio--elliptical, swimming, bike)

2. Eat healthfully--eat to live, not live to eat (NO SWEETS. Whole grains, fruits, veggies, lean meats)

3. Parler en français...devenir une bonne étudiante de la langue :)

Donc, concernant le premier but, j'ai couru aujourd'hui. C'était assez difficile, et alors, j'ai couru seulement 2.5 miles. J'éspère que je n'ai pas perdu mon mileage...

Cependant, je n'ai pas bu l'eau avant que je suis allée dehors, et je n'ai pas pris le petit déjeuner...peut-être ces raisons prouvent pourquoi? On dit, "Il faut que vous faites l'entraînement physique pour trois semaines pour être en bonne forme, et vous le perdez après trois jours si vous ne faites rien.

Une autre question...Qui est le meilleur? Le courant pour un longtemps ou le courant qui change entre les vitesses lents et rapides. Je dois le rechercher plus.

I think that I may need to work up my mileage again...it's a little lacking. Running every day may be the answer to that. I hope to get up around 6 or 7 am, when it is nice and breezy so that I can't use THAT as a dinky excuse, and get the job done. I need to focus on weight training too. Oftentimes, after running, I am too tired to do crunches or push up etc, but that needs to change. Gotta duke it out lady!

Running is a Drug

I let myself get a little behind with posting, so this post is for both Wednesday's run as well as today's. Both days, I woke up before class at 7:30 am and went running in the cold, bleak morning. On Wednesday, I ran to the Agricultural Campus and back ~ 3 miles. And today, I ran the World's Fair Park --> Clinch --> Gay Street loop again ~ 3.4 miles. I'm definitely able to run a solid 35 minutes, and I am so proud of myself for that! Some days, I know, it's going to be harder to wake up than others (like today for example), but the endorphins kick is unbeatable and I am an enthused and happy camper all day long. Running is the best drug there is.

Wednesday: http://www.mapmyrun.com/view_workout_route?w=350126338922976773

Friday: http://www.mapmyrun.com/view_workout_route?w=823126356253024752

BACK IN THE KAH-NOXXX

Booyah! I just ran in the freezing cold...first run back in Knoxville! I completely believe that I can do this. I already made the mental commitment to running 13 miles, but I've now made the commitment to training...and I broke the seal for Knoxville training. I'm getting down to business.

It was totally frigid today, but it just felt so good to run. I seriously loved it. Why am I loving running? Who cares?-- the point is I am!

Here was my route: 3.5 miles

Start at Laurel, run down Laurel to World's Fair Park, take a loop, finish on Grand, run behind the Victorian Houses and Fort Kid to Clinch, take Clinch straight to Gay Street, run Gay Street to Eleven and Nama, then finish by taking Gay Street back to Clinch and Clinch straight to Sixteenth...cool off by walking the block and half to Laurel back door.

http://www.runningmap.com/?id=157060

Doesn't count

I have not been able to run for the past two days because of this stupid snow. It's not actually snowy, but it's icy and freezing. If this continues tomorrow to get in the way of my running pursuits, I will have to downgrade to the terrible task of mileage on a treadmill.

Day 3

It seems I'm not really following any one particular training schedule...this could possibly be bad. However, from most of what I've seen, the training schedules are for a period of 12 weeks, and seeing as that the marathon is 16 weeks away..... 16 - 12 = 4. So I guess I really have 4 weeks to build up a base, and a base is usually 3 miles. I ran 3.5 yesterday, so I'm already good in that respect. I'm just training a little bit to get my rear in gear and possibly increase my running speed for said 3 miles.

Regardless, today I decided to run 2 miles. All of the running schedules give you days off, and I haven't taken a day off in 3 days, sooooo I figured I'd make it a low-key run. Ran from Lindsey's house to the entrance of Liberty Downs, up to the Raintree stop sign and back. There were some serious hills, but I did it and felt great!

Still can feel myself slightly dreading running, so I need to get quite a few good runs under my belt to believe in myself and look forward to sweating and pounding it out. Another goal is to wake up earlier, preferably before classes and run. I need to scope out some good UT trails.

Day 2

Slow and steady wins the race. I might not win the half-marathon race, but I have won the race with myself. The goal was to run 3 miles. I ran 3.5 AND felt like I could keep going. Granted I was probably running 4.5 miles per hour, which is the equivalent of a power walk, but I DID IT!!! I felt so great and actually really enjoyed the time I spent in the great outdoors, the great jams that came onto my iPod in shuffle mode, and the think time. Who would have known I might like running so quickly??? Now we will see if this is an enduring romance between me and the art of running.

So far so good. Bring it 13.1.

Oh, BUT, note to self: Do not consume sausage or dairy pre-run...messes with the digestive system and causes gurgly tummy.

Breaking the Seal

So I'm signed up for a half-marathon. What?

Yeah. 13.1 miles. That's kind of long, huh?

When I realized what I'd gotten myself into, I decided I needed a little more help. I bought a book called "A Non-Runner's Guide to Marathons for Women," written by a normal American couch potato who hates running yet aspires to cross the marathon finish line. I'm hoping her witty sarcasm and descriptive journal entries of the grueling running process will somehow motivate me.

A point the author, Dawn Dais, makes about running a marathon is that the runner must identify a worthy and enduring goal, one that will not cave when the knees want to give out on mile ___ (currently, that is marker 1.5 mi for me...wow). So, then I decided to dig deep. Or rather, NOW I'm deciding to dig deep. Here goes....

I've never particularly enjoyed running, but I know many people who find it to be a significant stress-reliever and are actually addicted to it as an extremely beneficial form of exercise. Of course, there are also people like Lindsey Peters who tell me that running a marathon is actually the equivalent or worse of smoking for a number of years. Whoops. At least it will give me a rockin' bod.

No but really. I feel that in order to truly culminate to loving my body, I need to do something extreme and highly personal. And that is running a marathon. I hate too much alone time, but running will teach me to love being by myself, listening to my body and its rhythms. It will not only be physically strengthening, it will also be mentally strengthening. Running, like yoga (which I hope to supplement my training with), is a meditative practice...and one at which I am a young grasshopper. I am a fiery and impatient Aries, and I hope that running may tame my flamey spirit and increase my patience level.

But that's not actually enough of a reason is it? Well there's also the reason that I want to do something I don't think I can do. I want to show myself that anything is possible and that anything, no matter how overwhelming a goal it may seem, can be accomplished in minute increments. At least, that's my theory, and apparently it has held up for research and in the experience of other individuals.

In addition, I want to get into the best shape of my life. In 3 months, Dance Company has its Spring Showcase, and I have to wear a cropped bra top and booty shorts. Say goodbye to any jiggles. I want to have my best body yet.

I know tons of people who are training for this marathon, and of course, I can jump in on their training, but I genuinely feel like this needs to be a more personal experience for me. This is more than an appearance thing...it's about testing myself. I think that if I can use running as a form of exercise and meditation to draw upon my strengths as a person, it will serve me as a tool for the rest of my life. Running can happen anywhere, and I hope to make a commitment to health this year. Perhaps a slightly extreme 13.1 mile commitment, but people have done this before me--people with plastic hips and histories of heart attacks. I'm just a whiney 19-year-old.

There's no reason I can't do this. Right? I sure as hell hope so. Because its $91.95 on the line, plus the $15 I spent on that book.