Tag: motivation

“Dreams are necessary to life.” -Anais Nin

So I signed up for Chicago. It’s going to be my first full marathon. After I clicked submit I had a little buyer’s remorse. What had I done? What was I was thinking? Could I really train for and run 26.2 miles? The thought of it all suddenly overwhelmed me and I wasn’t sure what I had just done with my life.

And then, then I remembered this quote. I saw it last week, somewhere, on someone’s blog. I liked it. It stuck with me and it made me think. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I needed a new dream. And I think Chicago is it.

I have come so far in my life; I’ve lost 150 pounds, I’ve become a runner. I’ve done 5k’s, 10k’s, a half marathon, and am training for my 2nd half-marathon, and now will train for my first full marathon. I have changed my life. Now its time for my dreams to change.

But doing a full marathon? This scares the heck out of me. I’m terrified that I won’t be able to do it. That I won’t finish. That I will get hurt. That I won’t be able to push past the mental barriers that I set for myself. But I know I can and I will. Because, deep down I knew this was my dream. And its time to make my dreams come true!

Confession Time:

I haven’t run since Saturday. And Sunday I did not eat the best. And you know what is weird? I’ve lost 2 pounds! How does that happen? So strange.

Each day this weekend I got home super late. Friday night at 3am, Saturday night at 2am, and Sunday night at 11:30pm. I’m trying to catch up on sleep and am having a hard time motivating myself to get out of bed in the morning to run. Marathon training begins soon, so I better motivate quickly!

Anywho, have a good day friends!

runningwithguts:

ourtimetochange:

A few words on pace…

When I first started running back in February, I really got hung up on pace.  But the truth is that beating myself up over that is quite silly and pointless.  I would compare myself to others that I knew to see if I was faster or slower. 

None of that matters.  We are all on different journeys.  Is it fair to compare my speed to someone who is now in their first month of getting healthy and trying to exercise?  Is it fair for them to compare their speed to those who have never struggled with weight and always been fast?

This has been really bothering me ever since I read a comment on a local social media site with a group geared toward runners.  In a discussion about a race which involved various corals, a runner made a comment about one of the slower corals, and labeled it the “Doughnut Brigade”.  Such arrogance and thoughtlessness repulsed me.  I am sure there were plenty of people in that coral who were excited to be running at all, excited to be losing weight, excited to be getting healthy, excited to be alive.  To be judged and packaged so quickly by someone who has always been thin and naturally a fast runner saddened me.   It seems like I tend to have more respect for those who are slower but had to work harder to get where they are than for someone who has always been able to just hit the ground and run fast.

Your pace in running is much like your weight with regards to getting healthy.  Sure, if you are getting healthy, getting on the scale is one measurement of your progress.  But it is not the end all be all.  You have so many other factors to consider.  So why can we not apply that to running?  Yes, your pace is a great indicator, but what about your weight, your age, how long you have been running, terrain, what you ate, what you drank, etc., etc.   I have since stopped worrying about what my pace is compared to others.  My only comparison is with my previous runs and if I am getting better or not.

If you feel like you are slow, who cares?  You are still running.  Yes, you are a runner, regardless of whether you do it fast or not.  You are still covering the same distance.  You are still out there making yourself a better version of you.  Whether it is a 14 minute mile or a 7 minute mile, IT IS STILL A MILE!

Only compare yourself to yourself. And even then, do it in moderation.

I still have a hard time not comparing my pace to my pre-tendon injury pace, even though I know it’s not fair to myself to do so.

Just go run and have some fun.

Yeah Baby!

I had my body fat measured today. What was I thinking? Wanting to know something like that? But I want to lose some weight so I can get faster with my running times, and this book that I bought said that you needed to know your body fat percentage so that you could lose weight effectively. So I bite the bullet and did it. (Now, my mom is a Cardiac Rehab Nurse and her co-worker is an Exercise Physiologist and measures body fat, so she did it for me for free!) I wasn’t sure what to expect. I had been overweight much of my life until recently and just wasn’t sure what she would say. 25%? 30%? I wasn’t too hopeful that it would be good news.

Imagine my surprise when she pinched me in 3 places; back of my upper arms, my hip and the top of my thigh, and then told me the number.

17.7%

I had no clue what that meant. Except that I wasn’t 25% fat! The sheet she gave me breaks it down. Basically, for my age range, 25-29, I have excellent body fat composition! The percent for excellent is 18.9% Risky levels are less than 9%. So I am in the perfect range! It also said that the fitness range for women is 16-25% body fat. Essential fat is 11-14%. So, all in all, I’m doing great! I don’t mean to brag, but this is amazing for me! I used to weigh 142 pounds MORE than I do today. The lady said it would have been interesting to see what it was when I weighed more. I don’t think I really would have wanted to know.

So I figured out the formula and how much weight I need to lose to get down to my racing weight. And guess how much that is? 4 pounds. 4 freakin’ pounds. I hope I can do this!

I haven’t run since Sunday, and I feel guilty about that. But I have been severely lacking motivation. I hope if someone finds it, they will return it to me. Geez.

Coming soon: Photos of me before the big weight loss. I just haven’t been brave enough to put ‘em out there! Now I feel pretty great about myself!