Alright, alright…I said I wouldn’t do it, but I did. I slacked off and found excuses not to run for the past 3 days! I blamed it on the weather, my lack of energy and get this one: I blamed it on my wrist, which I hurt while at work on Aug. 1. Of ALL things to blame it on, my WRIST??? Since when do we run on our hands?? Wow, do I EVER need that proverbial kick in the a** to get back out there! I have promised myself, however, that I will get out for a run later today because I truly do feel better afterwards.
It is hard when faced with the idea to run or not to run, to try to tell that tired body of yours to move, get up off the couch, put the remote (or PS3 controller) down, lay off the chips/pop/chocolate/ice cream and get out there and pound the pavement! Run till you feel your legs burning, your lungs screaming for more oxygen, pump harder and harder till you reach your goal, whether it be to run for a solid minute, or to run an entire mile before you slow to a walk again! It can be a small goal or a larger one, so long as it’s attainable for you at whatever stage of the game you’re currently at. What I mean by this is, although it is great to aim for the sky, try having a multitude of smaller goals along the way to help guide you towards your ultimate goal, whatever that may be. My ultimate goals are to lose about 50 lbs of fat, tone up my muscle and become a runner so that I may someday run a half and full marathon. In order to achieve this, I have set smaller goals for myself to help me continue along on my journey.
Will there be bumps along the way? Sure there will be…how many roads have we been on in life that have no potholes or speedbumps? We will ALL be faced with personal speedbumps at some point or other along the way. It’s how we handle these bumps which enable us to continue along the same route, or perhaps, find an alternate route. The main thing is to pick ourselves back up from whatever emotional, physical or mental slump we might be in and get back out there. Finding an alternate route might mean to you that instead of running for physical fitness, you choose another exercise. For you, maybe your speedbump is like that of a friend of mine who used to run everywhere and everyday! After suffering a knee injury (her speedbump), she now bikes for fitness and still walks a lot too. Did she give up? No! She took the time needed to heal, which is VERY important, then just took a step back, sized up the two forks in the road, and chose the one that would better suit her healing knee.
So, we dust off and continue on our way to fitness…we start small by stumbling through our first mile, gasping for breath, the brain screaming that our legs hurt and we must stop, but it’s mind over matter..we can retrain that brain to think positive, block out the burning in the legs, push harder and gradually our baby steps become giant leaps forward and before you know it, we’ve reached our first of many goals! I have surpassed a few goals already….I can run almost 2 miles without stopping and this past New Year’s Day, I ran my first 5K run called the Resolution Run. I had set a personal goal of 45 minutes, since I knew at some point I would have to walk a little. I had not run for about 2 mths leading up to the Jan. 1 date, but still wanted to partake in this event. Well, I surpassed my own expectations and finished the 5K in 39min and 34sec!! I was so pleased that I vowed to continue running and bettering my time…but….the motivational slump occurred….and after being sick for a week and taking that week off running, well, let’s just say that I’m finally back now! I seriously can’t let that happen again as it’s so much harder to convince your body to get back out there and it physically hurts to start over yet again.
As for me, I’ll be keeping you apprised of how fast I’m reaching my smaller goals and will attempt to keep the motivation high. Until then, keep pounding the pavement, have fun and remember, set smaller, more attainable goals at first, which helps keep the motivation running on high octane!
My Journey from Couch Potato to Running 