Crawling into the New Year (2013)

As you can tell from the gap between my posts that these feet nor my Nike's have not seen the road, the treadmill or any more mileage for that matter. Unfortunately, my positive energy and spirits were quickly caged after my last run where I felt the "Dog days being over." It fact, I was quite wrong about them being over and the truth was there were starting over. It wasn't but two days later I found myself once again a victim of the wicked illness most commonly known as a cold. This was round two since October 28th and as you might imagine being a walking, coughing, stuffing head, red nosed petri-dish of germs makes it very difficult to resume a workout routine.

Over the last few weeks I have missed the quality time I get with myself when I run. Being that it is the holidays season the air has been filled with everything merry and bright with a little bit of chaos thrown in for good measure. Being healthy and being able to pound out the very long, stressful to do lists in preparation of the holidays would have been a bonus gift I would have liked to give myself. Alas, it wasn't in the holiday cards for me; however, I was given a extra dose of inspiration to kick start 2013 from my family. Even through I haven't been able to run most of this holiday season the ones closest to me understood how important learning to run has become to me and through the gifts of winter beanie hats and ear warmer headbands I felt their underlining encouragement and support for my goal.

Although I won't be running into the New Year I will consider this crawling over the finish line of 2012 only to learn how to walk, run in 2013. Like most average non-runners when you take several weeks off from running your have to crawl before you walk or in this case run. The first order of business is to give an eviction notice to the "Mucinex family" living in my lungs. (see Mucinex commercial for reference)

The next steps are as simple as lacing up my Nike's, plugging in my Iphone complete with a new motivation play-list and starting the race slow and steady.

My running goals for 2013 are simple or one could say "baby steps." I want to re-run two of the 5k races I did in 2012. The Oklahoma City National Memorial and the Color Run are both on the list for a re-run. Not because I am trying to compete for a better time but because I had so much fun! I am hoping to make both of these and annual event. I would like to add a half marathon, running in cold weather and doubling my 2012 mileage. I was hoping to end 2012 with 200 miles under my feet but due to the Mucinex family as I referenced above that won't be happening. So next year, I would like to hit 400 miles before I run into 2014.

Wish me luck on making these goals a reality!

Happy New Me!!  Happy New Year!

Miles 176.6 to 190.2 - "The Dog Days are OVER"

It was time! I had to jump back on the wagon before Santa arrived with his sleigh full of sugar cookies, puppy chow, brownies, and of course sugar plums. I will say that maybe I should have not "jumped" back on the wagon but instead slowly skipped. In the last two weeks I have only been able to put another 13 miles under my belt or should I say under my shoes. I was so excited about getting back into my routine after five weeks of being a walking, coughing, tissue holding germ carrier. I behaved like a little kid on Christmas morning driving right into tearing through the pretty packages without even admiring the ribbons. My excitement and enthusiasm lead me to running three miles that first day and adding fourteen flights of stairs. What can I say the high had taken over and I felt like Rocky climbing the ultimate staircase of success. After my workout I was still riding on the high and finished out my day with a little Christmas shopping walking around the mall. I am sure by now everyone can assume what happened next. When I woke the next morning my legs were on fire! With every step and every bend I could feel my muscles stretch as if I were sling shooting a rubber band. I did my best to stretch but with every movement I was sure I was going to lose the use of my legs.
So much for getting back on the wagon for my "routine." It took my four days of rest and one day of walking before I could attempt a jog. Lesson dually noted!

Today was my second attempt at hitting the treadmill in a full on jog/run to figure out if I was back to my old self. I am happy to report it was successful. The moment I knew I was back is when I heard the beats of the first song and proceeded to run the entire 3.44 minutes before realizing that I wasn't concentrating on the physical act of running. I wasn't having to talk myself into one more minute or one more mile. The sounds, the thoughts and my feet were once again working in harmony!

 

"Run fast for your mother, run fast for your father
Run for your children, for your sisters and brothers
Leave all your love and your longing behind
You can't carry it with you if you want to survive"

~Lyrics from "Dog Days are Over" Florence + The Machine