I am the type of person that has to find out the answers/outcome for myself. No matter if the outcome is good or could potentially be bad I still choose to find out for myself. I have never been the girl that believes in taking the lessons of others and applying them. I am sure I could have saved myself a few scares if I would have taken the advice of those who have gone before me but then again I wouldn't be me. Having a stubborn personality is part of my charm and has served me well in my profession. What I mean by that is I don't back down from a challenge where others might have tried and didn't succeed. I believe in accessing a problem with fresh eyes and then trying to solve what has been deemed unsolvable. Don't get me wrong I don't not have hundred percent success rate in this approach but I do feel that being able to tackle a challenge is seen as a valuable asset.
Now to sprinkle a little reality onto the joys of being stubborn girl. I do have to admit that having stubborn as my middle name has not been all rainbows, butterflies and pots of gold. I have acquired some bumps and bruises along the way. My dad loves to tell the story of when I was two and wouldn't put my toys in the toy box when he asked me to clean up. When asked to pick up my toys I promptly said no followed by the head shake mirroring my response. What next was a sequence of asking me to pick up my toys, me saying no and my father applying a firm spank to my bottom. This happened about four times before I gave in and decided maybe I should pick up my toys. Long story short, I picked up a toy, tears running down my face, went and gave my father a kiss and then placed the toy in the toy box. Now you can imagine if I was that stubborn at two years old I have only learned to dig my heels in deeper as I got older.
The Insanity workout for me is just another situation where I wanted to dig my heels in and not concede; however, given that my knee is throbbing it made digging in the heels more difficult. Don't get me wrong I still tried even through I had received warnings from my parents, friends, partner that maybe I should let it rest a little longer. But somewhere in my head I didn't want to go the rest of the week without moving forward conquering the challenge I had taken on. So, after three days of resting I decided I would give the old knee a test drive by doing the cardio abs and pure cardio videos. Within the first three minutes of the cardio abs video I knew that I was not going to be able to do the jogging, jumping and/or anything cardio without causing myself pain and possibly more injury. I did work though the rest of the abs video completing all the floor work so I could at least get some of my core workout. I then decided I would give Cardio Recovery a quick spin because it didn't involve the jumping. The mistake I made during this workout is that you are required to utilize your knee when doing squats, lunges and stretches. Again, being stubborn and not wanting to have to concede I gently pushed my way to the end of the routine. This situation I believe we go down in the history books as a bruise caused by my own stubborn nature!
So where does that leave me? I must make the choice to do the right thing by my health and the safety of my knee. With that being said I am going to bow out gracefully from the Insanity Challenge. That is until I get a cleared doctors note; however, not knowing how long that will take it might mean that I will need to start from day one. I have an appointment with him tomorrow to understand the fate of my workout future. Until then I will continue down the path of making healthy food choices and perhaps exploring the possibilities of adding more random thoughts on my other blog page. http://stateofpensiveness.blogspot.com/
As I had mentioned in a previous post, getting back in the habit of running is hard when you take time off. The downside to my five weeks of being ill (besides being ill) is that I lost two minutes on my average mile. In October of 2012 before the coughing, sneezing, I can't breathe so therefore I can't run took over I was able to complete 3 miles in 32 minutes. The bright side to this news is that since I have fallen off the running wagon before I was prepared for the set back. I knew that if I was going to stay true to my new me resolutions I would to take my lumps when it came to the set backs and hop, skip, run or walk until I re-energized my running groove.
My goal for 2013 is to double the mileage I ran in 2012. Since I fell ill before completing 200 miles I decided I would use the "buffer miles" as a warm up plan for 2013. I will officially start tracking my miles for 2013 when I reach 200 miles and my goal would be to hit 600 before the end of the year.
Here is how my week is starting off:
Monday - Mile 193.7 to 195.7
I hit the streets Monday afternoon in order to try out my new winter weather running gear I received from Christmas. My ears, head, and hands were very warm but my lungs still knew that I was outside in the cold. based on this run I could tell how much work I was going to need to do in order to build back my endurance to run the road!
Tuesday - Mile 195.7 to 197.7
Shaking it up on Tuesday or maybe I just didn't want to bundle up to go outside so I opted for the convenience of my apartment gym. Since running on a treadmill is easier than on the pavement I decided to push myself a little harder by adding a 1 point incline. I know that doesn't make up for all the effort you get out of road running but I was airing on the side of every little bit counts. As I expected, because I didn't have the variables of the atmosphere I was able to complete my two mile run without stopping to walk and in 22 minutes.
When I first started running I didn't know there was a difference between road running and treadmill running. For me running was running. I was happy just to have one foot moving in front of the other at a faster pace than most would call walking. Once I got over the hurdle of just lacing up and running I start to inquire more about how to challenge myself, prepare for 5k races and eventually a half marathon (which is on the schedule for 2013.) There are several websites you can visit that will give you everything from technical jargon to the plain Jane information. As a beginner I found this website and explanation to be simple, to the point and it even came with a beginners schedule. http://skinnyms.com/treadmill-running-vs-street-running/
While reading the website I received a pop notice that I might also enjoy the "tips for absolute-beginners." By clicking this link I found not only the beginners tool book with terms, schedules and recommendation for strength training but I also found inspiration. The video is a MUST SEE! http://skinnyms.com/running-tips-for-absolute-beginners/
I have the video saved to my favorites on youtube for those not so motivating days. I play it to remind myself that no matter where you start if you stick to it, stay determined, stay focused in the end you will accomplish your goal. Life is hard and it wears you down each and every hour. I have days that by the time I finish with work meetings, personal appointments, planning/cooking dinner and house chores I am tired. I don't want to move another muscle let alone run. People have recommend that I get up early in the morning but anyone that really knows me understands the morning and I are not friends. So instead when I feel like "doing it tomorrow" I use my video inspirations and music selection to set off my own video reel reminding me of why I can't wait until tomorrow. Reminding me to take all my daily frustrations, tireless chores, worries, stress and pound them into the pavement at the beat of my favorite playlist!
2012 end up being the year of challenges and 2013 is going to be the year of being STRONG!
Once again we begin a new year full of new possibilities, hopes, dreams, wishes and goals. We have a renewed sense of energy and feel as if we could take on the world.
Take advantage of this energy! Write down all that you want to accomplish and go after it!
