After dealing with this head cold/cough/crud thing that got hold of me last week and hung on, I’m feeling the need to jump start my workouts. Yes I’m feeling a little behind on my ever-growing holiday to do list, but I’m also determined to strike some balance, not get distracted, and to finish this year strong and lay the foundation to kick off 2012 right.
How are you doing – are you hitting your goals? Are you finishing the year the way you want?
One of my favorite bloggers is putting her amazing running talents to the test on Friday – a 24hr treadmill run to raise funds for the Sojourner Center, which supports victims of domestic violence.
Yes, you read that correctly…..24 hours on a treadmill people! This woman is fierce and I have no doubt she’s going to rock this run as she has all of her other runs. Please go over and check out her blog and if you can, make a donation.
I am inspired by Emily’s dedication, spirit and heart! Run on girl…and remember….
If you make only one resolution this year, let it be to live boldly. You control this moment. Rather than cautiously test the water, dive straight into life with freeing abandon. Imagine the person you want to be and the life you want to live, then simply commit to them. Believe in yourself. Embrace your beauty. Discover a new passion. And whatever you do, wherever you go, don’t be afraid to make a splash!
**Thanks to Beth at SUAR for sharing this the other day.
This weekend marked the kickoff of the Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge courtesy of Amanda at Run to the Finish. I got my Challenge started with a killer Pilates workout on the reformer on Saturday and a chilly 5.3 mile run on Sunday. I’m hoping to rack up some Challenge points this week with some Pilates, a little Yoga and at least a couple of runs. There are over 300 of us taking part in HBBC – if you haven’t signed up yet, check it out HERE!
For added incentive this week, I’ll be Feeding the Turkey!
Feed the Turkey is a virtual 5k Turkey Trot to benefit St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital — they’ll receive 100% of the donations! Want to trot for a good cause? Visit http://www.dailymile.com/turkey_trot to sign up and make a donation and then on Thanksgiving Day run (or walk) your 5k anywhere you happen to be! Dailymile will be handing out prizes to a few lucky winners, but best of all you’ll be helping St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital which is the #1 children’s cancer hospital! (By the way, you can participate whether you have a Dailymile account or not.) So sign up and spread the word!!
I’m happy to say that I’m starting to come out of my mini motivation funk! I finally got back out on the road on Sunday for a nice four mile run — family commitments made a long run not possible. But it was nice to be out running! This morning I followed up with another three — legs were heavy, but moving. Tomorrow I’ll be back in the Pilates studio and then will run again on Thursday.
And, while I’m looking to jump back on that motivation bandwagon, I’ve decided to run another 10k race! I picked one at the end of February — part of the Hyannis Marathon series — I figured post holiday madness is best! And my hubs J announced that he wants to run it with me!
In pulling myself out of this little motivation slump I find myself in lately, I take inspiration from those of you toeing the line this weekend!
Especially wanted to send Friday Shout Outs to:
Chris at Evolving through Running running the OBX Marathon
David at Running …Because I Can running the Richmond Marathon
Amanda at Miss Zippy also running Richmond
Tricia at Endurance Isn’t Only Physical running the R&R San Antonio Marathon
Amanda at Run to the Finish running the Ft. Lauderdale Half
Tonia at Racing with Babes running the HCA 8k
I know many of you are running at less than 100% and I applaud you for showing up and giving it your all. Trust in your training and you’ll do great! Good Luck!!
As for me – I’m determined to shake off this mini funk and get back out on the road this weekend!
Today was a tough run. One of those runs where you want to scream – “Why am I doing this?!?”
On paper it was suppose to be a 5 miler, with 3 miles at tempo pace. Instead it turned into a test of wills. Thick humidity, intermittent rain and some serious stomach woes were all conspiring to let me know that this was NOT going to be the run I had hoped for…no this run was clearly going to be craptastic at best. “Do you really need to do this?” that voice in my head kept asking and as I neared 2 miles I actually stopped and thought about turning for home.
But then I could hear the voice of my 5 year old as he was sitting in the backseat on our way to school this morning (ok we can discuss all the voices in my head in another post!) — “You are going to run today right Mom ’cause you didn’t run yesterday so you gotta run today, right?” And, I know my little guy will ask me when I pick him up today, “So how was your run Mom?” the same as he’s done after each one of my runs since I started on this journey. Could I really look at him and tell him that I didn’t finish? That I was having a bad run so I gave up and went home? Well not a chance of that happening so I finished my 5 miles, much much slower than I had wanted. But some how I know that when I pick him up today and look into those big brown eyes I’ll be happy to tell him that I did it!
I’m sure you’ve heard the saying that “age ain’t nothin’ but a number” or “you’re as young as you feel.” They’re nice feel-good phrases, and generally I’ve always believed there’s some truth to them. Well, now I’ve come across a woman whose achievements just prove that the abilities of one’s body are driven far more by the strength of the human spirit than any number on a calendar.
Harriet Anderson is the Women’s 70-74 Ironman World Champion. She won this Championship, by the way with a broken clavicle that she sustained during the race! I have been haunted…in a good way…by Harriet’s story ever since I read about her a couple of weeks ago. In fact, I was thinking about her this morning as I was lacing up to head to the track before my boys were up and needing my attention. And I’m sure I’ll be thinking about her for many, many mornings to come. Her efforts are nothing short of inspiring and I think after you read her story, you may be “haunted” by Harriet too.
You can check out her story here.
