ikilledit

Our dear friend and sister S. just ran a marathon. I’ve only run a half and so I am still very much in awe. That’s 42.2 km or about 4ish hours of running depending on how you train your body. Knowing what I know of sister though, I would not be surprised to find her running at a 3 hour pace or less. Sister is fit and motivated. Why am I writing about her? Because I’m proud of her and also because it inspires me. 

I’m training for my second half-marathon later this year. And I know that I run fairly slow. I’m not too bothered by this. I run what is right for me but I still yearn to be one of those at the front of the pack. If you’re new to running, I urge you to find someone who is better than you and to look to them. Not to make yourself feel worse but to make yourself feel better. It’s a good way to motivate yourself. To want to be like your friend. To achieve the things they achieve. 

There’s nothing wrong with chasing a friend. Congrats S. I am proud of you. I’m glad you’re there in the back of my brain, urging me to keep going, to keep pushing forward, to take one more step. When I first started running you were one of the few that helped inspire and motivate. A few years later and you’re still helping. 

Killed it. 

…mood.

I’ve been making steady progress training towards my second half-marathon but this past weekend I hit a bit of a wall and I found myself unmotivated and just tired. 

I almost flaked on a few workouts but I managed to force myself to complete them. Who cares and why bother, it’s just a workout…

I know its just a mood and it’ll pass but it makes for some difficult running. 

One foot in front of another…

• Too cold. 
• Too hot. 
• Too windy. 
• Too tired. 
• Too sleepy. 
• Too full of food. 
• Too lazy. 
• Too comfortable. 
• Too scared. 
• Too many people. 
• Too few people. 
• Too fat. 
• Too skinny. 
• Too weak. 
• Too easy. 
• Too hard. 

Too many excuses…

I’m now on a specific training schedule for a half-marathon and even though the early weeks are not as intensive as others, AND even though I felt like I could do with an extra run today, I held back. 

But, this blog is about staying motivated and finding time for fitness and health. So I felt the need to do something, even if it was not a run. Twenty-five minutes of weights, crunches, planks, and stretches happened. 

It doesn’t have to be an intense or particularly long run. It can be fifteen minutes of moving your body or ten minutes of light-weights or yoga or whatever. 

Find a few minutes and just do something with for your body.

Kill it. 

There are many on tumblr who talk about “fat shaming”. And I am certainly not going to deny that. It pervades our society. People make all kinds of snap judgements when it comes to body image and life-style.

But on the flips-side. I’m also not going to feel badly about working hard and eating right. We all make choices.

Just because I am fit and excited about the healthy choices I am making, does not mean that I am putting down YOUR choices or your life-style. 

Some people cannot help being larger. And being larger is not necessarily the same thing as being unhealthy. I know plenty of larger, so called “big” people, who walk/run/bike/yoga/etc. and live a very healthy life-style. 

Be happy with who you are. You have every right to enjoy the body you have, large or small, fat or skinny, fit or not. 

mens sana in corpore sano ~ Thales

Run. Run. Run. 

Even when you don’t want to. 

Especially when you don’t want to. 

FACT.

CORE CORE CORE CORE CORE

I had a long post about spring and what I’ve been working on but tumblr decided to be shitty and deleted it. So just know that I’m still working out, still wanting to improve, still loving the fuck out of running. 

Fucking tumblr.

It’s spring. Go for a run. 

I appreciate the concern friends. It’s not a serious issue but my knee is a bit swollen and there is some tenderness near the bruises. Just needs some rest, but some light weight-lifting will still happen. I’m not bed-ridden. And the bug inside of me that needs to work out won’t let me stop cold. 

The Benefits of Exercising Outdoors [New York Times]

While the allure of the gym — climate-controlled, convenient and predictable — is obvious, especially in winter, emerging science suggests there are benefits to exercising outdoors that can’t be replicated on a treadmill, a recumbent bicycle or a track.

Despite my more recent struggles with the outdoors, I agree with this completely. Outdoors physical fitness is the way to go. Correction: it’s MY way. Get out there: run, jump, explore, play! Sun, rain, snow, wind, night… there is so much awesome out there waiting for you. 

Last night was amazing. And mostly because I was in a cranky mood on the way home and had pretty much decided in my head that I was going to sit on the couch and do nothing for a few hours and then fall asleep. 

There’s something to be said for a bad mood and what it can do for you. For me it often leads to a sense of guilt. And guilt is something I am not good at handling. It eats away at me until I want to scream. So I decided to stop feeling sorry for myself and gave myself 40 minutes of happy. 

This is why I keep this blog going and why I keep on running. That feeling that rushes into your brain and overwhelms you. That feeling of: “FUCK YEAH! LET’S DO THIS SHIT!” 

It was -14 last night and the moon was out shining bright. Just the crunch of ice and snow under my feet. 

If you can take that bad energy and channel it into your work out, you’ll be pleasantly surprised. All of a sudden you’ll find yourself feeling better. It’s something I wish I could share with more people. 

• I have blisters on my hands from weight-lifting. 
• I can do five uninterrupted pull-ups. 
• My push-up form is horrendously bad. 
• COOL WEATHER FACT: When you run in -8 C weather, your nostril hair freezes. Along with your skin, lips, etc. 
• Chocolate milk after a work-out is the greatest thing in the history of right now.