ikilledit

Three days without running. And a guilty run today. That is just how it is sometimes.

A wet and rainy day. Just so happens to be a rest day. I don’t mind this at all. Lesson plans, coffee, & Camera Obscura on the playlist.

You have to let the rest days do their job.

There’s a discussion in a google+ running community about the benefits of running with or without headphones. If you’re a regular reader, you’ll know that I run without.

Some people need music. Some people need the birds and mother nature. I also run without headphones because I do not want to be hit by a car or some random thing that I did not hear coming at me. I want to be aware of my surroundings. If you’re on a close path, then I say go nuts with the music, but even then. You want to be able to hear someone if they yell “STOP!” or “HELP!” But that is me. To each their own.

I thought that I was in the minority for that but then I discovered there are some people who run without headphones and do so primarily so that they can count their steps. 0_o

I have some OCD-like tendencies but seriously, that shit is crazy. Counting your steps. I’d lose my fucking mind. Thanks but no thanks to that.

Just goes to show how idiosyncratic runners are.

The Internet Hates Runners.

Running Tech-Talk

How to you like @RunKeeper? I’ve been using @Strava and it seems great. ~ @aliceeberharter

I enjoy RunKeeper quite a bit. They have a free version and or you can choose to pay for an elite status membership. It’s not that much more expensive, ten or fifteen dollars for a year but you do have access to more data/statistics. For a running nerd such as myself it’s worth it.

The app is versatile and you can do quite a bit on your phone. There are training plans/schedules that you can set up for any distance or goal (5k, 10k, half, full, 30 min, 60 min, etc.). You can set up daily reminders, something I appreciate as even the most dedicated runner needs a good kick in the pants to remind ourselves to get out there and not be lazy.

The website is also very simple and easy to use. You can see all of the runs broken down by the week, month, or year. If your phone isn’t working or you just want to run free, you can manually enter in your runs after the fact as well. You can set up standard routes or you can just use the GPS.

There is also the social media aspect. You can add friends and track/view their results. You can send to twitter (the way you see mine) and all kinds of other things.

And it’s not just running but walking, swimming, cycling, hiking, climbing, and a ton of other activities.

If you’re happy with your service then stick with it, but if you want something new then Run Keeper is pretty solid. I’ve been with them for about two and a half years now and I’ve yet to experience anything that upsets me to the point of switching. I left NIke because their app to website integration was horrible. I still have 788 km that I have to manually add to my mileage whenever I look at my current statistics. I wish I could have transferred them and/or never used that program to begin with.

So much of these things depend on your comfort level, whatever makes you happy. And for me, even if all this technology failed me, I’d still go out for my runs. It’s just nice to keep track of it all in one place. A running total of my life. Ha, puns.

1902 km since March 1, 2010.

I hope you find what works for you.

:)

Kill it.

“ Running is Life: Before my run, today was just a day. But now it is a day in which I created a better me.
”

Rest days suck. But you rest.

I’m sure this will annoy some people who think this is some form of shaming/humble-bragging or whatever but I just lost a few pounds without really trying.

Training problems. I’m eating tons and tons of protein and yet my jeans are a bit loose this week. This is what running 100k in a month will do I guess.

Tightens belt.

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.

Rest days drive me crazy.

So Much Depends Upon a…

…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…

Embracing it.

I’ve run regularly for the past 3 years now. It has completely changed my life. This blog is basically the same stuff over and over and over. So I doubt I have too many non-tumblr followers. But, as I’ve mentioned numerous times: this blog is about me and not you. It’s about “keeping it on the brain” and staying focused and driven.

All that being said, I often find that it’s easy to get caught up in non-running running problems. I’ll repeat it again because it’s a weird thing to say: “non-running running problems”.

It usually comes down to these three things.

Weather.
Image.
Bullshit.

— We bitch about the weather being too hot or too cold or too windy or TOO whatever.

— Do I look stupid wearing this? Maybe I should buy that over-priced $125 Lulu Lemon tech jacket. I just belched when I ran past that old couple on the side-walk.

— Now that I think about it, the first two things are basically versions of this one. It’s all bullshit. We complain, we say things, we worry, we obsess.

But at some point you have to just return to running. Just running. We run for all kinds of reasons, but there is that feeling of running at the heart of it all. Don’t forget about it.

I know I sound all new-agey and shit but its running, it brings out something inside of me that I cannot explain or put into words adequately. If you were a runner, you’d understand.

TOO:

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.