It is January and I live in Idaho. It's cold here. Not as cold as like, Minnesota, but cold. That has a special meaning for someone like me who 1) can't stand paying full price for anything (like a gym membership in January) and 2) HATES "working out" inside and never getting anywhere. Plus, I don't know how to use most of the machines anyways.
So. I have a goal of running a 10k this year. That means I need to be working now, in the cold. In order to accommodate my weakness, I decided that I will run every morning in which it is in the double digits. That's right. 10f and up, I go running. Brrrr. Yesterday it was 10f at 6am, but by 7 am (when I leave) it was a mere 8. Thank God. 10 just didn't look appealing.
Today, it's 29f and blowing about 20mph. SO COLD. Obviously, it was better than yesterday, but that wind is nasty. It's also incentive. I left the house at 7.23am with my dogs. We ran two miles, walked a brief cool out (about a block), then went back inside. I took the leashes off, put them away, let the dogs out back, and it was 7.41am. That's right. I'm not sure how fast I was, but way better than 10 minute miles, which I used to think were good.
Good news: I can run fast.
Bad news: I'm going to have to run fast for 6.2 miles.
These are my running buddies. Chaucer the beagle and Lewis the corgi. Lew is all grown up now and he doesn't believe in going any more than two miles, but still. They're good to have.
I'm one of those people who can say no to just about anything, but even I have trouble saying no to those cute puppy eyes just begging to go for a run in the morning. Especially because when I put my
amazing running shoes on, Chaucer becomes a jack-in-the-beagle, leaping straight into the air and squeaking frantically. Best buddy ever.
Other things I'm doing to work towards my goal:
1) Drinking water. My glasses hold 15oz of water. I get up at 6am and drink a full glass. I have another one before breakfast and a third after I go running. That is 45oz of water before 8am when I get to work. I need to get myself a water bottle and drink it during the day. (I'll make this a goal for this week.)
2) Limiting portion size. Just because I am an adult and now pay for the ice cream does not mean that I should then fill the ENTIRE BOWL with ice cream. Instead, I just have a scoop. Or two. I eat only until I am full, then put what's left in the refrigerator to eat later. That seems to be going well.
3) Dealing with body image. This is tough for me. I've never actually committed to losing weight before, so despite the fact that I want to make changes I can maintain for a healthier lifestyle, it's easy to look at ridiculously photoshopped pictures of beautiful women and then beat myself up for not looking like that. I know it's counter-productive, so I keep reminding myself that it's not about making me feel emotionally bad about my size--instead I need to focus on the positives of what I actually am doing. If I don't like how I look, I need to step up and change it instead of just beating myself up and then stress-eating to overcome it. That's just a bad idea through and through.
Goals for the week:
1) Get a water bottle
2) Run 2 days of intervals to increase speed/endurance
3) Run at least 4 miles one day
