Running Goals for June (Tara SG)

Amanda posted her goals for this month and I figured I should probably figure out some goals of my own…

• Run 30 miles
• Hit the gym twice a week
• Start practicing yoga again
  • go to a yoga class
• Start up the 30 Day Shred again
  • although I don’t want to do it every day

I think that’s a good start…

Running Goals for June

What are YOUR goals for the month of June?

Here are mine:

• Run at least 30 miles, which means…
  • Participate in the $2 5k on campus every Tuesday
  • Run every Thursday
  • Run once every weekend (preferably on a hilly course since my runs on Tuesdays and Thursdays will have virtually no hills)
• 5k on June 26th.  Attempt to get Kyle to run with me.
• Have one 5+ mile run.
• Do something else besides running at least 3 times during the month (30 Day Shred or yoga; I already bike a lot)

The Quest for Motivation

I know that many of us are struggling right now with finding the motivation to run.  So am I.  Although I said I would run on Wednesday or Thursday, that run didn’t happen until today.  Somewhere between writing my post on Tuesday and yesterday, I realized exactly what it was that gets me out of the house, and out pounding the pavement.

You see, when we tell ourselves to get out there and run, there is always the little voice that gives you an excuse not to do it.  “You should run today – But I don’t have time.”  If you accept this excuse as valid and legitimate, you are not going to do it.  Instead, you have to counter every excuse with a reasonable explanation why it’s not a valid excuse.

To give you an example of what I mean, here is a typical inner-talk I have with myself at night:
“I’ll just lie here with the TV on and fall asleep.”
“Except you don’t fall asleep when the TV is on.”
“But I want to watch this show.”
“You haven’t even watched the first 20 minutes of the show, how do you even know what is going on?”
“I don’t have to get up early tomorrow morning.”
“Doesn’t matter.  You need to stay on a decent sleeping schedule.”
“Fine”  *off goes the TV*

Now apply that to running, stop making excuses for yourself, and get out there and run!

PS. After only running 2.4 miles on Sunday, I was able to run 3.75 miles today.  If I can do this, so can all of you. 

Back in the Saddle

So last Saturday morning, I got my butt out of bed early, and headed out to run my first race of the season.  It was only a 2 mile race, and I was rather nonchalant about the whole thing.  2 miles?  Psh, no problem.  Wrong.  I don’t know what it was about that morning, but I had a sideache set in by about the first half a mile, and I wanted to stop and walk by the last half mile.  Because I didn’t want other people to see me walk, I pushed through the pain and finished in just under 22 minutes.  It’s amazing to think that I’m posting the kind of times right now while I’m out of shape that I was posting last fall when I was in shape.  Regardless, I still need to get into gear and keep working on getting ready for my 5k that is next week on Thursday.  This 2 mile race was a good wake-up call that I need to establish a running routine again, and that I have to be serious about running.

The day after my 2 mile race, I saw Kyle’s sister-in-law out running and decided that it was such a gorgeous day that I should go out running too.  So I did.  I attempted 2.4 miles and ran the entire thing with only the smallest of sideaches.  It only took me about 25 minutes, which is faster than my 2 mile time.  Maybe I need to psych myself out and just go for the longer distances?  Either way, my goal for this week is to run twice: once on Wednesday/Thursday and once over the weekend.

Here’s to setting (and achieving) goals!

Bueller? Bueller?

Has everyone else been taking an extra long break like I did?

I just thought it was time for a quick running update. I haven’t been training as hard as I should be (I am scared to peek at the 100 mile challenge and see how far I am lagging behind!)

In my defense, though, I think I pushed for too much, too soon, and kind of burned myself out! I had a busy couple of weeks with running in the early part of this year…

Feb. 13th- 1st 5K
Feb. 20th- Kid’s 1st race
Mar. 6th- 1st. 10K
Mar. 20th- 2nd 5K and Kid’s 2nd race

I was planning to start training for a half-marathon right away, but things kept coming up and I kept putting it off again! However, I am slowly easing my way back into running, and planning another 5K race in about two weeks. The kids, John and I are all going to do a race hosted by the Boy Scouts on the 24th, and I can’t wait. It will be the first race that all 4 of us do!

What about everyone else? How has your running been going? Are you staying moving? Stuck in a rut? Or, like me, doing anything but?

100 Mile Challenge – Speed Bump

So some of you may have noticed that the 100 mile challenge hit a speed bump. We can no longer use the first DailyMile challenge and can either:

1. Just continue with the second one I posted (hoping it would back-count to the 1st of March, but it didn’t).

or

2. Start over on the 1st of April.

What do you guys want to do?

Hi, my name is Ed

Yes, I’m a woman who goes by Ed!  It’s my nickname and I love it, which is good since people call me Ed a lot.  This is my “Get to Know You” post.  I thought I’d start off with two confessions:

1. At first I thought this was a “community members post comments” blog.  It’s actually a “community members post posts” blog, which makes me super happy because it’s so interactive!  I was slightly dense and it took me some time to figure that out.
2. I’m not really a runner.  I would consider myself more of a light jogger.  I’m doing a sprint distance triathlon in August (and probably several 5Ks during the summer) and running will be part of it.  I would say cross-training is my main “sport” and I’ve found everything I do outside of a certain activity improves my performance of that activity!

Whew, now that I’ve bared my running soul, we can get on with other things…like a fabulous bullet-pointed list about me!

• Like Steph, I like lists.  I usually categorize and color-code them. No, seriously, I do.
• I’m 23 and single, with no pets.
• I’m a software engineer and I’m very passionate about women in technology
• I have a lot of things I love: technology, rugby, biking, jogging, swimming, curling, salsa dancing (at least twice a week or I get cranky), reading, traveling,  watching movies, killing zombies.
• I commute an hour to work (I’m bitter about it), but really I want to be able to bike/walk to work.
• I like t-shirts with umbrellas on them

That seems like enough sharing for one day, but I’d like to start getting to know everyone on the site a little better, so I’ll leave you with a question: My catch phrase is “E is for awesome,” what’s yours?

Help!

Ok, so it’s not that urgent, but I was wondering if y’all had any tips.  I’m doing fine with adding distance to my runs.  I’m up to 5-6 miles a run! Woohoo! However, my speed is TERRIBLE.   I cannot get past about an 11:20 mile.  How did y’all pick up speed while training?

Thanks!

Playlists

I also wanted to let everyone know that I’ve started updating the Playlist Page. I added everyone who has submitted so far. If you want to submit a playlist you can create one and send me the link OR just fill out the songs in the form in the sidebar.

100 Mile Challenge!!

Sara from Padfoot and Prongs recently contacted me with the idea of doing a 100 Mile Challenge with prizes. I thought this sounded like a great idea and thought some of you might be interested in joining!

Here’s what we have figured out so far:

• First to 100 miles wins!
• Start date would be Monday, March 1, 2010.
• We would use DailyMile (and the honor system) to track miles.
• Running outside, treadmill or elliptical machines would count.

Things to figure out:

• One prize idea is that all the losers send the winner a $5 Subway card (which you can do via email)
  • I personally think this will motivate me more, but I understand why others wouldn’t want to risk having to offer up part of the prize (not sure about time constraints or ability to run).
• Can anyone from any running level join?
  • Most of us are beginners running an average or 2-3 miles each run… so can people running more than that join?

Let me know what you guys think!!