Pot pourri

If my holiday tri challenge taught me anything, it's that making time for exercise is not as tough as I thought. It's easy to have a million and one excuses. Nobody would fault me for not exercising 4 to 5 times per week - I have a toddler, a full time job, new seasons of American Idol and Project Runway, and a million other commitments and projects pulling me in every direction. But I make time because I'm an athlete. It's part of who I am, and I need exercise just as I need to eat, breathe, and sleep.

Truth be told, I'm a slower runner than I'd like to be, weigh about 5 pounds more than my ideal, wish I could up the resistance another 3 notches on the bike, and am still desperately trying to reclaim my freestyle body roll that I lost after two pregnancies in a row. I think a lot of people, myself included, let their unreached goals and embarrassments keep them from pursuing many things. If I can't be the best, I just won't try. It's taken many years to find satisfaction in not winning.* At some point, it's better to be in the race and losing than to not be in the race and be at home on your duff.

So more days than not, I get off my duff and get moving. These days, between my shoulder problem (I may be the only person in history to have permanent shoulder damage from kayaking in a 3-ft. deep warm water pool), my foot issues, the weather, and day care colds, I have to employ a lot more ingenuity to maintain and increase my fitness level. Where I used to just swim, or just run, or just do the bike, I now find myself more and more warming up for 30 minutes on the bike, running a mile or two, and then hitting the weights. Or swimming at lunch, and going for a long walk after work, and then stretching in bed.

And so maybe I'm not faster or thinner or much stronger, but I'm a hell of a lot faster, thinner, and stronger than I'd be doing nothing. I've accomplished a lot of things over the past two years I never thought possible, and that is very satisfying.


*Satisfaction in not winning does not apply to Scrabble or Boggle.

hibernation

I've gone to the gym a bit, I ran 4 miles on Monday when the weather was balmy, but other than that, I've been hibernating. There was Max's birthday party to throw, getting back to work, not to mention the cold I've had all week. Oh, and my shoes never did come in at the shop, despite my calling twice and being told it would be just a few more days. I feel like a traitor, but I finally ordered a pair online, and they arrived Friday.

I took them to the track today to see how they'd do. So far so good, but it's tough to tell after just a couple miles on the track. They're definitely different - I can actually feel the ground a little bit, which I think is good. Super-stable shoes are so stiff (hah, say that ten times fast) that as the Supportive Husband put it, if my shoes got any more supportive, I'd be running in clogs. In comparison, these feel like ballet slippers. So far nothing hurts - I've got my tricked-out inserts in them, and since I'm back in Asics, I've got them lock-laced to prevent my heel from slipping. Hopefully I'll be over my cold soon, and back into the swing of things.

Hey, wait a sec!

I finally took a moment to plug the numbers into my spreadsheet, and realized that I actually ran at 10:15 pace overall, and was just 11 seconds shy of a PR!!! Damn, I should have kicked harder into the finish. There's always next year!! :)

Done! And Happy New Year!

Done! I think so, anyway. I may have skimped a little on the warmup since the start line was actually at the parking area this year instead of 1/2 mile away. But with the very long jog to the porta-johns and back, plus a little warmup, I figure I got in the 4 or so that I had left to finish.

It was extremely windy today, and I was on pace for a PR until the last mile, which is completely unsheltered. The wind was blowing so hard I was running sideways, and could barely catch my breath. I walked for a short stretch here, and ended up 30 seconds shy of a PR. Damn! But overall, I was pretty happy with it - I ran a 10:26 pace overall, though my first and second miles were both right around 10 min. I felt strong at the finish, despite having run comparatively little in the past month. I'm still waiting on my new shoes, but the pimped-out inserts seem to be doing their job, and my left foot is completely pain free, while the right only felt a little sore after the race.

So here's to another year of being a fit mama! I hope you all have a Happy New Year, and take the time to become a little more fit than you are right now. If I can do it with a toddler and a full time job, then so can you. A wise Jedi once said, "Do or do not, there is no try."