I have not felt like blogging in a long time.
I also haven’t been running for a long time…
I am back to both now. Honestly, I am close to turning 30 (well just about a year away) and for a long time in my teens and early twenties I didn’t need to worry about my weight, in fact, I have always been on the small side. I realize now that my carefree days of eating whatever I want and not worrying about it are over. I also look back and realize that since middle school I have usually been fairly active throughout the year with school sports, track at first followed by eight consecutive years on the rowing team. Now that I have been out of school and working at a desk full time, it has become much harder to keep the weight off. I recently saw a picture taken of me at a family event and didn’t recognize myself. I realized that I need to do some work. Not just because I want to look better, but to keep myself in good health is important to me. Many in my family have a history of being unhealthy leading to obesity and early deaths. I want to be as healthy as I reasonably can be.
I don’t want to have to completely alter my life to be healthy, but I want to be confident that I am making conscious healthy decisions on a daily basis. I started running again this winter, not that it was much of a winter this year. We had a pretty mild winter, with no snow this year. I really picked up with my training around February using the Couch to 5k app. Now it’s the end of May and I am running 5k on the regular.
This is an interesting time as we have been in self-quarantine for a few months now. I am working from home and don’t go out very often. In some ways, it has helped with my running though. I used to dread getting up before work before the sun was even up to complete my runs. Now I can run almost anytime throughout the day, so if I don’t get up early I can go at lunch or right after my workday is over. Summer coming is also helpful, I like running in the warmer weather, though I am not looking forward to those really hot, muggy runs that I know are coming.
I have joined a running group, which is helping me stay focused and accountable. It’s been hard with not being able to actually run with my group, as I joined just before we went into lockdown. But we still communicate online and everyone is doing virtual runs these days. I have motivated myself by signing up for many virtual runs so that I am consistently training for my next run. I also signed up for the Rock ‘N’ Roll virtual run club series. They provide weekly challenges to complete and earn points towards rewards.
My initial goal was to lose some weight in time for my brother’s wedding this past April so that I could easily fit into my dress and be able to look at the pictures. The wedding has been postponed until next April due to COVID, which may be my biggest motivator for the year. Now I have all this extra time to get into the shape I would like to be in. The only problem is that I already have the dress and it’s been altered once already. I guess it can always be taken in right?
I have also signed up for some longer runs coming up, not sure if those will have to become virtual runs yet, but I have a 10k scheduled for October that I am really hoping to run with everyone. I don’t mind running the virtual 5ks, but for my first longer race, I think I am really looking forward to the race atmosphere that comes along with running with a large group of people. I like the adrenaline that you get lining up at the start line and finding an unsuspecting person to be your pacer or to pass when the time is right and you need a boost. Crossing the finish line and receiving your free beer and maybe a finisher’s medal.
So right now the goal is to make it to running 10k comfortably by September to have a good race I can be proud of in October. As for the next steps, maybe a half marathon before the end of the year? Too ambitious? Never.
Tales of envy 