Here I go again…

I truly have a love/hate relationship with running.

I love the idea of running.  A cool breeze blowing my hair back as I place one foot in front of the other.  The freedom of taking a narrow path to well anywhere… The sense of accomplishment after finishing a hard run.

The reality is much different.

The reality is I become a hot sweaty red-faced mess two steps into my run no matter what the temperature outside reads.  That I’m never completely at peace on my run because well the “boogey-man“.   And that sense of accomplishment when finishing a run is usually followed by a collapse into the nearest chair while I probe at my “wonky knee” to determine if I’ve pushed it to hard to run again in the near future.

But…. here I go again.

I’m training for my next half-marathon.   The race isn’t until January so I have plenty of time to focus on mileage.  I recruited a friend to train with me.. granted she’s not local so we won’t be running together during training we’ll just keeping each other motivated and accountable.  And lastly I found a training plan that I think will accommodate my knee flare ups (only running two or three days a week).  The plan is a 16 week training program – yes that means I’ll be way ahead in training for my January half-marathon by the time the 16 weeks are up.  I’m sure there will be hiccups along the way.

Sooo….

Why don’t you join me in training?  It doesn’t have to be a half-marathon.   A 5K  has a nice ring to it also.  Don’t want to run?  Walk.  Hike.  Kayak.   Anything that gets you out of your comfort zone.  Set a goal and stick with it.  Just think… by the time the new year rolls around you won’t have to make that same ‘ole resolution to start exercising.  It’ll already be imprinted.  You’ll get to pick something new for a resolution like … traveling more.

This website was founded on Angela and my beliefs of taking conscientious steps towards making small healthy lifestyle changes.  I’m taking the steps to document the ups and downs in  my journey in the hopes that those of you that need a little inspiration to get started… start.

Day #1 workout: Run 2 miles & 20-30 mins of Strength Training/Stretching:

Ran on the treadmill since it was 90+ degrees outside and a million plus humidity.  Running inside didn’t help.  I was beat-red, sweaty and  glaring at the timer by the time one minute had passed.  Only upside was the 80’s music blaring in the room.

Completed Pilates (DVD) workout for strength and stretching.  Let’s not pretend that I haven’t been doing this DVD on and off for a year.  When I started using this DVD last year - I could only hold a plank if I was on my knees.

Tomorrow’s (Day #2) workout will be 30 minutes Strength Training and Stretching