Monday, April 5, 2010

Getting back on the horse...

Hello, faithful followers. It's been a while.

I don't have much of an excuse for not blogging, except I've been feeling a little... unmotivated. Yes, even I have fits of non-motivation. Last week I found myself eating more nachos than usual. Drinking pop. Drinking beer. Getting lax on my sleep pattern. And somehow, I managed to run 31 miles last week?!

It's really hard to preach about healthy living when you ate like shit, got no sleep, and probably ran more than any normal person should.

Point being, everyone is prone to a crappy week. Whether it's vacation, illness, or just plain over-doing it and slipping up as a result, shit happens. Nobody's perfect, and to an extent, a crap-tastic week can be a great reminder of what your real goals are. It puts things into perspective.

Today I woke up, an average Monday morning in front of me. Well, not *totally* average, I'm on vacation from Nannydom for the week. But it looked a little dreary and cold out. I felt the familiar pangs of "I don't waaaaaaanna run, it's cold, it's boring, I'm by myself." By the time I ate my Ezekial raisin bread with peanut butter and bananas, and had a little cup of coffee... the sun had come out. The clouds had disappeared. The caffeine was coursing. I was feeling a bit better. I thought, "Ok, Self. 6 miles. That's not so bad. It's sunny, the iTouch is juiced up. Take it steady and easy." I set out on my journey, 6 miles around my neighborhood; Gull to G, G to Nazareth, around the block somewhere around Parchmount, rest of the way up Nazareth, then up Gull. I took a comfortable pace the first few miles, somewhere around a 9:20-30. I didn't feel like I was speeding up, but I noticed my times clipping along for a couple of miles, so I pulled back a bit. Picked it up again for the last couple of miles.

Now, I have to interject something. Part of the reason I keep running this particular route (aside from the fact it's a nice even 6 with only a few light hills) is that I HATE NAZARETH ROAD. It's the very, very end of our half marathon in two and a half weeks. It sucks. It's tiny, gentle rolling hills, and I think most runners would agree, anything resembling rolling hills is not entirely desirable at the tail end of 13.1 miles. It's rude. Especially after three miles in Spring Valley Park- full of very unkind, Voldemort-evil hills. So, I am running Nazareth at least once a week to try and hurdle over this mental block that it's awful. It'll suck, but it needs to suck less.

Today, Nazareth felt almost... good. I don't know if it's because I took it pretty easy leading up to it, or because "Hey Soul Sister" by Train came on my Touch (and that little ukulele intro puts a zip in my step every time), or because the sun was shining, or what- but I kind of kicked its ass today. Or at the very least, didn't let it get the best of me.

If you're having a bad day, or bad week, or bad month- don't be too hard on yourself. Take a day or two off. Recollect your thoughts. Write down how you're feeling. Go for a walk, instead of a run. Spring is here, a time of rebirth and new beginnings! Enjoy the sunshine, the flowers, friends and family. And if you want to enjoy a plate of nachos, oh well. The world will not spin off its axis as a result of nachos and taking a day off.

until later...

"So get the hell up and make the best of this little sequence of feeling upset. It's natural to find the worst in something, but it doesn't make it right. There are things that we are all afraid of, hopes and dreams we've worked so hard for. Cheer up, cheer up! And listen closely- the bad times make the good ones come alive..." ~Lights Out Dancing

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