walk – Page 6 – This Crazy Life of Mine

Tag: walk

10
Jul
2012

True Confessions Tuesday

categories: accountability, choices, confessions, daily mile, food, miles, run, walk, wellness

It has been a long time since I’ve done a True Confessions post, since April 10, to be exact. Which means, I have A LOT to confess to! Let’s start with these…

I CONFESS I have just gotten back into what I hope is a regular routine for working out. I don’t know why I let myself slip so badly. Despite the guilt I feel in not doing it, it still isn’t enough sometimes to get me moving again. I wish I could figure it out.

I CONFESS I need to make changes to my eating as well. Some aspects of it are good – I’m drinking a lot of water and eating a lot of fruits and veggies. My biggest downfall is portion control. I am still trying to be that person who doesn’t have to be on a “diet” or specific weight loss program. Clearly that isn’t working for me, but I am determined to somehow figure out a happy medium and make better choices.

I CONFESS that I am highly frustrated with myself and my lack of motivation over the last several months. I set a goal for myself to log 600 miles on dailymile running and walking for the year and I am WAY off where I should be at this point. But beating myself up over it isn’t going to help it, so I just need to keep it up and make up for lost time.

I CONFESS that I am not a fan of riding a bike, I really just DON’T like it. But, I have been thinking about it lately, that it may be good to add to my routine. And I’m not sure what I think will be different about it this time than in the past. I can walk for hours and not feel winded or out of shape, but if I ride a bike for 15 minutes, I’m done. And I hate that.

I CONFESS that I have gotten lost in my brain far too many times this past week. I get anxious at times and then I start to think things and it’s a downward spiral from there and before I know it, I’m lost in my brain. It’s the reason I wrote the letter to myself on Sunday. I have to dig myself out before I am too far gone sometimes. It’s best for my overall wellness.

Yep, no shortage of confessions in my world today. I hope that saying these out loud (so to speak) will help keep me a little more accountable to myself.

08
Jul
2012

A Letter To Myself

categories: change, choices, fear, me, run, stress, strong, walk

Dear me,

You are a wonderful person and you are stronger than you know. You take care of those you love and you do the best that you can in everything you do.

So then, why do you doubt yourself? Why do you feel like you can always do more or do better? Why do you feel so fragile? You cannot let fear and your insecurities get the best of you. You must not focus on the negatives, but rather direct that energy to all the positives in your life. Letting the negatives get the best of you only sends your fragile state of mind reeling.

You know how good you feel when you do something for yourself, when you put yourself first. You seem to fall into the trap of not taking care of yourself when you are stressed out. There will always be something stressful going on, you have to decide how best to manage that stress and not let it get the best of you.

Yesterday, you made the decision to go for a walk and that walk turned into running. You ran when you felt like it and walked when you needed to. After not running for far too many weeks, you did pretty good despite the heat. You should not be so hard on yourself and just enjoy the moment.

Do you remember how you felt when you ran your first half-marathon? You felt like you could do anything – and you can. You have the ability to accomplish anything you set your mind to. It’s the reason you signed up for another half-marathon, to feel that enormous sense of accomplishment in completing something you never thought you would do.

If you are not happy about how you feel or how you look, YOU are the only one who can do something about it, YOU are the only one who can make the right choices and change. You’ve done it before, you can do it again.

Life is too short to be stressed out about things. You cannot control everything and there is no sense in worrying about the things that you know are out of your control. Focus on YOURSELF and the rest will fall into place.

Love,

Yourself

30
Jun
2012

Let’s get moving!

categories: beach, just do it, lunch, salad, walk

I can’t believe I haven’t posted since Sunday. What a crazy week it turned out to be. Tropical Storm Debby just about drowned us and almost blew us away, finally leaving on Wednesday. Good riddance! On Tuesday, our A/C went out at home. Having to live without A/C in the summer in Florida is brutal. I don’t even want to get into that whole long story, but after 4 days of having no a/c, taking the dogs to work with me, and staying at my MILs house (very thankful we were all able to camp out there!), we FINALLY got our A/C working again yesterday.

It was my intention to be lazy inside the cool house today after the week I had. But as I was laying around reading this morning, that little voice in my head kept telling me to get up off my butt and get outside and move. So I listened. And instead of heading over to the park, I decided it was the perfect day to drive to the Memorial Causeway, just about 8 minutes from my house, and walk over to Clearwater Beach. Sometimes, it’s fun to play tourist and I never get tired of the beautiful scenery that we are so lucky to have right here in our own backyard.

It was gorgeous outside and the sun felt great on my shoulders (and my face which is now sunburn – oops!). It was definitely hot, but the view and the smell of the salty air made up for it.

This is my favorite bridge to walk over!

Isn’t the view toward the beach amazing?

That looks like fun!!

This is the boat my brother and sister-in-law got married on in 2003.

Beautiful Clearwater Beach

New Hooters and Ron Jon Surf Shop!

These people have the right idea.

I love my Gizmo to hold my key and ID.

Headed back to my car.

Proof of a great walk. 5.39 miles in 1:36

This salad was soooo good after my walk!

The rest of my day will be grocery shopping, cooking a nice dinner for hubby and I, and hopefully more reading. Now that I’ve shut up that little voice in my head, I can read without interruption. It really was a nice walk and I’m so glad I got out there and did it. I have to keep this body moving and just do it.

Tomorrow, hubby will be home so we’ll get to spend the day together. Yay!

What fun things are you doing this weekend?

31
May
2012

Half-Marathon Training

categories: half-marathon, run, training, walk

My next – and second – half-marathon will be in November. It is my goal to do the Lady Speed Stick Women’s Half Marathon in St. Petersburg on Sunday November 18, 2012.

This course is very similar to the Rock N’ Roll Half Marathon I did on February, my first. I can still remember that day so vividly and I literally had a runner’s high for days afterwards. I laughed, cried, ran, and walked my way through those 13.1 miles, finishing in 3:11:33, a good 13+ minutes before my estimated 3:25 finish.

The moment I finished, I knew I had to do another. I have my sights set on the Women’s Half with hopes of beating my previous time, even by just a little bit.

The trick now is to pick a training plan. From what I see, training plans vary from 12-19 weeks, perhaps longer. I like the run/walk method of Jeff Galloway as I don’t know that I can ever be a full-time runner. It is hard for me. I push myself and try my hardest, but it does not come easy for me. Honestly, while so many people finish in the 2+ hour mark (and they are all my heros), I would be happy finishing my next one in just under 3:00. As in 2:59 would make me a happy girl.

Here’s my problem… Summer is here. And summer in Florida SUCKS. It’s hot and humid. I can walk out my front door in the morning and instantly start sweating. The thought of running in it is very overwhelming. Running in the heat is so different than running in the cooler weather. I just can’t do it for long. If I do a 19-week training plan, that puts me starting mid-July (YIKES!). If I do a 12-week training plan, it’s early -September. I did not follow a training plan for my first, but if I want to set a PR, I know I need to train for this one. So… what should I do? Also, what kind of strenth training should I incorporate?

I welcome advice from runners and any input you might have. I know there are books out there, but I love to heard first-hand experience. Thanks so much!

15
May
2012

It happens every year!

categories: dogs, park, run, sunshine, walk

It’s happened again. Just like it does every year. I have been bitten by the sunshine bug. It happened Saturday, when I walked in the afternoon for 4 miles, in the hot Florida sun. It was hot and I sweat my butt off, but man, the sunshine felt fantastic on my shoulders. Of course I was red that night and the next day because my shoulders have not seen the sun in awhile.

So today, I got home a little early from work and what did I do? I threw on my most comfy Nike pants, my tank top, laced up my shoes, and headed out into the heat – AGAIN. I found myself craving the sunshine.

The sunshine may be what gets me through my not-being-able-to-run-in-the-heat phase. Mentally, I have a real issue with not being able to run in the heat. And before you tell me to suck it up and just do it, I can’t. I’ve tried. it just does not work out. I may try from time to time because I’m stubborn like that, but it is like trying to run while I am being strangled. That’s the best way to describe it. It’s not mental, it’s physical.

So, I have to learn to be okay with walking during the hot months. And I think my love of the sun will help me with that. My fear is that I won’t be able to start running again. But I have to remember that I didn’t run all of last year and started up again, and even did my first half-marathon. I must have faith in myself.

And, I actually walked twice today! We walked the dogs at the park this morning and while it’s not the fastest walk, I totally count the mileage. I was moving and if you’ve ever walked not one but TWO Aussies, you know that can be a workout. This morning’s mileage was 1.3 miles in 37 minutes. This afternoon, I did 3.72 miles in 1:03… See? Here’s my proof:

Do you enjoy the sunshine? What other outdoor activities do you enjoy in the hot summer months?