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Getting back on track….

julskane1 — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 21:29:36 +0000

Today, I officially start my “get back on track” plan. I know, it’s so cliche… falling off the wagon around the holidays… but for a full time working mom with two little ones at home …. something had to give. If the bronchitis hadn’t struck me down around Thanksgiving… I think I may have had a chance. But here I am, 6 weeks later, with not a workout to log until this past Saturday. But enough is enough…. this past Saturday.. I got up early, got on the treadmill and just ran for 25 minutes (well more like, jog/walk)… it was no record breaking pace… and I quickly realized how fast you can loose your stamina if you don’t keep going. But at least I hopped on and did something. I got some cute new workout clothes for Christmas from my family… which reminds me that I do have a cheering section behind my dedication to this goal of fitness. And hey - every girl needs to look cute when they’re sweaty and stinky… right? I downloading some new tunes on my Ipod and made a date at the gym tonight… before the New Year crowds take over.

Next step…. choosing a 5K for the spring to work towards. A goal in mind seems to really help! And back to logging runs and workouts to keep me accountable! Here I go… wish me luck!

5K Let down

julskane1 — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 21:03:46 +0000

So after the big 5K last weekend.. it took a few days to want to jump back in to my training. And once I did, I have to say, it felt a little disenchanting. Time to choose my next 5K… I need something to get motivated for. I am definitely noticing my stamina is improving… but still 2 miles is my “with ease” point… I have a way to go to hit that “3 miles with ease” goal. Also… I can’t figure out how to get my 5 foot tall body to move any faster than 5 mph… which means almost impossible to ever finish a 5K in under 30 minutes (my goal). Not sure how to make my legs move any faster other than a flat out sprint… and that won’t last for 30 minutes….. Any ideas?

My first 5K

julskane1 — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 19:27:39 +0000

Similar to a first day of school, a first kiss or the first time your child asks you a heated question you don’t know how to answer “age-appropriately”, I completed my first 5K on Saturday with all the jitters, anxiety and whirlwind emotions of other kinds of “firsts.” I can’t even believe I can say “I ran my first 5K” when only 6 months ago I was considering whether I just concede to my “curvy” genetics and sedentary life that raising 2 children and working a full time job tends to carve out for the typical mom and just say “oh well - this is me, this is the way God intended my body to look and when you have two babies and “hips that we’re meant to have babies” (a quote from the OB that delivered my second daughter - I swear!)… I’m never going to wear jeans in a single digit size again and that’s just fine. But instead, something inside of me said “no… you don’t have to accept this. you may not ever be pencil thin and you will always have hips wider than the rest of you… but you can be healthy and you can teach your daughters how to take care of themselves, feel good about themselves and empower themselves through fitness and healthy living.” When you’re raising two daughters in today’s world… something just tells you it’s going to take a lot of love and guidance to help them learn to love themselves for who is on the inside and not by the standards of the world around them. How can I, as their mother, teach them that… if I don’t believe it for myself.

And so, I started this journey. A journey that has required a lot of tough decisions about what to do with my time, how to carve out a few minutes for myself and how to put myself on my prioirity list everyday without feeling guilty. I certainly cannot say I’ve conquered these items… instead it’s a daily challenge to myself. But learning how to find some time to exercise and finding a form of exercise I actually look forward to… those are things I’m starting to see take shape.

So this whole “running my first 5K”… that was supposed to be a program I was training on to complete in the next year. I had just actually written it down in a journal about my short term and long term goals, giving it a deadline of by next year I want to run my first 5K. I also started a 4 week program from Self magazine “4 weeks to run 3 miles at ease” and had only finished really the first week when all this happened. Sometimes it takes a little push to realize you can do more than you think. When my girlfirends said “oh forget your program… just come run.” I said “no way, I’m not ready” And I knew I wasn’t ready in the fact that the 5K would be easy or my time would be something to do cart wheels for. And the fact that I was running alongside friends who had run races before and simply are more naturally fit and able to pick up and run a race without much preparation…. those were all reasons I wanted to say no. But instead, I rode the adrenalin and before I could back out, I slapped down my $35 and said “I’ll give it a try.”

And to not disclose too many details… I did finish, but it wasn’t pretty. I felt as though my body and mind were totally disconnected and I wasn’t really prepared for the competitive instinct of a race environment. I had thought… I’ll just go and run at my own pace, walk if I have to, enjoy my Itunes playlist… it will be great. But I was so dizzy with all the distractions of the other runners — it wasn’t quite the experience I expected. But I did finish… 35 minutes + a few seconds.

So I guess, I can say the first one is behind me. Now I’m ready to get back on the horse and start working at my original goal of 3 miles with ease… but this time already knowing it isn’t the 3 miles that is the challenge… been there and done that. That’s pretty cool.

Hi, I just joined the Sweat365 community

julskane1 — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 19:09:19 +0000

I’m a woman from Howell Michigan United States, born in 1976.

My favorite sports include: running yoga walking

My goals are: Make exercise a mainstay in my life. Be a role model of healthy living for my girls. Be able to run 3 miles with ease and for enjoyment. Refuse to be a “throw in the towel” mommy!

My other favorite activities include: Playing with my daughters.

This is my training blog which I am using to keep track of my fitness progress.

Please come by and read my blog. It will help me stay motivated and keep me on track as I achieve my fitness goals!