Another Positive Post ... And A Few Pics

Are you totally sick of my gushy positive posts yet? Well kiss it, because this is another one.

I had another GREAT run today and I'm feeling so hopeful about this whole "project" of mine.

Tuesday's run at Veterans felt good, but I didn't have a way to really measure my progress. Today I returned to Juilfs to see how I'm doing. Well, I finished my normal two laps (one mile each) with 3:10 left on the clock.

For the win!

My last run at Juilfs was last Tuesday and I finished with 2:36 on the clock. So, whoa, big improvement in a short period of time, I'd say. I think I need to up my target of 2 minutes left. Seems a bit weak now, right?

I've been trying to run a little bit -- a really litte bit -- faster, and also continue running for about, oh, 3 to 5 seconds after the walk alarm goes off. That adds up I guess. Oh, and the running down hill thing is way fun. =)

Anyway, I'm not going to drag this out today, but I do have some pictures from Juilfs. I'm continually impressed with the quality photos I can take with my iPhone!

The best playground ever!

From the top of Beast Hill. I generally run coming toward the camera.


This is where I start running. Look how pretty the sky was tonight!


AHHHHH! GIANT SHADOW MONSTER!
BOOM BOOM BOOM!

Moving Backwards?

Don't worry. The title of this post doesn't mean I'm regressing in my running abilities. In fact, I ran at Juilfs today and finished my two miles with precisely two minutes left of C25K Week 2; I am still holding steady at a 14-minute mile pace.

Give me a moment -- it still blows my mind that I can actually "run" two miles. Clearly the founders of my athletic self-esteem -- my elementary and high school gym teachers -- were "you can do whatever you set your mind to" kind of guys. Thank you, Mr. B and Mr. Jamoke (alias).

*I do want to explore how to and how not to encourage children to physically push themselves and to stay fit. I'll tell you now that letting them get away with whining, walking instead of running, and sitting out of gym class is not effective. Prime example, right here.*

Anyway, while I didn't lose any ground in my progress today, I didn't move forward, and that's frustrating to me. I like to see improvements. That's the best motivator, right there. Unfortunately improvements take work, and work takes motivation, and motivation takes improvements.

Poop.

So, my first set of questions: How do you stay motivated? Do you exercise simply for the joy of it? How do you get through those days or weeks of zero progress? What about setbacks?

Back to the backwards thing. Like I said, I ran at Juilfs today, my tried-and-true favorite childhood park. But, to test things out a bit and to shake up a routine, I ran it backwards.

Now isn't that a fun mental image? I'll let you sit with it for a while before ruining it. Fat girl ... breathing like a freight train ... red, red face ... stumbling backwards down a hill. Go ahead and laugh. I would!

Okay, time to focus again. Today, I ran the opposite direction on the path. I figured the Beast Hill is a long, slow incline and it's counterpart is a steeper, shorter incline. Why not run/walk down the long one and run/walk up the short one? Well folks, it was nice. It didn't improve my time at all (again, discouraging), and it didn't make the 90 second run feel any easier, but it kept me from trying to drag my butt up Beast Hill. And I got to run downhill, which is way fun -- kind of like Phoebe running on Friends.

I don't know the moral of today's experience. I changed my path to avoid a challenge and finished in the same time anyway.

Question set #2: Do you avoid challenging courses or do you take them head on? How's that working out for you?

Next run should be Thursday. Venue undecided. Let me know if you'd like to join!

Unexpected Developments

Well, friends, I've done it. I was a bit over-ambitious yesterday in my physical activities and now I have the back pain to show for it. Or feel. Whatever.

After my post yesterday morning, I headed out for my second try at Week 2 Day 1 of C25K. The great news is that I found a place to start that keeps me from running up the beastly hill twice. WOOHOO! Oh, and I shaved some more time off the two-mile run. Since I ended my last running interval before Beast Hill (that's it, I've now named it), I was able to jog to the finish line.

New progress milestone: 2 miles in 28 minutes -- a 14-minute mile pace. WOOHOO!

Anyway, I completed my run, doused myself in a cold shower, and moved some crap into my new apartment. Unfortunately, somewhere between my run and leaving the new digs, I did something to rip my lower back to shreds. It's strange because I don't even remember straining it, or kicking any boxes (which usually does me in in a snap). Needless to say, that put a damper on my moving activities for the rest of what was supposed to be a productive Saturday.

Wah waaaaaah!

Kind of messed with my Sunday, too. I could have run this morning. I could have taken two loads of stuff to the new place. But, I settled for one minor load. At least it's something, right?

Why am I telling you this? Because I'm making an excuse, that's why. And what are you supposed to do when I make an excuse? All together now ... "SHOOT HER DOWN!"

[ducks and covers]

I'll let you be the judge of my legitimacy. I will, once again, be spending the night cuddled up with my dream man, Ben Gay. Hopefully he gets rid of this kink so I can get something done this week, whether it be running, moving, or both.