Of all the four letter words out there....I'm experiencing the worst one of all.....
FUNK
It comes out of no where....and smacks me on the side of the head.
And it hits hard.
I've made new plans, usually that gets my juices flowing.....didn't work. I added new activities (cross training)....no go.
The culprit??
DARKNESS!!!!
I need to strap one of those therapy lights to my forehead. I miss the sun. It's not visible when I get up...it's barely there when I drive home.
I always thought I'd LOVE living in Alaska...now I wonder if I'd survive at all.
I did actually run this weekend. I was supposed to run 3 miles, including the one mile test. I went to a Jeff Galloway seminar in October, and am trying his training plan. I've got the books, I've talked to him myself....but there are things I'm unclear of.
I get the idea of the one mile test....kinda. The book describes the warm up I'm supposed to do, the test, then a cool down. When do I run the other extra miles??? I'm a Capricorn...sometimes we want...no NEED....it spelled out.
We can be a bit OCD at times. :-)
So what did I do? I scrapped the one mile test crap...and just run three miles.
My interval timer battery was dead...so I just ran.
I ran the full three miles without stopping. Which, after running a half marathon, shouldn't be a big deal....but it is. I usually use a run/walk interval system.
Those three miles felt great!!!!!
I jumped on the trail near work and ran. I huffed and puffed at times....but I didn't stop. I wanted to start walking, but didn't allow myself.
I've been stressed out. Work is frustrating, the darkness is killer, I need to win the lottery, and my hubby has been gone for 10 days. I'm ready for the long holiday weekend!!!!!!!!!
While I was out there...I was free. It was pretty chilly (not sure on the exact temp), so I had a long sleeve wicking tshirt and my new orange high viz running jacket....lightweight underarmor gloves, a bondi band over my ears.....and an audio book.
I'm listening to The Long Run...a story of a New York firefighter and elite athlete, and his recovery from being hit by a bus, while riding his bicycle in NY traffic.
It's interesting as all heck....and motivating like nothing else.
I actually even found myself listening to it more when I got home (I usually save them for my drive to and from work). I'm only about half way through, but so far I highly recommend it.
11 comments:
I feel ya, sista. Last winter was so very very hard for me. I havent had a winter like that in...well, EVER! I am wondering if I need to do some Vit D this winter so prevent that. i hope the outdoor running will help.
I really just need to DO IT and not think about it. If I give myself time to think after that alarm goes off, I have already lost =)
Boy, that's the truth. I need to get back to being robotic. Alarm goes off, I gets up...period!!! :-)
You and me both! I literally laid on the couch all weekend :( I just couldnt get out of my FUNK.... Teh darker colder California days dont make it any easier. And to top it off I felt really lonely... my husband is deployed and so this will be our first HOliday season aprt. Not fun! Gotta get out and Run!
@ Faby - First holiday season apart...that's rough!!! :-(
My couch and I were very close friends this weekend. I think it's good to have bonding time with the couch every once and a while....but it's nearing habit again. Gotta stop that quick! :-)
Amen sister! The darkess cannot get us, right?! Right?!
I get in a running funk *every* November/December. The darkness and cold does it to me!!
I gave myself a little "November" challenge this year. I wanted to work out *every* day in November and do a variety of things to keep my interest. I'm not talking about running 10 miles a day here... some days, I just do 30 minutes of an easy Pilates dvd.
Two things have helped me:
- not asking/forcing myself to workout longer than an hour on any day
- telling myself that 20-30 minutes is better than nothing
I've never managed the Galloway one-mile test either. I do like his method though! My rule of thumb is to run the shorter 3-6 mile runs and use walk breaks for longer runs. Although sometimes I take breaks in shorter runs, depending on how I feel.
Good luck getting out of the funk!!
I use Jeff Galloway but on my own "conditions" I usually walk for a minute after 2K.
Looks like all you needed was just a good run.
I didn't know you lived in Alaska. I think it must be beautiful but sometimes hard in Winter.
@ Fran - I, too, use the modified Jeff Galloway method. In fact, Jeff himself called in the Nej's run/walk method. :-)
Nope, don't live in Alaska...live in Nebraska. But...I've always thought I wanted to move North. :-)
@ Lori - it CANNOT get us!!!!!
@ Faith Ann - I'm thinking I'll probably only use the Galloway on the longer runs as well. I did a 5 miler this weekend, and forced myself to walk and run with the interval timer. But...on the 5K last week...I just couldn't do it. :-)
All I know about Nebraska is that's the title of a Springsteen record :)
@ Fran - oh yeah...I'd forgotten about that!!!! :-)
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