Preparing for a Run

I am not a morning person.  I never have been, and I'm afraid that this late in the game, I never will be.  Needless to say, these 7:00 am Saturday morning runs have been very brutal for me because it requires that I am up at 6:00 or 6:15 in the morning.  I don't even get up that early during the week!  In order to make my morning a little easier, I have to set out all my stuff the evening before so it is readily accessible for me to put on, grab, and go.....

My list of items looks something like this:
Shoes
Socks
Running pants
Sports bra
Silk long john top
Long sleeve running shirt
Running jacket
Hat
Ear warmers
Gloves
Ipod shuffle
Cell phone
Hammer Gel
Water bottle #1 - water
Water bottle #2 - heed (electrolyte drink)
Water bottle #3 - recoverite drink

And here it all is, waiting for me in the morning!

Non Runner Making Runner Choices

One of the things I love about running is that you can do it anywhere.

All you need is shoes and dedication.

An interesting thing about my "non runner" self is that I always take my shoes with me when I go out of town.  I have intentions of running.....  but its the dedication factor that causes problems.  Its that non runner part of me that leaves the shoes in my suitcase and doesn't make it happen.

A real runner makes better choices.  A real runner makes it happen.  A real runner takes their shoes out of their suitcase!

I just got back from Texas, and it was a trip that fell over the weekend which meant I had to miss another Saturday run with my running buddies.  The good news is that I was in Texas with another runner friend of mine who is training for a 1/2 marathon so we kicked in the dedication, pulled our shoes out of our suitcases, and made it happen!  (Thanks, Mary!)

It's such a good feeling to be dedicated.

It's such a good feeling to make "runner" choices.

And it was especially good feeling to drag those shoes out of the suitcase!

Penance

penance: a punishment undergone in token of penitence for sin 

my sin - missing my morning team run due to staying up too late and drinking to much

my penance - running 8 miles ALONE the following day  

I missed my first Saturday morning run this week because I stayed out to late on Friday and had a bit too much to drink.  In my defense, I was staying out late and drinking too much for a good cause!  I attended the annual "A Taste of Hope" charity fundraiser for my favorite non-profit organization, The ISAAC foundation.   This is an event I look forward to every year, and it's one that I volunteer for months leading up to the event.  I had intentions of getting up and running, and I even told people at the event that I was taking it easy because I had to run in the morning.  Well.... when morning rolled around, I just couldn't get myself out of bed.  

I admit it....  I didn't really try that hard.  (I did set my clock, but I think I mostly set it so I could text my team that I wasn't coming, and then I promptly went back to sleep). 

Pathetic, I know.  

I did pay for it though.  

Running 8 miles alone was penance for sure.  

dedication

9:55 pm   +   running on the treadmill  =   dedication

                            

"Mommy on the Treadmill"

"Mommy on the Treadmill" 

Dylan,  age 3 1/2 

Feb 7, 2011 

Early Morning Run

I am not a morning person.  I never have been, and I'm afraid I never will be.  However, with this marathon training, my training buddies and I have chosen Saturday mornings at 7:00 to be our weekly long run time. There is nothing right about getting up at 6:00 am on a Saturday, but I am learning to do so.  I have always wanted to be that mom who gets up before the rest of the house comes to life, sneaks out to get in a morning run, and returns just in time for a solitary cup of chai tea before the morning chaos begins.

However.......... I am not that mom.

Instead, my idea of a morning run would begin about 9:30 or 10:00 after I have had a chance to wake up, eat breakfast, check my email, send the girls off to school, dink around the house for a bit,  check my email again, dink around the house some more, and then head out once the mood strikes.  The problem with this line of thinking though is that the "mood" doesn't always strike, and then I spend the rest of the day trying to talk myself into an afternoon run or an early evening run, meanwhile, the day just keeps slipping away from me and a run may not end up happening at all.  Thank goodness for my running buddies though because now on these early morning runs, I just have to get up and go.  I don't have time to wake up.  I don't have time to check my email.  I don't have time to dink around the house.  And I definitely don't have time for the "mood" to strike.

But, guess what..... it always does.

And when we arrived this morning at the trail and I saw the beautiful sunrise, I thought to myself, "this morning stuff isn't all that bad".  So who knows, I might just get hooked on this morning run thing and try it all by myself one of these days!  That's what a real runner would do!

Week Two - DONE!

2 weeks down, 14 to go! 

Do you notice that my Thursday run this week is only half colored in?  Well, that is because I only completed half of a run.  I came home from work at 6:15 and jumped on the treadmill to knock my little 3 miler out.  I was feeling so good.  So dedicated!  So committed! I don't normally like to run after a long day at work, but that was really the only time I could fit it in, and because I am too scared to miss a run,  I made myself just do it!  I'm really working on this dedication thing, and I'm really trying to change my ways so it took a little self talk, but I managed to pull it together and was making it happen.....  

But then, about a mile 1/2 into the run, my little one comes racing into my room shouting, "Alicia's here, Mommy.  Alicia's here, Mommy!"  

Alicia is our babysitter.  So that could mean only one thing - we had ask her to come over to babysit.  Hmmm.  I don't recall making that phone call or sending that text.  And apparently neither did my husband because he answered the door and was dumbfounded.  He had no idea why our babysitter was standing there! (and just for the record, he was the one who had made the arrangements!)

Having a babysitter come over in the middle of the week on a school night probably meant we were going on a date.  And because we don't normally go out during the week, it probably meant we were going on a BIG date!  I was trying to process all of that and fill in the blanks, and then it hit me....   

SARAH MCLACHAN CONCERT!!  

How in the world could we have possibly forgotten? I immediately slammed off the treadmill, yanked out my earbuds, said a few choice words, and started stripping off my clothes.  We had less than thirty minutes to get there.  Somehow, we miraculously made it.  I was feeling kind of guilty that I had to stop in the middle of my run, but as soon as she came out on stage, the guilt went away!  

And on a completely different note.....  week two is done...... minus that mile 1/2, of course!  : )