You might not believe that, but I would challenge you to try it sometime.
This morning, I went out for a run in the cold, rainy, extremely windy weather. I had on workout gear that was supposed to wick moisture away, to keep me from freezing, along with an ear-muff headband, gloves, and a hooded sweatshirt. I was ready to go!
I stepped out of the foyer of our apartment building into that rainy mess. As I stepped through the doors I could hear the wind howling. I stopped to consider for a moment, whether I should maybe head to the gym instead of attempting to do this outdoor run. But I determined that today was a day for running outside, and I didn't just want to run on the treadmill today.
Now, you may wonder why I would even bother with trying to brave those sort of weather conditions. Am I crazy? Maybe a little...
Well, if you've read any of my previous blogs, you will see that my goal is to run a marathon in 2016. It's been over two years since I've been able to do any sort of consistent exercise, due to previous medical issues.So I'm basically starting from scratch. I was finding it difficult to get motivated and be consistent...exercising more than once every other week.
One day, while waiting for my daughter at the gym, during her karate class, I noticed a flyer that said "30 miles in 30 days".
I thought, maybe I could. So I went up to the customer service desk and asked for more information. I was handed a sheet of paper with the month of April printed at the top, and slots to record mileage for each of the 30 days in this month. It promised an unnamed prize, if I was able to successfully complete the challenge. Now, it said specifically that I was to record only miles that I run. I could walk 30 miles very easily, but running is a whole other story.
As of today, I have only completed 2.1 miles of running for this month, as well as a good number of miles walked. I have about 22 more days to try and reach the 30 mile goal. I may not get there, but I'm still going to try. That is the important thing to me at this point...getting out there and reaching for those goals.
I like this 30 day challenge, because rather than thinking about the bulk of time between now and the marathon, it allows me to break it up into 30 day/monthly pieces. That way it seems much more doable. I think I will try from now on to have a goal for each month. Maybe in the beginning I will not quite meet the challenges, but I know with time and effort, I will get there!
FINDING MY MOTIVATION
I stay at home with my two girls, who are five years apart. I have a husband that is gone for the better part of the year, due to his job. I home school and we have extracurricular activities for my oldest, as well as other activities and obligations. I was hesitant to even pursue this goal of running a marathon. Anyone who has ever run a race of any substantial length, knows that it requires time to train. I didn't know how I was going to find time to fit in runs, especially during the time when my husband is away. Then I saw a motivational post on facebook that said something like:
It is so true, that we find the time to do the things that are important to us. We may list our priorities, but when we really look at them, does the time we spend in each of those areas really show that they are important to us? Well, this whole blog started as a sort of accountability record for me. Being healthy and strong and setting a good example for my girls is very important to me. They, along with my husband, are the reasons I am doing this in the first place. I want to be the best I can be, have energy, be strong, build endurance, and be fit for life.
I started looking at how I was going to reach my goals. What did I need to do in order to meet this need? Well, I needed time and consistency for a start. I have a treadmill at home; an investment we made in order to make exercise and running convenient. But for race training, I had to factor in a couple weekly outdoor runs. Easy enough to do while my husband is around. But not really. Our daily schedules can often be interrupted due to needs that arise. He doesn't work a regular 9-5 job, and often has to go into work very early for one reason or another. If I don't get the run in first thing in the day, then I usually don't get it in at all. I had plenty of excuses for pushing that morning run aside...appointments for the kids, errands to run, schoolwork, or just feeling tired and lazy.
I started thinking that what I needed was someone who was willing to come to our home early in the morning, so that I could consistently do those outdoor runs whether my husband is around or not. So I searched for a childcare provider I liked and could count on, and found an awesome young woman who was willing to sacrifice her sleep to care for my munchkins for a couple hours, twice a week in the morning. This also served as an extra motivator. Knowing that she will come on certain days to stay with the girls, so that I can get out, motivates me to roll myself out of bed, because she is also getting up early to help me reach those goals.
So back to running in the rain...
My childcare provider showed up right on time on this first morning I asked her to come. We confirmed the arrangements the night before, not checking what the weather would be like. I woke up fairly early, and when I looked outside and opened up the window to check the temperature, I started to have second thoughts. But she showed up right on time, and I determined that I was not going to waste her time and effort. I started on my way and kept on going, slowly but surely, even though I got plenty of looks from people struggling against the wind with their half-broken umbrellas. So even though the wind was howling, and on certain turns the rain hit my face like little needles...I completed my run and accomplished my goal for the day. I felt pretty proud of myself, I have to say.
