Do it anyway

Sometimes you have to do the very least you can. You really don't feel like running, you don't feel like mapping out a route for the day, you don't want to go a route you've gone before, you don't want to go up a hill, or down a hill, you don't want to change out of your pajamas.

I ran my 20 minutes today, starting with running down the street till the end, and running back to my house. That took 6 minutes. So I just went up and down the cross-streets until I was done. At least it was pretty outside. The birds were all arguing, and it was warmer than yesterday. And I ran.

Snow!!!

I once asked my Dad how he kept running in the bitter winter in Central Utah. He said, "I just think of all the fun things I want to do in the summer." He also once said, "You'll be glad you paid your dues in the Spring." My Dad runs more than anyone else I know. He does 20 or 30-milers on weekends. Not races, just fun running. He does 50 mile races in the summer. Plural. It doesn't seem like he even has to work hard at it.

So on days like today, when I wake up to a winter wonderland when it should be spring, I get dressed and go running anyway. I finished my 25 minutes today by thinking that I would really be glad this summer, when I will be able to do some good trail running. It's funny how, in the Fall, running in the snow is rare and exhilirating, and how, in the Spring, it is hard and depressing. In the end, it was not as hard as I had thought it would be, nor as cold.

My Favorite Trees

My walk today was mostly a nature stroll. I didn't feel like race-walking, so I just wandered around the neighborhood, noting all the fantastical flowering trees. There are several magnolias in full flower, and the weeping cherries started the other day. There's one weeping cherry down the street that I love the most. It's not especially large, but the owners have pruned it to be the shape of a giant mushroom. The top is flat and wide, the sides droop just a little, and when the blossoms come, they hang down so gracefully.

The plum trees are blossoming too, and there are purple and white plums all over. The crabapples will be exploding soon. There's a street that has white crabapples lining the left side of the sidewalk, and pink ones on the other side, so you can walk through the tunnel of blossoms. That's on the way to church.

I heard it's supposed to snow tonight. Curse the snow. It will kill the magnolias.

Write your goals

I ran for 21 minutes today. 28 push-ups. 130 crunches, some pilates. 142 pounds, down from 144 last week.

One thing that really keeps me motivated and on track is my exercise record. Before I had a blog, I kept (and really still do) a cheap day-planner with my goals for the week. I would sit down on Sunday night and make goals through the next Saturday. I write down the goal on the day I plan to accomplish it, then when I've reached my goal, I make note of it in the same place. At the end of the week, I make a tally of all I've done, so when I look back at previous weeks, I can find a weekly total easily.

For example, this week I plan to run 20 minutes and walk 10 on both Monday and Thursday. So at the top of the Monday section, it says 20/10. Monday's goal also includes a push-ups and crunches goal. 26 push-ups, 130 crunches. When I've done the running I planned, I put a check next to the goal. If my actual exercise was different than my goal, I circle the goal and write in the actual next to it. Today, I ran for 21 minutes instead of 20, so I make a note of it. Yes, even one minute matters to me. It helps me remember that I felt good enough to keep going past my goal.

If I skipped that day, I just put a slash through the goal, and sometimes revise goals through the rest of the week to keep myself on track with the weekly goal. If my running goals for the week will total 75 minutes, then I just add a few minutes to other days of the week, walk a little more, or just forget about it and redo the same goals the next week.

I like being able to look back at my progress before I got pregnant with Kiki. I had raised my goal minutes (which translated pretty closely to mileage, 10 minutes = 1 mile) by about 10 minutes a week until I was running 25 miles a week, with one long run of 10-12 miles. Sometimes I recorded where I ran, and how I felt during and after the run. This helps me especially on days when I don't feel like getting out. I find a day when I had a good long run that I enjoyed, and remember that I can't feel that good unless I get out and run.

Start Small

Real Wednesday totally worked. I followed my plan almost exactly (I just left out the yogurt), and I kept it up for Thursday too. I feel pretty good right now. I ran my 15 minutes this morning, and walked 15 more. I did 130 crunches, 24 push-ups, some pilates, and some stretching.

The most important part of changing your life permanently is to do it gradually. You will be much more likely to maintain your changes if they are small and few. If you want to lose weight, it will be so much easier to do it slowly.

So today is Start Small day. You don't have to wait until Monday to begin a new habit. Start today, with something small that you would like to change. If you are beginning a daily habit of exercise, start today with a walk. Some people will benefit from starting with 5 minutes. If that is too easy for you, try 10.

Your eventual goal should be to get 30 minutes of exercise every day, but most people should not just jump in and do 30 their first day. So right now, it is a goal to work toward. For the next week or so, go for a walk for about 5 minutes. You could do this a few times a day and it will add up.

If you are beginning a diet change, choose one aspect of your diet that you will focus on. Maybe you have a snacking problem, like me. I am going to focus on getting enough to eat at meal time, and then having a break from eating. I will not graze between breakfast and lunch. I will have a snack around 3:00 in the afternoon, and stop there. When I get stronger in this area, I will move on to a new goal.

With a small beginning, you will be able to accomplish your goals. Then, when you have reached it, a new goal will also be small.

Set yourself a time limit. As in: I will walk for 5 minutes every day for 7 days.
Choose a time of day that will work for you. I will walk at the beginning of lunch hour. I will walk before breakfast, after breakfast, etc. Make sure it is a time when you will not be in a hurry to do something else.

Leave your goals here and I will keep them safe for you.

Tomorrow: Why do you want to change?

Real Wednesday

Time's up. There's no more waiting, no more excuses, no more half-hearted attempts at a beginning. Today is the day. It starts today... read more...

Tomorrow: Start Small.

Magnolias

I hope I never have to live in a place that doesn't have magnolia trees. They are flowering today, and I think they are the trees that will be in my heaven. I used to walk through Temple Square on the way to high-school, and they have a whole bunch of white magnolias. I think they are the best thing, and I wish they flowered for more than a week.

deer in the hood

I was wrong about the deer not coming down. I saw one in up the street this morning. I did my 15/15 today, and it was great. After the trail running on Saturday, my quads are a little sore at the top, so I did some more hill today to burn it off. Also 20 push-ups, 100 crunches, some pilates.

And I had a green smoothie for breakfast that was actually yummy! Spinach with one juiced orange, one frozen banana, and about 6 frozen strawberries. Even the boys had some, and liked it.

ready for a 5K?

I can confidently say that if I had to run a 5K today, I could, but it would be slow. I ran 35 minutes, part of it on a trail close to my home. I found lots of deer footprints, and droppings, but no real, live deer. It's been so warm that they haven't been coming down into the valley for a week or so. We did have a couple of deer outside our front door about a week ago.

I ran 20 minutes yesterday, to make up for being retarded on Wednesday. I had realized later in the day that I'd only done 15 minutes without checking my goals. So I've reached all the goals so far this week except for Thursday's. But my pacing in the hospital should probably count.

Kiki's eyebrow

I didn't go walking today, because we had to get Kiki to the hopital by 6:30 for her eyebrow operation. She had a little cyst removed, and now she will have a scar about 3/4 inch long, just above her right eyebrow. There are no stitches, just some Dermabond. And she is bruised and swollen, but that's not really a surprise. She is fine. I didn't throw up or pass out.

at least I ran

Did my running today. 15/15. Didn't get out of bed until 7:30, didn't go to bed last night until 12:00. At least one child was up at 3:00 with a bad dream.

When I start running, my knees usually hurt for about 5 minutes, and I feel like crap for about 5 minutes, and I'm tired and sluggish for about 5 minutes, and I want to go back to bed for about 5 minutes. Luckily, those all happed for the same 5 minutes. After that, I usually feel pretty good. It's not hard to meet my goals, if only I can get myself out the door and run for the first 5 minutes.

My Muse

I've done my walking for the day, and now I've counteracted all the benefits by sitting in front of the computer for the last 2 hours. Woe, woe is me. Yesterday, I went a little too far, so it was 15/20. Running always comes first. I love running. Now I have a Running Muse.

Gonna get me some new shoes

I walked to church today with my sister-in-law. It's only 3/4 mile, but that's kinda remarkable for Utah. I've decided that I've really, really had enough with shoes that aren't comfortable. And I don't just mean ones that don't hurt very bad. I wore the flats that I've had since I got married 6 years ago. They're still in good shape, but I can't walk fast in them. I hate hate hate walking slowly.

Which is funny, since I distinctly remember, as a youngling, complaining to my mom nonstop that she was walking too fast, and I couldn't keep up with her. It must have driven her insane. I hated going shopping with her. I hated having to be with her at Lagoon. I hated hiking. I'm so ashamed that I ever hated hiking. Now, I can't think of anything more fun. I would do it more often, but my kids are so freakin' slow! I almost can't take a walk with them around the block or my head will explode.

This week, I'm going to:
1. keep the same running goals as last week, 15, 20, 15, 30, even though I did better than I expected last week. I want to have a while where I don't have to push my little body very much harder than normal.
2. get up at 6:00 every day, even though it will be dark. I'm going to do my best not to fall asleep in the middle of the afternoon.
3. go to bed by 10:30 every night.
4. pick up the toys in the living room before going to bed.
5. speak kindly and considerately to my kids, even when they are driving me nuts, bananas and ice-cream.
6. not go looking for candy at every opportunity.

Is that enough to keep me occupied for a week?

35/11 Timp

I surpassed my goals for the week by a few minutes. I ran for 35 today, and walked 11. (I had to work off the three pieces of angel food cake I had at Tia's house last night.) It was warm enough that I didn't need my hat and gloves. I love spring. I almost got all the way to the biggest weeping cherry in the county. That means that by the time it is flowering, I'll be able to get there to see it.

My right hip is hurting. I don't remember it feeling like this before I was pregnant with Kiki. Before Derek and I were even dating, we went on an overnight hike to Mt. Timpanogos, in Utah County. It's about 17 miles round-trip, and we wanted to see the sunrise from the peak, so we slept at Emerald lake, about 3 miles from the top. I didn't actually sleep, since I didn't carry a pad, but I did have a back-pack with a sleeping bag and food, and extra clothes. At about 4:30 am, we got up to climb the summit. It's a pretty steep hike, and after lugging the pack the day before, and adding the rocky final ascent, I think I damaged my hip. It started hurting before we got to the top, then got worse as we came down. By the time we got to the bottom, it was hurting pretty badly.

It took about a month before I could walk without pain in that hip, and I don't think I ran much for a few more months after that. And even when I did start running again, it was only for a mile or so. So maybe that it surfacing again. I'll try to be careful.

I'd love to be able to hike Timp again before we move to Ohio and lose our altitude tolerance. I don't think it will happen, though. Since Kiki is still nursing, I couldn't leave her for long enough to do the entire hike, and I don't think we'd be able to carry her.

16/15, extra minute down the hill

I had forgotten how much I love to be out in the early morning. I've had an erratic schedule, since Kiki is nursing and unwilling to be scheduled, so I haven't gotten into a groove of going out at the same time every day. But this morning, after I fed her at 5:30, I decided I should just get up and go. It was even beginning to get light at 6:00, and the birds are out making a ruckus. Spring always makes me feel like I've spent a lot of time being homesick, and I've finally come home. I ran up the hill today. I've been doing it in installments, up till now, but I finally went all the way up without stopping today. Then I had to run down, of course. 16/15

My little flower garden has some irises that are about 4 inches tall, one big yucca, four lavender bushes, and a whole bunch of onions. I planted the onions last summer, and I thought they all died. But now, they are shooting up. I can't remember if they're any good after a winter. I think they might just go to seed, which is fine with me. Last year my leeks went to seed, and they were fantastic, if a little smelly. They grew 6 feet tall, and their huge pink pom-pom blossoms loomed over the rest of the vegetable garden for the whole summer.

rain and mist

32 minutes walking, and the clouds came down on the mountain as I walked. The air was still humid from last night's rain, and the worms out on the sidewalk. Just as I finished and came in, it began to pour. Rain, not snow. Yay! I zig-zagged up and down, instead of across. In our neighborhood, the east-west streets go uphill, and the south-north streets are pretty level, so when I run, I like to go south-north, but when I walk, I can handle a little more uphill.

After yesterday's O.D. of M&Ms, I think I'm cured for a while. I really don't want anything fake in me right now. So I made a spinach-strawberry-orange drink for breakfast, and some pumpkin muffins for lunch, to have with last night's yummy lentils and rice. Although I didn't have any more caramelized onions. :(

Calvin's best friend was over, and he wouldn't touch the lentils, though he did have 2 of my vegan muffins, and loved them. I think if I had given him the muffin first, he wouldn't have liked it, but after staring at lentils for ten minutes, the muffins looked good.

20/11, green smoothies

I had wheat berries with some greek yogurt and honey for breakfast, which is so stinking yummy. I love the greek yogurt, but it's pretty rich, so only a couple of tablespoons is enough. I've been trying green smoothies. Those are just whizzed up fruit with some sort of dark leafy greens, like spinach, parsley, romaine lettuce, chard, and kale. Yesterday, it was 1/2 apple, one juiced orange, and a big handful of spinach with water and ice. I must admit I was surprised that it wasn't yucky. I think this is a good way to get some greens, and can probably help with all manner of digestive problems. Today, I'm going to try pears with parsley. Now, if I can just kick my M&Ms habit...

Update: the pears and parsley wasn't great, unless you really like parsley. I added some orange juice concentrate, which helped a lot. The orange taste balanced the parsley, but the pear was unidentifiable. The boys both asked for some "green drink" though.

walk 30, reverse plank 10 seconds

It was 30 degrees today, and light outside at 7:00! I love spring. I saw some purple crocuses peeking through the dirt across the street and nearly jumped for joy. I walked for 30 minutes, and Derek ran for 12. He has to exercise for 1/2 hour for every 2 hours of WoW he plays. I think I might try and get him to change it to 1 hour of WoW. And it can't roll over into the new week. No saving up. Wouldn't that be great?

goals for the week

I ran for 15 minutes today, and walked another 15. My goal for the week is 15, 20, 15, 30. I will run four days, and walk 3. I think I'm going to stick to that schedule for 3 weeks, and then step it up to 20, 25, 20, 30.

27/5

Something about running really makes me feel good about myself and what I can accomplish. I ran for 27 minutes straight today. I was well prepared for the cold and the blinding sunshine glazing off the snow. I felt crappy at first, but after about 10 minutes, started to feel fine. It was still hard. I got up to the breathing rhythm that I like, two counts in, two counts out. When I have a good rhythm, I feel much more stable, and I can go further. It's good meditation for me, to concentrate on rhythmic, consistent breathing. It helps me so I don't go too slow or too fast. It makes me peaceful.

14/10, plus 7 minutes shovelling

It's another winter wonderland today. I'm tired of running in blizzards, but at least I got out and did it. My tip for the day is this: When you really don't feel like exercising, just get your work-out clothes on. That will help you feel motivated to do at least one minute of exercise. One minute is all I ask. Derek didn't want to go this morning, so I told him to just run around the block. For me, the hardest part is starting. Then, when I've gone for that whole minute, I can easily go for another, and another. Sometimes, like today, after about 30 seconds, I forget I was only going for a minute, and I end up completing my goal for the day.