Motivation

Motivation. It's a big scary word that I've discovered while working to become more fit and active. It is SO easy to just sit on your butt and not feel an ounce guilty that you aren't super physically active. But then when you get into a workout routine, it becomes a little easier to convince yourself that it's worth it. However, even just a couple days off from that routine may make it harder to bounce right back in because it's never easy that first day back. 

For me, I find it fairly easy to motivate myself to do something at least six days out of the week (Monday is usually my "skip" day). And it's especially easy if it's something that Will and I have planned to do together, like our scheduled morning gym trips or a Saturday bike ride. However, it's a little harder sometimes to keep myself motivated when I'm out running by myself. Even if I feel great physically, with no pain or sense of restraint in my legs, usually my mind does not want to complete the task. Granted, the kick of endorphins after I finish always reminds me that sticking with it is worth it; it's just a matter of getting to that finishing point.

What do you all do to stay motivated, particularly when running? I find that now, especially with training for this half, I know what amount of time I'm scheduled to run and until I reach the halfway point, I struggle with wanting to keep going. I have a lot of self-doubt and constantly am telling myself I'm never going to achieve my goal: how do you avoid that or counteract it while you run? I don't listen to music while I run for safety reasons, but I have to wonder if popping at least one earbud in would help.

I also find that now that I'm regularly running at least 30 minutes/about 3 miles as my "shorter" distances, I find my mind trying to convince me to stop after a mile, because really, "that's enough and is more than most people do." I mean seriously-why would my brain say that? Physically I enjoy the benefits of running and am finding that I can accomplish the time/distance just fine, but the lack of motivation and support from my brain is surprising. Any tips on how to overcome this struggle would be appreciated!

Yoga Blessing

Our favorite yoga instructor sometimes uses this quote at the end of class and I keep it posted in my office to keep me centered throughout the day. Stay focused, stay calm, and namaste, my friends.

Distance/Time Dilemma

When training for a half marathon, is it more important to focus on your distance or your time? I'm finding I keep pretty close to a 10" mile when I'm going for longer time runs (as opposed to closer to 9" for shorter distances/races), especially in preparation for this half marathon. But when preparing for a distance event, is it better to focus on the amount of time you're out running or the distance itself? I find myself getting hung up on both, although the training plan I'm using puts more emphasis on time as opposed to distance. However, I have looked at other training plans and discovered that distance is the priority.

Also, when picking plans, I steered away from those that wanted you to do different types of running, i.e. "tempo training" or "circuit training." I'm not sure if that was a good or bad move on my part, because I feel like on race day, I'll have pretty good energy and will be encouraged by those around me in my pace group (is that what it's called?), to keep up a good pace. When you are out on a run, do you try to mix up your speeds, to test yourself at faster tempos and then have more moderate tempos to catch your breath? Or do you just kind of chug along with only a slight variance in tempo?

If you have a favorite plan, please leave me a link in the comments section!

How to Half

Here is my first "help, I need advice!" post of this blog. I just began training to run my first half marathon and I want to know all the little details of how one of these shindigs goes down. I'm following this 12-week training plan to prepare myself, which should end up being just the right amount of time. However, besides the running part, I don't really know what else to expect/do. So here are my questions and please help me out in the comments!

1. Do you actually run the whole thing? Please be honest.

2. What are gels and should I try them?

3. Are one of those waist water bottle thingies a good investment? How much water do they really hold? (And what are they really called?)

4. What do you think about for 13.1 miles?

5. Am I trying to do this too soon after jumping into running?

Admittedly, before I started running, I used to think the 13.1 and 26.2 stickers on cars were bible verses! Little did I know they were actually part of a fitness culture that I have found myself wanting to be a part of. The reason I'm training for this is because I want a tie-dye 13.1 sticker, let's be real.

Oh, by the way, the race I'm planning to run is the Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon: VA Beach :)

Why Another Blog?

You might be thinking, "Megan's food blog is cute, but why does she think we want to hear more babblings from her?" Here's my answer: "not everything I do involves cooking!" And while Cooking With Willis is absolutely fantastic and I appreciate the support from my readers, there are other things I want to talk about besides food (and it doesn't mean you have to listen)! Mostly, I would like to have some sort of blog forum to discuss with other fitness junkies, especially runners, how to stay motivated, share tips and advice, and help achieve (running) goals. I am in no way a great runner or perfect yogi, much less certified in anything, so what I offer here may not be of much help to anyone! However, I am hoping to gain some insight from others as to how to improve my training so I can be a better runner and more fit overall.

Now, the really ironic part about this is, I imagined this blog up while on a long run Sunday and when I got back to my car, realized my favorite bumper sticker would make the perfect name. Then on Monday, I woke up with sore ankles (an underlying bout of tendonitis, I believe, that I am f-i-g-h-t-i-n-g) and then I wrenched my back at the gym doing ab twists and now can't turn fully to my right. That was after a little IT band scare in my left leg on Saturday night, that calmed down after some icing. So the name "Pain Now, Wine Later" really rings true today and when I get home tonight I'll be pouring myself a nice glass of Cab Sauv to recuperate and figure out why the hell my body is freaking out at me. Again, I hope this blog can offer an avenue for others to share advice about how to combat problems like these when all we're really trying to do is keep ourselves healthy. I mean seriously. Body, get with it.

Anyways, you may also be wondering why I would want to blog about running/yoga/working out at all. Those of you who have known me for years know that for a long time I was all "ughhh running who would want to do that? Seems stupid" or "working out is ridiculous" blah blah blah. I admit: I said all of those things. I still sometimes believe those things. But as in many other aspects of my life, and most people's, I have grown up and come to recognize that things I have written off in the past deserve a chance. So last May, I joined a gym (not the first time) and was diligent about going 3-4 times a week (I had done this over a summer before). I even had a personal trainer because there was some sort of special going on. Will and I bought a bike for me and I would do flat paths with him. I learned to kayak. I started practicing yoga more religiously and found a studio I liked and shelled out the $$ for classes. Life was grand. Then school started and I realized that for once, I would not let the school/practice/work schedule take over and I would manage to fit these things in. Because guess what? I was looking better and feeling better and why wouldn't I want to keep doing that?

Flash forward to December, where I had been pretty good about waking up at the crack of dawn to drag myself to the gym and Will and I had squeezed in biking on busy weekends, as well as scrambling to yoga classes a few nights a week and on weekends. I have some piano students who run, one who does kid triathlons, a former boss who is a triathlete, and a coworker who runs, blogs, and Facebooks about her fitness all the time, usually before most of us are even awake! Between all of them, I realized I should attempt to tackle the elusive idea of running, one that had never made sense to me (why run around for no particular reason, unlike soccer where you can chase a ball to score a goal) and that I had avoided because of my patella femoral pain syndrome in my knees. However, not having experienced many knee problems down here in Tallahassee, I figured I'd give it a shot.

All I can say for the first couple weeks is "ow." Then I went and got fitted for shoes at Capital City Runners, bought a pair online (eventually went back and got fitted and bought shoes there-a worthwhile investment) and immediately things were better. Then I started running more because it didn't hurt my ankles as much, and after a frustrating dress rehearsal for my masters recital, Will and I went out and ran a 5K distance with no problem. We signed up for Run for the Cookies the following week and never looked back.

I hope you'll join me in exploring the various means of fitness that are out there, but more particularly in my running. In the following blog posts, I will be posing questions and asking for advice, so I hope you will help me out along the way!