January 26, 2016

Week 4 of the #RunTheYear2016 #2016in2016 Challenge.

It’s been quite a week for me, as you know from last weeks post, my mom was in town. She was with me during 4 runs of the week – all before Jonas. She came out to celebrate my birthday & to start off the day we went out for 7 miles. This is the most I’ve done during this challenge and we had only done a mile the 2 days previous.

I decided to break out a little race flare with a pair of purple shwings I got for Christmas. While the shwings are purely ornamental, they did seem to have some mental power to help me go longer than I had all month. Total Win!

Mom went home Thursday morning & I had an all-day Board retreat. I had to leave at 6:30 am and didn’t have a chance to get out for a run beforehand. I packed a bag with a workout outfit in case I had to stop on the way home and get in a run. The meeting ended around 3 pm so I was able to wait until I got home to get in a run. Lesson: Be prepared with a packed gym bag in case you need to stop on the way home to get in a run.

Then we have Jonas – we were lucky that we didn’t get as much snow as others in Maryland but we still got pummeled with about 18″ overnight.

While I’ve been racing for 13 years, I haven’t been one to train. I love Race Day, other walkers/runners, the t-shirt, the bling and the Finish Line. I realized that in order to improve at races I need to consistently train (duh!) which was a main reason I signed up for the #2016in2016 Challenge (the bling is nice too!).

I started off the month thinking that Tony & I would team up to tackle the miles over the course of the year but as I got going I decided to do it by myself. I am behind – to stay on-track I need to do 5.5 miles/day and I haven’t been able to fit that in. Seeing the month approaching its end and not even hitting 100 miles yet is what’s pushed me to keep up my streak.

I had every excuse to NOT go out the day Jonas dumped all this powdery white stuff, but once I got outside I asked Tony, “Am I going to let Jonas beat me and ruin my streak?” Like a great accountability partner, he encouraged me to head out & BE CAREFUL going in the middle of the road and heading to the side if a vehicle approached. The smile on my face here doesn’t even begin to capture how I felt when I got back – I felt like a badass!

This day turned things around for me. I stopped focusing on checking off the miles and instead saw the Challenge as something I was going to conquer every single day!

I have this mantra to keep me centered – to remind me that all parts of this Journey are my own. My success is measured by how I feel, how I work to accomplish my goals and work through my mental & physical obstacles. I’m owning it!

As-a-side-note, I found out at the beginning of the week that I’m a #SweatPink Ambassador.  I’m excited to be a part of their #BeFitAllYear Challenge and I hope you’ll stay tuned for my blogs about that part of my fitness journey!

 

Remember to RunUrOwnRace! Liz