Motivation

I'm not going to lie, last week was a rough motivation week for me.  Although I did eventually get to a few of my workouts, my heart just wasn't into it most days.  Each day I knew I would feel better after my workout, but that didn't motivate me to get started.  As a result, I also didn't feel like posting...as you might imagine. Quite frankly, this week hasn't started out much better for some reason. Before I go into possible reasons, let me start off with what I did accomplish.

First, I finally signed up at 24 Hour Fitness and completed my first swim, yay!  Man, it was not easy!  I swam 300 meters, which is the total distance of the swim in my upcoming sprint triathlon.  It is amazing to me just how hard it is cardio wise even though I run frequently.  Not only is the cardio hard, but I am terrible at form and I think that I'm even worse because I constantly over think it.  It's a vicious cycle really.  Never the less, I completed it.  I had to stop every 25 meters and catch my breath, but I did it!

Okay, so that was my only real accomplishment, but I did run a couple of times and I walked to school with the kids every day, and then walked back to pick them up at the end of the day so at least I was getting some exercise in!

The very best part of my weekly workout was my Sunday workout.  The workout began with a half hour stationary ride using my brand new Travel Trac Comp Mag + Trainer (which I picked up for a mere $60 after sale and coupons from Performance Bicycle,) followed by a 4.22 mile run with one of my favorite guys who just happens to also be my seven-year-old son.

Let me start by saying that I sure wish I had an ounce of the energy this kid has!  My neighborhood is literally uphill in both directions, or at least it feels that way.  We had only planned on doing a 2.8 mile loop up into the upper part of our neighborhood and back down to our house, but instead we decided to take a short detour up into the mountain behind us.  Let me emphasize the "mountain" aspect of this run!  My little guy ran three miles all up hill (with part of that up the mountain) and never broke a sweat or gasped for air once.  In fact, he talked to me the entire way! I, on the other hand, turned bright red in the face, had to stop answering him because I was breathing so hard and was sweating significantly.  When we got to our turn around point on the mountain he said, "I wonder when I'm going to start sweating?"  What?!  Oh to be young and in perfect shape again!

Me and my little man!

So...moving on, why was I so unmotivated to workout if I was clearly having some great workouts?  Well, I have a few theories on this. The first one, I'll admit is a bit sappy and pathetic.  My oldest son and my husband were away at my son's science camp.  Although I didn't feel like I was all down and out and lonely, I think I felt like part of me was missing.  This is ridiculous and silly since they were only gone four days, but it really changes the flow of life when such a great component of your life is missing.  For example: I didn't have to hurry and get up to make lunches or drive him into school, and instead of taking advantage of that extra time to workout I slept in.  There are many routines that just weren't necessary while they were gone that sort of left me feeling blah and unmotivated.

As if the first reason wasn't enough, I have a second theory which brings me back to an earlier post where I mentioned that I had had a tummy tuck back in May.  It turns out that the recovery time for a tummy tuck with liposuction (which is what I had) is quite lengthy all in all.  While the scar looks remarkable and I move around with ease these days, I still swell up every time I do a lot of cardio. On top of that, I can never quite get my electrolyte balance right.  Apparently, your lymphatic system has to reset after such surgery and mine is still working out the kinks.  How does that play into motivation you ask? Because of all that my body is doing to restore itself to its pre-surgery self, I seem to fatigue easier, I don't have the capacity to run as long or as hard as I could before and I'm always a little on the bloated side.  These things also leave me feeling blah.  It gets frustrating at times because I am hard on myself and think I should be a great deal further along than I am I guess.

The last reason is by far the most pathetic I'm afraid.  I am a girl who was raised in Utah, a place with four beautiful (and sometimes not so beautiful) seasons!  While I love the perfect weather out here in sunny Southern California, I am down right tired of having only one season!  I can handle two seasons, but for the love of God and all things good, we need to change it up and introduce rain back into the picture.  We have been in this ridiculous drought for so long that I'm over looking at all of the dead plants around me. I'm over not having a little bit of weather to change things up. I know, I know...most people would be stoked to have nothing but sunshine and warmth all year 'round.  Even I prefer the sun to the rain, but sheesh...every now and then I need a little diversity.  I told you it was pathetic!

Now you know why I was unmotivated, as ridiculous as it all must sound. Although my husband and son are back home and our routine is going back to normal, I'm still pushing myself to get the workouts done. However, I'm far less unmotivated now as I was last week. 

The point in all of this is that we all have blah moments, but you have to keep forging forward.  Regardless of my lack of motivation, I have forced myself to get to the pool, spin on the bike and even run a short distance with my adorable son.  I know this week is a lot easier because I kept going last week even if the workouts were short. You can do it too!  Get out there and just do a short run or a quick yoga workout, but whatever you do...DO NOT GIVE UP!  You got this! We've got this!!!

After the Mud Run

Running is second nature to me these days.  I run often, and I almost always have one long run (greater than 10 miles) per week.  The area that I live in is very hilly and consists of both trail and pavement running.  This being said, the Mud Run was not terribly difficult for me.  The 1.8 mile climb uphill was challenging, but not difficult...and mostly challenging due to the sun beating down on us with absolutely no air movement!  After the race I felt good.  My muscles weren't sore and I didn't have that nauseous, I pushed myself too hard, feeling.

So imagine my surprise when Monday morning rolled around and I was so stiff in my ankles and calves that I could hardly stand up out of bed. Turns out that very long hill, the mud pits, slippery hills and army crawls really did wear my body out.  I think the biggest problem is that I hadn't spent quality time, okay...any time, stretching after the race.  We walked around a lot and drank tons of fluid, but stretching somehow escaped us.  This is amplified by the fact that we then got into the car and drove for over an hour and half back home.  So I am paying now for allowing my excitement to deter me from stretching properly after a challenging race. Even with the extreme discomfort I am feeling in my left calf, ankle and foot...the race was worth it!  Check out the video of this year's mud run, and don't forget to stretch after your runs!

Kids Running Club

After my half marathon in February, my kids started asking to run with me all of the time.  I started taking them around the block once or twice a couple of days a week.   When the Corona Panthers Track Club announced their upcoming 5K and 1K fun run my sister and I decided to sign up the oldest of our kids.  So, on May 8th, 2010 my 6 year old son, 7 year old niece, brother-in-law, and I ran the Dos Lagos 1K.  The kids did great and had a great time. It was this race that got my son thinking.

For the next several days he wrote up notes on starting a track club.  He listed who he wanted to be a part of it, the day they would run together, that water and Propel would be given out, etc.  He spent quality time on these details.   Then my good friend made a comment on Facebook about the monsters we have created with all of our running.  This started the ball rolling.  Finally, we all agreed we should get the kids together to run.  My sister suggested the park every Wednesday and everyone agreed.

Last Wednesday we had 12 kids running lap after lap around the park in our community.  The kids ranged in age from 7 to 2, and each of them was so excited to be running.  It was at that point in time that I realized that I am not only running for me, but for them.  If I show them now that I enjoy living healthy and being active, they will also want to be healthy and active in their lives.  The best part is they don't do it to lose weight or look better in a pair of jeans.  They do it because they think it is fun and they want to follow in our footsteps.  This reason alone is the #1 reason I continue to run!