Five Week Plan

I decided to make a wish list of races the other day and found so many that looked like a lot of fun. Texas has a lot of races, but more of them are in the Dallas area as opposed to Houston. I found a cute 5 mile race on December 11th called the YMCA Jingle Bell Run. It includes a 3 mile walk and a 1 mile kid’s race as well. You get reindeer antlers, jingle bells and a cool shirt for your efforts. I think I have talked my parents into doing the walk while I do the run. My mother had been doing really well waking every day, but has fallen off of the wagon as of late because she doesn't have anyone to go with (plus sleeping in is so much more attractive). I decided to implement a plan...a masterful, awesome 5 week plan. I made us both an exercise schedule that includes my designated runs with added strength training and a goofy pilates video I found on Netflix that is beginner friendly. I have my mom doing 4 walks a week making her Monday her "long walk" kind of like Saturday is my long run. I then have her walk 30 minutes on the other three days. Friday is our designated pilates day and I think it should be funny to see it happen. If you can imagine two grown women trying to do a video in a tiny spare room staring at the computer for instruction. I am also going to spend today coming up with a meal plan so I can actually shed some pounds instead of maintaining weight. I think I might get a little faster if I do.

On another note, Mom an I went out and did this 3.2 mile loop this morning. I ran the loop while she walked 25 minutes; turned around, and walked back to the car (she went 2 miles!). It was probably the worst run I have had in a long time. Sometimes running makes no sense to me. Saturday's run was beautiful again with frigid temperatures, clear air, feet feeling great and good running buddies. Today was humid as hell, my feet were killing me (need new shoes now), I was extra slow, and my left foot fell asleep like 4 times. At one point my feet hurt so much I wanted to start walking and then I remembered that running is a total mental game. The pain wasn't injury pain; it was "get some new shoes damnit!" pain. I just had to concentrate on the actual trail, make little goals for myself, and run through it. This is really an amazing lesson that I have learned since in the past I would have walked at the slightest bit of pain. On a brighter note, I finished in my normal amount of time and wasn't as slow as I thought. Also, I start 5 miles this Saturday, on purpose this time. Wish me luck (or endurance)!