Let's Try This Again

It's been quite some time since I last posted anything. I didn't end up running the half marathon I thought I was going to. I didn't end up running at all for quite some time. Since I last posted I have moved to Missouri and tossed the idea of running around a couple of times, and it hasn't stuck. But here I am, at a new start. I'm out of shape and overweight. My lifestyle is low on movement, I work from home at a desk all day, and am mentally tired by the end of work. 

It's time for a change. I know running helps me mentally to handle things better. I know that running helps to keep my weight down. I know I feel better about myself when I run. I know running helps with my creativity. All things I want to be a part of my life. Last time I started running to accomplish something big. This time I want more out of my life. So I went through and read some of my posts on this blog and saw someone who had more joy in their life. Someone with more vitality. I'm imagining my life with that joy and vitality today and it would be amazing to have. To help it to stick more I have been listening to a lot of books on running and life. I'll list them below. I have also started to watch more about running on YouTube.

Running is becoming something new for me. It's about a lasting change and moving forward again. My wife and I decided to do a couch to 5k program. We have talked about them in the past but none have ever happened. Now seems different than the past times we've talked about it. We'll be doing a 5k called the Blackberry Bolt on June 24th. It's a race that follows a bike trail and goes through a blackberry farm. We started our training this week.

Wednesday I made it out for run/walk number 1. I ended up pushing myself too hard, and was at a faster pace than I should have been for the running portions. I wish I could say I learned and slowed down to a pace that was more manageable on the second run the next day, but I can't I did the same thing. After day 1 my legs were so sore, I wouldn't have made it out day 2 without my wife. Back to back running days wasn't the greatest idea, but I figured it would be better to do that than to do a run the day before the longer duration run. Give my body a chance to recover.

We made it out for a chaotic 2nd run last night with three year old in tow. I was able to get my run/walk work in, and my wonderful wife corralled a toddler who got tired of running and sat down on the track at one point and also walked off the track and started to pick up garbage because "someone left a mess." It was a unique experience and we will have more like that, I have no doubt, as we train for this 5k.

Books I've been listening to.

"Depression Hates a Moving Target" - Nita Sweeney

"My Year of Running Dangerously" - Tom Foreman

"The Incomplete Book of Running" - Peter Sagal

"Born to Run" - Christopher McDougall

The image below is of my spreadsheet I'm using to track my runs. After the day of the week is the workout, then duration, average mile, total distance, and then shoes.

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