LOOK LIKE ANYONE YOU KNOW?! :-)

Before I started this journey to better physical health and being able to complete a 1/2 marathon, the picture above was me, totally!  How easy it is to get into a rut of saying you should get up and exercise and then just sit there and not do anything.  It happens to me and I'm sure it happens to you too!

Yesterday was a phenomenal walk for me.  I didn't do any running, just walking,  but my split times were FANTASTIC!  I even got a split of 16:07 for my second mile!!  I need to be able to complete a 16:00 minute mile to complete the race in the allotted time, and now I'm oh so close, with 7 months left to perfect my walking speed and distance.  All three miles were at a great pace, 16:21 for mile 1, 16:07 for mile 2 (my best time) and 16:27 for mile 3.

Today is a walk inside, but that's ok.  Doing the dvd workouts are a good change of pace, because my outside walks are just back and forth on the same roads anyway.  LOL

So I better go now, before I sit and think about it too long. 

You know I'm easily distracted right?!  Oh look, a squirrel!

Hahahaha

To tomorrow and beyond...

I'M BAAACK!! :-)

Just when you thought, "well maybe she's not as committed as she says she is",  this morning I did a four mile walk!  It was a great feeling to move even though it was only one day off and the motivation level went down dramatically, I felt good about moving this old body for 4 miles.  There wasn't any running because I did a 4 mile walking dvd.  The air has been so heavy with sahara dust, it's been hard to breathe when walking outside.  For those who don't know what sahara dust is, it's a large dust storm that comes off the coast of Africa, across the Atlantic Ocean and falls on us and the other Caribbean Islands with a blanket of "dust".  It does have it's positive side though as it keeps storms from developing in the Atlantic Ocean. 

I am in such a positive mood this morning.  Knowing that it was going to be a great day, and so far so good.  I'm upbeat and happy, filled with excitement about what the future holds for me.  I have a very supportive husband, who loves me dearly, as I love him, and children and grandchildren who are the inspiration for my journey to better health.

It is true that one positive thought each morning can shape your whole day.  Be happy, positive and smile a lot because if nothing else, how can you be negative when you're smiling?!

Already thinking about my long walk on Saturday.  Haven't quite decided what the distance will be but whatever it is, I'll be happy and positive about doing it.

To Saturday and beyond...

WALKING WITH A PURPOSE OR PURPOSELY WALKING!

Unlike this little penguin, I didn't walk with any purpose this morning.  In fact I didn't walk or run at all.  Besides having a terrible headache when I woke up, the motivation wasn't there to just push through it.  I do indeed have a purpose, other then being able to do the 1/2 Marathon.

My purpose for doing all of the walking and running is to be able to be here for my family as long as I can.  This means being healthier and walking and running to keep my heart strong will sure help.  Of course, one never knows what is in the plan for them so I'll do my best to just keep plugging along.

Although I didn't "go" for a walk today, I've already racked 1+ miles by cleaning and doing some things around the house because today we have a house showing to a prospective buyer, and whatever is meant to be will be.  I have faith that things will all fit into the "plan" God has for us, that's part of the purpose for my life. 

Here's to having my motivation return and working on my "purpose".

To tomorrow and beyond...

I'M TRYING EVERYDAY!

I truly want to be better then I was yesterday and better the day after that and so on.  I have a great life, one that others might envy, but there's always room for improvement.  I can be a better person, physically, mentally and spiritually.

I'm not saying that a healthy competition isn't a good thing.  After all, I'm going to be joining 34,999 others competing in a race to see who's the best of the day.  Now I know that I'll be no where near the top of that list but doing this 1/2 marathon will make me a better person just by itself.

Be proud of your accomplishments and remember what you do today makes you a better person then you were yesterday.

By the way, I took the day off from walking/running on Sunday, first time in 34 days.  Although I felt a bit guilty by not being out there, I felt that my old body needed to relax for a day.  It really was a welcome respite.  Back at it on Monday with two 10 minutes in a row runs and very little walking in between.  It felt great until the mosquitoes decided it was time to carry me away!  YIKES, they were swarming me!  I made it home safely without too many bites and today I made sure to spray down with Cutter's before even leaving the house.  Did a 3.15 mile walk/run with split times of 16:27 and 16:23.  Pretty good for an old lady!  See I am better then I was yesterday or the day before.  :-)

Continuing on this journey.  To tomorrow and beyond...

ARE YOU SERIOUS?

While checking facebook this morning, I came across an article posted by Every Body Walk.  Immediately my reaction was, what the heck?!  Now that I've finally started to exercise more and run more, they now say that I'm at a greater chance of dying from heart problems.  SERIOUSLY?  Of course the study was with men, so maybe I have a better chance being a woman.  LOL  I've attached a copy of the article below for your reading pleasure.

So today was a real good running day for me, even better then yesterday.  I ran for a total of 20 minutes!!!  Some walking, 8 minutes running, walking, 4 minutes running, walking some more, then 8 more minutes running, finishing with a short walk.  I'm really happy about this accomplishment because I never ran before.  The best part of this walk/run was that my split time for the second mile was 15:37 and the third mile was 16:07.  I may beat out the scoops after all at the 1/2 Marathon at Disney World in January!  LOL

Day 33 completed.

To day 34 and beyond...

Too Much High-Intensity Exercise Could Hurt Heart Health

I DO, I DO!!!

After this morning's walk/run, I most certainly believe in myself!  I feel stronger then ever and I'm so thankful to God for giving me the strength and ability to do this exciting race in January.

So, this morning was a short walk of only 2 miles, but during those 34 minutes, 14 minutes of it was jogging!  Wahoo!!  I walked a bit, ran 6 minutes, walked a bit, ran 2 minutes, walked some more, then the final 6 minute running with a short walk to finish the 2 miles.  I'm proud of my efforts, but again I'm very thankful to God!  

Son has been running too.  His legs are so much longer then mine and I'm positive I won't be able to keep up with him on any run, but at least we're doing this Training Together From Afar.  I encourage him when he posts or text messages me and he does the same for me.  I can feel his energy when he tells me "great job" or "AWESOME" or any other words of encouragement.  We're doing this together, not only for saying we did it, but for that feeling knowing we can accomplish anything if we put our heart and soul into it.  Thank you again God!

By the way, today is day 32!  Yippee

To day 33 and beyond...

FUNNY BUT TRUE! (NOT)

This really made me laugh when I saw it.  And although my underwear hasn't caught fire yet, the thighs are still rubbing more then I'd like them to be.  I have to keep reminding myself that I didn't get in this shape overnight, and it's not going to go away overnight either!  PATIENCE!

Well today is day 30 and I'm feeling good.  I've been dedicated to my walking program everyday and I'll continue to as long as these chubby legs will carry me.  LOL

I had an amazing walk on Sunday, Mother's Day, I treated myself to an 8 mile walk!  My longest walk prior to this has been six miles so I really felt accomplished!  I did overdo a bit and took a nice nap after I had something to eat, but I did it none the less.  I do have to remind myself to carb up before doing walks of this length because the body needs to have fuel just like a car needs gas.  Because I live in a warm climate, I need to rehydrate too, replenish the electrolytes that I sweat out.  So today when I went shopping I got just the right things to make the next long walk a less stressful on the body one.

Running or jogging is still on the agenda so hopefully tomorrow will be a running/jogging/walking morning and I can start to make those thighs cause less friction!  :-)

Well, to day 31 and beyond...

TO CHI OR NOT TO CHI?!

Running for me is SLOW GOING, but as the message above says, I still run!

I'm trying to do more and more running by increasing my run time each week.  So far this week I've done 10 minutes of intermittent running for two days.  Considering I haven't run since I was like 8 years old or in high school where we had to run in order to pass PE, I think that's pretty darn good.  Plus, I'm not 8 anymore!  LOL

My training partner, hereby known as my son, has starting exercising again, running for a couple of miles all at once.  My day will come I'm sure of it.  Anyway, son told me about ChiWalking/Running and although I haven't had the chance to try it yet, I'm looking forward to seeing how it works for me.  I have exercise induced asthma and breathing becomes labored if I don't use my inhaler, but thankfully I got a new inhaler yesterday so I'm ready for that next run, Chi or otherwise.  :-)

Wish me luck!  Today is day 25 by the way, onward and upward.

To day 26 and beyond...

GREATEST MOMENT, SO FAR!

I had one of the "greatest moments" in my training yesterday.  Besides that it was day 22 of my 21 day challenge, I ran for 10 minutes of my 3.1 miles, 53 minute walk/run!  I have never run that long on any of my training so far, and although they weren't consecutive minutes, they were 10 minutes.  3 minutes, 3 minutes, 2 minutes, 2 minutes!

The illustration above is oh so true.  I never realized that I could run for that long two weeks ago.  Determination, I think, is the key.   Now that my Training Together From Afar son is starting to run a bit again, I feel I need to try to do more and more.  I want to be able to at least run some of the half marathon with him.  I think hoping to run the entire race would be a pipe dream.  But who knows, I never thought I'd be running at all, two weeks or two months ago.

Can you just imagine what it will be like two weeks from now?  I can hardly wait!

By the way, today is day 23!  YEAH!!!

To day 24 and beyond...

21 DAYS, DONE!!!

I DID IT!  I completed my self inflicted 21 day challenge and I'm still standing. Lol. 

That's 98 miles, and approximately 225,200 steps!  

I'm really happy that I didn't shrug this challenge off and skip a day here and there.  Of course that would have been easy to do, but I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it.

I've already thought that tomorrow maybe should be a rest day, but now that it's become a routine I'm not sure I can skip the day's walk without feeling guilty.  Maybe a short 3 miler with some running will be the plan for tomorrow.  Wish me luck for the next 21.

To day 22 and beyond...

GETTING STRONGER

This journey that I'm on isn't easy, it's takes dedication and desire!  Today was day 20 of my self inflicted 21 day challenge and it was a great one.  Cool breezes blowing, sun hidden behind the clouds so that it wasn't too hot, a perfect long walk day.  :-)

I was only planning on doing 5 miles top, but ended up doing a bit more, 5.8 miles.  And my step count, well that was 12,059!  Wahoo!!!  All of that before 8am.  This was the happy part of my day so far.

On this journey, I'm learning lessons too.  I've learned that if I want something bad enough, I've got to work at it because it doesn't happen all by itself.  I've learned that if I challenge myself and set a goal, that I can accomplish it.  I'm learning to be stronger with every walk/run I do, both mentally and physically. 

The weight isn't moving, but I'm sure that's diet related.  This is the down in my life right now, but I know that I'm STRONG and can do anything!  I have faith in God and myself and I know He will guide me through this and help me make the right decisions for my health and well being.

Maybe changing my diet for the better will have to be my next self inflicted challenge.  We'll see.

To day 21 and beyond...