First of all, I have slowly, slllllooooowly started to enjoy the rewards of working out in the morning...more specifically, actually running in the morning! Many have tried to convince me that running in the morning was the way to go but it really has taken me a long time to truly get it.
What's different this time? Well, partly my motivation comes from the fact that I want to get my mileage in but I don't want to feel like I'm missing out on family time all the time in the evening. My hubby's work hours have become a bit more reasonable so he is able to take our little one to daycare a couple of mornings a week (it used to be me all the time) so this allows for me to get up, go down to our treadmill and get a good run in and only have myself to get ready in the morning (which any parent who is reading this will GET how HUGE that is!!!) I have slowly started to learn the rewards of running in the morning...I feel FANTASTIC once I get going, it seems to truly "clear my head" and I truly like knowing that I have it done...no excuses! Realistically, it's not always going to work for me but even to do one or two of my shorter week day runs in the morning gives the the variety and change I definitely needed!
I'm also really enjoying training for ATB 30 km...AND my first FULL marathon on May 5th. I'm using the Hal Higdon Novice 1 plan with mindset of slight adjustments when I see fit and working it to work best for my schedule. So far, so good. The mileage starts to definitely get a little crazy in the next few weeks but funny enough, as each week ticks by, I'm feeling more and more confident that I can do this. I've become a major fan of his. This plan is conservative by some standards, but I think it's a realistic for me.
I'm also LOVING winter running. No doubt about it...this winter is really more of an actual Canadian winter than last year...but I'm surprising myself about how much I've gotten out the door and into the snowy and chilly conditions this year. I'm loving it! Last weekend, I got a chance to try out my YakTrax (bought last year but didn't actually need)
They worked great and gave me confidence that I can be one of those "hardcore" runners I've always admire running in the snowy conditions.
During the week, my runs tend to be on the treadmill. Mostly because of the time of year...living out in the country, no street lights and the days are short so realistically, I gotta stay inside regardless if I run before work or after work. However, so far...my long runs have been almost exclusively outside. And I've enjoyed every kilometer.
I also learned a little lesson on this past weekend's long run which was a cold but amazing 22 km run along the country roads where I live. I always run with music...I just enjoy it. Anyway, my iPod died about 11 km in...so I was truly only half way into my run. Truth is...I gutted it out and ended up completing my run. Did I miss the tunes? Absolutely? I totally missed getting lost in the music and the beat keeping me going...but I also proved to myself that when something unexpected like that can happen I can "dig deep" and get it done. I could have seen the day not that long ago when I probably would have let that ruin my run and felt miserable for the rest of the day. There was NO WAY I was going to let this stop me from finishing. I am pretty darn proud of that! :)
Hope everyone is enjoying running this winter...whether you're doing it inside OR outside, at least you're doing it!
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