Why Did I Stop?

Internet, how many times have I told you to not let me stop running after the race? Huh? And yet here we are, two months after the US Half, taking my first lumbering steps through the hilly vineyards of Livermore.

It was a very foggy Saturday morning when I met my former Teammate at first light. It added to the surreal, dreamy, what-the-heck-am-I-doing-here as I gasped and wheezed my way along.

Why, oh why did I stop? Why? And why am I beginning running again? Can’t I find something that I’m better at?

But the good news is that I did it. My body begrudgingly plugged along for five miles of runwalking, which is five more miles than I’ve done since November. Today, my quads and my glutes are a little bit angry with me, but that’s to be expected. I have to admit, a little muscle soreness feels good.

I’ve been in a bit of a fitness funk since I got back from the holidays. I’m part of an accountability group on Facebook and I have to admit, I haven’t cared one iota about what these people think of my slackitude. Part of it has been workload — the craziness of December just hit pause during the break, and resumed full-blast in January — so I haven’t really felt like I have the time to work out. But I did finally decide that even if I can’t get it together to go for a proper run, or an hour at the gym, I can at least take 20 extra minutes to walk.

And walk I have. I walk The Assistant to school each morning, and then take a very long, circuitous route home. Then, in the afternoon, I’ve been walking to the coffee shop to work (a little iced tea smooths out the bumps in the day), then to school and then home. It’s been giving me an easy 10,000 steps each day, according to my Fitbit. Not the same as a five-mile run, but it’s something. Plus, it’s keeping the car in the garage, which I like.

What I need is a little motivation and structure, the kind that I get from Team in Training, but something I can do on my own. So this weekend, I signed up for the Nuun Year, No Limits Challenge from the ladies over at Another Mother Runner. You can register for either a half marathon training program or a 10k training program, complete with training plans, online support and loads of swag. Both programs are designed to hit race dates around Mother’s Day. I contemplated signing up for the 13.1, but since I’m once again coaching baseball this year (yes, again; don’t laugh) I decided that my weekend schedule will be better suited to 10k-length training runs. And besides: I’ve only done one road 10k in my life. It’s a length that I’d like to explore a little more.

Tomorrow is a school and day care holiday here, so The Assistant and I are debating between a morning hike and a bike ride. We’ll see what we end up with.

Have a good week!

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