23 July 2012

Motivation Monday -- Clearing My Head

My Pin of the week -- Olympic Fever!!
As I was trudging through the mud in the park yesterday morning I realized I need to re-evaluate a few things in my eating and fitness plan. I don't feel good, on a variety of different levels. I'm tired of the muddy paths and slippery roads. The rainy season won't be ending any time soon, though, so I need to start spending an afternoon or two on a treadmill. I feel like I never have any energy, so out with the cupcakes and alcohol (or, at least in much reduced quantities) and in with finding a juicer attachment for my blender and trying some green smoothies.

I was out attempting my long run on Sunday instead Saturday when I usually do them. At around four o'clock Friday afternoon the rain started and it was still going strong when my alarm went off on Saturday morning. I knew the roads would be a mess and the park would be even worse so I called a rain delay. The rain was still coming down at noon, so I started to worry about a rain delay on Sunday, too, thinking ahead to half a long run Monday morning outside and half on the treadmill Monday afternoon. But it finally stopped raining in the afternoon and stayed away for several hours so I continued with my plan for Sunday.

Muffin woke up screaming at 4:45 Sunday morning and Mike went to check on her. I dozed off for a few more minutes. When my alarm went off at five o'clock I was awakened out of a dream where I was trying to do something -- I don't know what -- with very little visibility. I woke up feeling very claustrophobic and unsure of myself. As I hit the street, in the dark with lots of cloud cover, the same feeling from my dream came back to me. I was freaked out. The rain had flooded the vacant lots so the new ponds were full of noisy frogs. Normally I like frog sounds, but they were adding to the creepiness of the morning. The roads were dry Sunday morning but it started to rain by the time I passed the first mile so I decided on just one trudge through the muddy park rather than the two laps I'd planned, cutting my distance in half.

Muffin woke up screaming at 4:45 again this morning and it was my turn to get her. It's just after noon now and I'm wrecked. It's hard to eat healthy when you're so tired. But while Muffin was at school this morning I sat in a coffee shop -- one that does not have wi-fi to distract me -- and did the bulk of the reading for my coursework this week. I also drank plain black tea instead of one of the sugary cold coffees I normally drink there. And I wrote out a grocery list after having looked at some green smoothie recipes yesterday. I'm going to try them with palak, the local spinach, and I think lots of mango or apple juice to make them sweet enough to go down. I'm taking advantage of the housekeeper this afternoon, having her do Muffin's lunchtime and nap so that I can catch a little snooze myself.

One running bright spot from the weekend: Mike got a pair of Vibram Five Fingers and Muffin calls them "Daddy's gecko feet." I also have the Olympics to look forward to. I've read that two sports channels on Tata Sky, our satellite service, will be showing India-centric events. I hope that means some track and field.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Tell Mike to start slow in his "gecko feet!" I have a pair, and love them, but I ran too far too soon in them and developed tendonitis in my foot as a result. I was out from running for about 4 weeks.

Good luck running in the monsoons!

Stephanie said...

He's been wearing racing flats and then the NB Minimus for nearly a year before switching to the Vibram's. He's finding the traction lacking on monsoon-slicked roads, so he's not going too far yet.

Natasha said...

Good for you for getting out there, period. Everyone always says the hardest part about running is getting out the door! As someone who has been in a running lull for several months (I can't even remember the last time I ran outside, which is terrible considering that I'm in DC and I know I'll be kicking myself later for not taking advantage of it more!), I admire your perseverance.