Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Here We Go Again

So my laziness is finally catching up to me and I've decided that I'd better re-join my running group this year if I don't want to sit around and watch my ass spread even larger. I haven't actually registered yet, thanks to 11-13 hour days at work, but I'll be there bright and early Saturday morning to register and get my 3 miles in. I've still been able to get out on the weekends, but it's the weekly runs that are hard (see above re: 11-13 hour work days). Maybe once I spend some money it'll motivate me to juggle my schedule around a bit. And one of my co-worker friends is joining too so that'll probably help.

I'm considering a gym membership too. I will not run on a treadmill - seriously, if my life depended on it, I'd probably choose death - but it'd be nice to have a yoga class and a pool available if/when I want them. I'm trying to decide between two gyms right now...a pricey, very nice gym with one location a 5 minute walk from my office and another location on my way home from work (and about a 5 minute drive from home) OR a not-so-pricey, not-so-nice gym with more convenient group class times, still on my way home from work (about a 10 minute drive from my house) and no where near my office. Ugh, the decision making process kills me. Thus, the whole plan has been tabled for at least another few days.

So yeah, not much else to add considering my laziness has taken over. Hopefully more to report on Saturday after my first No Boundaries meeting of 2010.

Saturday, January 16, 2010

A Late Race Report - Run to Resolve 5k

I ran this 5k a few weeks ago and just never got around to updating my blog. My local running shop, Fleet Feet Albuquerque, has a Gran Prix going this year - a race per month. The Run to Resolve 5k was the kick off to the Gran Prix and my first race of 2010. It was held in a weird area, starting at the soccer fields right next to Journal Pavilion and then wound its way through a cross country trail. The course was a little challenging with some up and down hills and some off-road terrain, but it was nice and different from the usual race. Like everything Fleet Feet does, it was well-organized and fun. It was a small group, about 50 people total, but it was a nice change compared to my last two races (the Turkey Trek, also sponsored by Fleet Feet, and the NYC Marathon). I was impressed, though not surprised, and will be participating in as many of the races as possible this year.

Also, last weekend a couple of my friends, Cindy and Denise, participated in the Goofy Challenge at Disney World. For those of you not in the know, the Goofy Challenge is a half marathon on Saturday and a full marathon on Sunday. Making the whole thing even more impressive is the fact that this was Denise's very first full marathon. Congrats to them!

Running-wise, things have been a little slow around here. Work has been crazy with year-end stuff going on but we're hoping to get all of that wrapped up by mid-February and to get back on a decent schedule. I'm considering re-joining my running group for their spring session this year. I was dead-set on not joining this year (at all), but now I'm having second thoughts. I do better when I have structure, and even though I've found that I enjoy running alone more than with a group, I think that having a group environment is helpful for me. I'm going to talk to a few people and get some more opinions before making a concrete decision though.

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Welcome, 2010

All right, here we go...the start of a new decade. I think I'm looking forward to this. Don't get me wrong, 2009 was a good year, but I'm glad to see it go and to move on to the fresh, new year.

Anyone who knows me half-way decently knows that I'm not one for New Years resolutions. I don't understand the point of waiting till a specific date to start bettering yourself. What's wrong with today, right now, this very second? As for bettering myself, I've already come up with a few ideas. Some have been put into place, some will begin when the time is right.

- I'm going to take my training for Chicago seriously. I won't have my exam this year (!!), so that really should make it a lot easier, time-wise/stress-wise. This will be my "big" race of the year. Nothing else will really matter.

- That said, if I don't make another race because of Chicago training, that's okay. I'm not going to let myself get upset over. Which leads to...

- I'm not going to let my friends influence me so much. If I don't feel like doing something, I'm not going to do it. They're an amazing group of people and I know they won't be "mad" if I don't follow along with whatever they do...now I just need to act on that and get over this feeling of letting them down.

- I really need to carve out some more "me" time, which includes "me and the hubs" time. Between my exam and his school/work schedules, we haven't seen a lot of each other over the past year and a half.

Happy New Year to everyone! I'll be kicking it off with a bang tomorrow (the 3rd) with a 5k and continuing with some of that "me and the hubs" time while we really get into some home projects. Hope everyone has a great 2010!