Skirt Chaser in the Denver Post

Fifteen local women race in Skirt Chaser 5K General News Stories Denver YourHub.com

Wow! We made the paper.

Sabotage

What drives me? I'm not sure. I feel like I am lacking in drive at the moment.

What sabotages me? That one is easy. Food and negative self talk.

There was a lot of talk this week among my fellow SkirtChaser's about the power of self talk - negative or positive. Personally I fall into the negative group, and way too often. Its something I try and work really hard at with my parenting and not subjecting T and E to any negative talk and put downs, yet I do it to myself all. the. time!

Being mindful of the effects helps. Training my brain that I am worth it, that I deserve to be healthy, that I can accomplish goals, that I am a runner is hard work. I'm trying! I pushed myself on my 2 mile run this morning and was proud of how puny the hill seemed. It felt good and I dwelt on that feeling for the rest of the run. Next week I might even try a hill repeat!!

Shake to shuffle

If it wasn't such a struggle for me to run without music, and if I didn't love my iPod for a hundred different reasons, I would be ready to throw it out of the window of a moving vehicle right now! Nike+ can also take a running jump! Todays run program was a 2 mile run. Fine enough. In fact it was much easier than I thought it was going to be. It was nice and cool at 6.30 this morning and I had the trail almost to myself. And then I tried to use the Nike+ on my iPod. Big mistake. It recorded my 2 miles as .41 miles for a start. And even though shake to shuffle mode was turned OFF it kept jumping songs every time I landed hard on the uneven trail - read every second or third step! ARGH!! Because I wanted to see if it was correctly calibrated I didn't turn the bloody thing off but I wont be using it again in a hurry.

I am also on day three of the 30 day shred workout by Jillian Michaels. I'm not sure when this will get easier and my body become more capable of doing the exercises, but I will keep at it. I really hate push ups.

Did I say meal plan?

Yikes its hard to blog regularly! Luckily I am having more success running regularly :)

Meals this week are;

Polenta with mushrooms, coconut and rosemary sauce

Fried rice

Warm vegetable salad with macadamia nuts

Farfalle with peas, beans and zucchini

Spinach and mint salad with garlic croûtons

Sushi (California rolls)

Busy days ahead

Doesn't it always feel like the to-do list is never ending? In our household we have just spent three weeks entertaining my parents on their visit from Australia and regular chores have gone out the window in favour of Manitou Springs, Rocky Mountain National Park and our little cabin in Tin Cup. I kept up with the washing and my volunteer work at Sister Carmen's Community Centre and that was it. No grocery shopping, no meal planning, no deep cleaning, no exercise and no knitting, all things that keep me sane. So no wonder things feel like they are unraveling!! I just had to write it all out to realise. When I get to this point I do find the uphill climb quite tough so I am very thankful that tomorrow is knit night! I am also thankful to be back exercising again with the support of Team Kick Start.

This morning I awoke a few minutes before my alarm at 6 and headed silently off to the gym while the rest of the household slept. I ran 1.75 miles and it was a killer but I know that things will start to glide again if I keep at it. And that is where I often stumble. Aunty Flo in town? Stop exercising for a week. Depression getting on top of me? Stop exercising. Feeling overwhelmed? Do something else that is not on any list and put off everything else. Argh! The downward spiral is soooo obvious! I have to work on little things to pick myself up and keep going.

One thing that helps me in many aspects is meal planning. Sounds anal, but without it we might not eat. If I'm not hungry ( and depression often causes feast or famine moments in me) and I dont have a plan of something to cook, I am very likely to not cook. The rest of the family doesnt like that so much. Wednesday is usually my shopping day in order to make use of the double specials offered at Sprouts and Sunflower Market, so today is menu planning day. I'll be back.

It's on

Today I started the Kick Start training program. An easy day was prescribed but I didnt feel like a 20-30 min run was easy. I walked to the local high school track, about 10 mins, then ran a mile, then ran and walked another mile, then walked home. Phew! It was already hot at 8.30am but the whole house had slept in. I guess I will have to set an alarm if I really want to beat the heat. I'm certainly not keen to run in the dark. I forgot to take my water bottle with me - doh! That was a killer. I had a headache by the time I got home and I know it was from not drinking enough water. The inspiration of the day? A huge butterfly followed me around the track and part way home! It looked kind of like a Monarch but much more yellow than orange and twice the size of any Monarch I have ever seen. It was so cool as it fluttered in front of me saying "This way. You can do it.". Super pretty. My husband quashed the feeling when I got home and described it, saying it was after the sweat dripping off me. Boo.

No Way

Its been how long? No way! Did I really fall off the wagon that badly? Oh dear.

Well, lets try again. More motivation, more running and more yummy healthy food. Coming right up - as soon as I have slept off the total exhaustion of having my parents to stay for three weeks!!!

Seriously, I do have more motivation right now. I have been given the opportunity to run the Skirt Chaser 5km run at the end of August, along with some cute clothes from Skirt Sports, a personal motivator and a training plan. How super lucky am I??!! I'm very excited about this race, and nervous. As one of the coaches told me when she overheard my nerves "Being excited and nervous are two faces of the same emotion. Just choose which one will be over-riding. Be excited."

I'm excited to have been chosen for a pilot program from Nicole De Boom's dreams - the Kick Start Program. I was assigned a mentor this morning, none other than Dimity McDowell, author of Run Like a Mother. I have started reading already and its a great read. It makes me feel normal and is giving me insight as to how to add more running into my life.

So a lot of early nights for me coming up, especially if I want to get up early to go running - and I do :)