Find your reason

Hello all my little athletes!  How was this past week in training for you?  Mine was alright but I think it’s time to bump it up a little bit.  I need to get back into the habit of doing strength again and am finding that motivation lacking.  I’m not really sure why either because I love lifting!  Sleep has been seriously calling my name and there are a few times where I fell victim to its siren call.

Totally guilty!  And it happens because no one’s perfect.

Monday, I slept in and then did a little bit of light lifting along with some abs and pushups.  I did a few moves from Bodyrock.TV.  I really like the alternative pushups and ab moves that are on there.

Tuesday I got up early, coaxed Scotty outta bed and we headed out for a nice run.  I did six miles at a 9:30 pace which was totally lovely!

Wednesday, back at it again and I decided to do a short run but to pick up the pace a little bit and see what I could do.  I did four miles at a 9:00 min pace!  That was my first ever 9 min/mile!  Whooo! :woohoo:  It was hard and I was worn out afterwards but I felt awesome and was completely pleased with that run.  It was also a gorgeous morning, that pic above is what I woke up to on Wednesday morning.  Beautiful!

We’ve been having hot weather but nothing too terribly horrible.  That is until Thursday rolled around and then we got slammed with more humidity.  I started off the morning just playing the run by ear.  I was going to see how I felt and how my legs felt and go from there.  I ended up doing another 4 miler.  My hams were tired from Wednesday’s speedy run and knowing that I had Muay Thai conditioning class later, I decided to take it easy.

Conditioning class was a rough one just because of how hot it was.  I had sweat rolling off of me like crazy! Thank goodness for water breaks!

Friday and Saturday I took as rest days.  Saturday was an unintentional rest day.  I woke up late and groggy and just had 0 motivation to get anything done.  I was cranky about it but whatever.  Life goes on and you can’t dwell on things, you know?

Scott and I headed out to get some errands taken care of.  He needed some more running shirts and we both needed to get some sunglasses.  Target was our friend and I got a pair of sunglasses for running and then another pair for the car.  Both are polarized because I’m told that along with UVA/UVB protection, polarized sunglasses are also needed.  I guess they help protect your eyes from the brightness of the sun and prevents you from squinting in direct sunlight.

The downside to my sunglasses is that they are pink.  YUCK!  But that is the only pair of that kind that Target had, so I didn’t really have a choice.  I decided to just try a pair from Target first before dropping some major cash on a pair this way I can make sure that they are needed and that running with glasses doesn’t bother me.

Today, despite a really crapola night of sleep, I got up to bust out a long run.  I managed 10.5 miles today and I’m happy with that!  I was tired and my right knee felt a little achy towards the end which is what convinced me to bring it home at 10.5.  Normally I like a more rounded number of miles, so it did feel a little odd for me to stop at a half mile.  It was really overcast this morning so no need for my glasses but I did wear them when I walked Rocky.

I have to say that I do sort of feel a bit ridiculous in these glasses.  I’m not used to wearing sunglasses that have lenses this big, so I feel like everyone is staring at me. :p  But they work!  The sun didn’t bother me at all and because they are so big, your entire eye area is covered which means there’s no gaps for sun or weird perspective issues to deal with.

As I was reflecting on this past week’s workouts, I realized that the majority of us also need outside reasons to do our workouts. Yes we all want to be healthy and yes we all like doing our chosen workouts.  But for most of us, there is also something else that motivates us that doesn’t quite fit into those categories.

For me, it’s getting to see things in the early mornings that I wouldn’t have seen otherwise.  Like that gorgeous early morning sky pictured above.  I get to see lots of bunnies and in the spring lots of baby duckies and geese.  Today I saw a raccoon! :o  Which was a first for me.  Early morning sunshine and seeing the sun rise isn’t something everyone gets to see and that’s too bad because they are seriously missing out.  The earth is a beautiful place indeed!

I also really like shopping for workout clothes.  Yes it’s an expensive hobby but I love it.  That’s my superficial motivator.  Workout clothes can be fun along with being functional.  I will always gladly shop for new shorts and tops and such.  I might not be a girly-girl but I will admit that shopping for workout gear is time well spent!

You know what else I realized?  That it’s totally okay to have outside motivators.  There is nothing wrong with having some other force that gets you out the door and moving your stuff. :)

What’s your reason for working out and doing your thing?

7 thoughts on “Find your reason

  1. I love this post. I’ve been searching for that outside reason a lot lately. I know being active is healthy and necessary, not only for my body, but for my mind and spirit.

    I’ve been having a hard time getting back into the routine we had before winter hit, but it’s coming back slowly.

    I just try to remember how GREAT I feel when we get back from a run, even when the entire run was tough. It just feels good to get out there and sweat, you know? It clears my mind, gives me some quiet time to just think and listen to my breath, and take in everything around me.

    • Brandi, we all need motivators. Even when we love working out, we need something else that pushes us just that extra little bit to get us moving.

  2. Heidi says:

    You’re rockin those shades!

    My outside reason for exercising is to be a better mom. Without exercise (or if I go too long between workouts), I become quite a cranky mommy. So I exercise to keep my sanity! :)

    • Ha! :p I wore them just now to walk the dog and they worked so well! Hopefully I’ll get a chance to wear them running soon. If I don’t run, I get mega cranky too!

  3. It’s true, I really love the workout clothes, too. All of the accessories. Any reason to get cool new things.

    But I also love the feeling now.

  4. Great job on the 9:00 miles! WOO HOO!

    And you can barely tell the glasses are pink. I like them.

    My outside motivator is that I like to explore. So I love running/biking new places. And I am selfish and like time to myself!

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