Ever since we had Liam in August, I have had a harder time working out. It actually started over the summer when I had a string of camps and trips and church events all packed together to ensure that I wouldn't have anything major going on when Liam came. All those busy weeks were got me off schedule as far as working out, then when Liam didn't get here at his due date, my empty schedule didn't translate to a return to exercise. Of course when Liam finally arrived we had a steady stream of family and other visitors and an unsteady stream of sleep.
On Thanksgiving it had been a year since I spent 90 days losing weight to raise money to buy animals to distribute in other countries and I had lost 35 pounds. When I weighed myself before leaving on a week + vacation to visit family over Christmas, I found I had gained back almost 20 pounds of that. To be fair, I weighed myself at night when I always weigh a few pounds more and it was after having friends over and eating pizza, but even 15 would have been a big disappointment.
I know that I won't do great with food over Christmas break, but I figured that if I can exercise, I can minimize the damage and get back on track before I have to fall into the cliche of making a New Year's resolution to lose weight. I usually ride a bike (inside or outside) and have been pretty good about that off an on since the end of my weight loss challenge last year, but I don't have access to that while here on vacation.
What I DO have access to is time.
While I am visiting Sandy's family, there is almost always someone to watch the boys and I relish the chance to get out of the house for at least a few minutes every day. Braving the cold is no problem.
I am now on my fourth day, and I have been fortunate to be able to fit in a jog on each of these days. I started out trying one of Blair's trails. It was silly. The trail was little more than a wide sidewalk and ran alongside a highly traveled road for most of the trip. I have no idea how far I ran that day, but I imagine it was about 1 1/2 miles. It was a pretty easy jog - not timed, no hills, no soreness.
The second jog almost made me rethink my plan. I again tried one of the beautiful trails in Blair. This time it bordered roads the entire time and it wasn't even marked the way the other trail was. I didn't bother using trails after that one. The second jog has been the most painful, slow, and difficult so far. I was sore from the previous run, I couldn't get loosened up, and my breathing parts weren't working all that well. The end of that run couldn't come soon enough - and it was hardly 1 1/2 miles total.
That second day was pretty discouraging. I knew that if running was going to be like that, it wasn't my thing. I was going to take my vacation weight gain with a grain of salt (probably a lot more salt than a grain technically) and try to get back into biking when I got home. Fortunately, I didn't quit. My experiences with running as a high school athlete prepared me for the fact that it wouldn't always be easy, but it would also always get better.
Jog three was just around the neighborhood. It was a bit over 1 3/4 miles and it was hard. I managed to place a long, steep hill at the end of the first mile of this course. That almost killed me. I felt like it was going to be a replay of my killer day two. After I made it up the hill I nearly took a corner and returned to the house, but I looked up and saw an easier path ahead of me so I continued. I am glad I did. After a loop through a cemetery, I started my trip back and found that I had pushed through the hard part of the run and actually ended faster and stronger than any part of the run. That was the bit of encouragement I needed.
Today, I had to work hard to fit in a run, but I was actually excited about getting to it today. I couldn't get an exact measure on the run but it was a bit over two miles and I ran it faster than any of the other courses even though they were shorter. I felt less pain, my breathing was easier, and it just felt better. It is almost getting fun again.
So this is more of one of those boring blogs that just detail what I have done so far, but I want to drop some knowledge on ya'll before I quit.
When it comes to about anything, it doesn't start out easy. Then, it doesn't get easy right away. After that, you face the hardest part and when you get through that... it still isn't easier. Running doesn't get easy. You can always run harder or further. It does get easier. It gets more enjoyable. It gets to feel better. You get stronger and more accustomed to it. Most everything works that way.
If you quit when it gets hard, you miss the best part.
