Motivational Bug

I love the liberation that you feel after you've completed a workout that you'd been dreading, one that you knew or thought was going to be hard. The feeling that you are slowing morphing back into an athlete or you are becoming stronger/faster with every step that you take.

I think the little bug "motivation" is slowly starting to creep back in. I went for a 6 mile run this morning. Double than any distance I have done in awhile and certainly the longest run that I have done since Nationals back in September. With every step I felt more empowered, stronger, like I was gaining back every ounce of fitness that I had slowly lost. I made sure to start slow and steady and to maintain that throughout the entire run, there was no need to go fast, just to complete the mileage, and let me tell you I felt fantastic at the end.

Did I forget to mention I'm training for a marathon? An off-road marathon.

A 26.2 mile run over dirt, rocks, and tree roots. I am excited. One race, that is all that I am planning on doing this year, just one. I do not want to get burned out again like I did last year. I love this stuff too much to give up on it again. I want to slowly integrate swimming back into my training. The biking can just stay for "fun."

So much has changed in the last few weeks. I moved out of my home, started at a new school in a new town, and left behind everyone I know and love. I must admit these last two weeks have been some of the toughest/loneliness weeks of my life. I thought moving out would be this amazing experience where I would finally be out and off on my own and that I would love every minute of it. Turns out I was wrong. I miss having people around to interact with. My books have become my friends. I thought I was a nerd before, I'm really a book worm now. It's funny how you throw yourself into something to avoid something else. I have thrown myself into my studies, my books give me something to do, something to waste my time with. I miss my Arkansas friends and having people to train with.

On a more positive note, my eating has certainly improved. I decided to give the Paleo Diet a try and I LOVE it. It is tough at first, but relatively simple. You eat how cavemen ate 10,000 years ago. So lots of fruits and veggies, lean meats, beans and nuts. I feel so much better. I was finally able to kick the sugar and soda habit, finally.

Well, that is all for now. I need to get back to the books. I have a test in two weeks I need to study for.

So the Motivation Begins...

With a new year/season upon me, I have watched my New Year's resolutions quickly pass by and become yet another statistic of ridiculous but failed attempts to better improve myself. I proclaimed to never eat sugar again, never let another sip of soda pass over my lips, and I'm pretty sure I said that I would give up dairy and something else. Notice something about my resolutions? They are all about food. I figure if I give myself the "all or nothing" option that it would help me to stay away from all of these things that really aren't that great for me. I'm trying to lose the few pounds that I managed to put on during my hiatus in the off-season that lasted a little too long.

Over the past few weeks, as I watch my friends get back into training schedules and signing up for races, I am still finding it hard to get motivated to train. This week I have successfully completed all my workouts but one (Sundays are hard to drag myself out of the house). Even though I have done that my eating has not been what is could or should be. I did well for a few days but eventually self-sabotage kicked in and I am back to square one.

I believe that to truly change you have to be willing and ready to be successful. I suppose I just wasn't ready to give-up the candy bars and diet coke. I feel strangely different today (after I ruined a perfect 3 day attempt to get off of sugar) and much more motivated than before. So I'm posting it here that I am ready to change my eating and get back to training. They say to post it somewhere that people can see it, it helps to keep you motivated when other people know what's going on.

I love the atmosphere that comes along with triathlon. It is an atmosphere that is unlike any that I have ever come across with overwhelming amounts of support, so much knowledge, and great people to train with. Along with that there is an obsession with performance, results, race weights, and numbers. With most people that I meet there is a thought process to get lighter, because theoretically the lighter you are the faster that you can go. I got sucked into that, focusing solely on what my weight was and not focusing on my results. Yes I love to win races, but the main reason that I compete in triathlon is to be healthy and to keep my weight under control.

So my vow for this upcoming season is to train to be healthy, to be fit and toned, and to compete with a uninjured, well fueled body. I will eat to live NOT live to eat. So here are the guidelines that I am setting for myself:

1. If it didn't have a mother or come from the ground, I will NOT eat it.
2. It is time for my beloved soda to stay on that grocery store shelf, permanently.
3. Vegetables, vegetables, vegetables.
4. Avoid dairy, I'll make sure to take my vitamins instead.
5. Ride my mountain bike at least once a week, even if it's just for fun.
6. Post on my blog how this escapade of mine is going, the only way to keep myself accountable is to tell others what I'm doing.
7. Get STRONGER!

So there it is, the goals that I have set for myself starting on January 9, 2012. It's time to take myself and my training to the next level.

Oh and don't be afraid to ask/nag me about how it's going. That's a great way to keep me motivated.