When I signed up to run this marathon, I made a commitment to myself - for the next 5 plus months I was going to make running a priority, eat well, sleep more and live a healthier lifestyle. For the past two years I have been over-eating, over-drinking and watching far too much Bravo TV at 2 in the morning. So when June 1st rolled around I popped open my Excel spreadsheet (in true accountant form) and created a schedule for the next 30 days. One large change I have decided to make is getting up early in the morning to complete my run. It's been a long time since I have woken up at 6 a.m. but for the past week I have been setting my alarm for that time to get used to the change (I would fall back asleep for two hours afterwards, but that's not the point! lol).
Monday mornings are the worst. Every Sunday afternoon I become overwhelmed with the "weekend-is-almost-over" blues and decide to engage in all kinds of non-friendly Sunday behavior. I will eat a big meal, drink a few too many cocktails, ignore the laundry I promised I would do all weekend (ignorance is bliss!) and hide in my bed watching endless amounts of TV until I wake up at 4am with an infomercial blaring in the background, totally unprepared for the week ahead. Now that the marathon and I are exclusively dating (I think it's serious, he might pop the question soon) I knew that the first thing that had to go was my Sunday mistress. So last night I watched the Real Housewives of NJ and had a vodka club (let's be honest, some habits die hard), laying out my gym clothes and packing my lunch on commercial breaks. When 11 p.m. rolled around I shut off the TV, brushed my teeth and went to bed. When the alarm went off at 6, I hit snooze twice but rolled out of bed 20 minutes later ready to start my day. I did 3 miles of speedwork this morning, ate healthy meals/snacks all day and even managed to fit in a Hard Bodies class at lunchtime.
Fellow runners will understand - some days the miles fly by, you feel like you can run forever, yet other days 3 miles feel like 50 and I would sign away my first born to be done with my workout. This morning I started at 12:30 minute miles and cut off 30 seconds for every quarter mile. The final mile was rough as I was basically sprinting but the mileage was flying by (and there was a super hot guy running next to me, always helpful!) and I finished the run.
Tomorrow calls for 3 easy miles (easy means I will run at a slower pace than my goal for the race, which for me means 11 minute miles) and I am looking forward to getting up in the morning. Real Housewives of NY premieres tonight but fortunately it will be over by 10 and I will be tucked in by 10:30! Well, probably more like 11pm. Baby steps ;)
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