Second week into my running and I am still here!!!!!

Well, I made it through the first and second weeks! I have been running on the treadmill for most of my workouts and while at camp I hopped on my bicycle for a great workout with hubby :)! I am still whining and complaining but it is getting less and less. I no longer hurt anymore like I did in the beginning.

Last week during my workout I tried to overcome all of those nasty demeaning voices of my ego that kept telling me I couldn't do it, I am too old, I have a bad knee, etc.......! I realize that I allow all those voices to defeat me and I succumb to their nasty comments and start to believe them. It is still a work in progress but now I can see the ego for what it is. I will not let those thoughts enter during my workout. I have to look at it like I am meditating. When I first started to meditate those thoughts filled my head and I had a hard time clearing my mind and meditating. Now I can control my thoughts and slip into a beautiful peaceful meditation. Well, I have to treat running the same way. I have to learn a way to clear my mind so I can slip into a very peaceful run with no chatter. I started thinking back to when I was pregnant and in Lamaze classes. They taught you to focus on a point across the room and breathe. I could do that while running on the treadmill so I started to incorporate that process into my workout. I could find myself counting 1,2,3,4,5,6,7..... 1,2,3,4,5,6,7.....1,2,3,4,5,6,7.....over and over until I forgot that I was running. I realized that it was working! I found myself needing to hold on to the rail less and less. I also found myself able to run without wanting to close my eyes to pretend I was somewhere else. Finally making some progress I am starting to feel good about aerobic activity. Don't get me wrong, it is still not something I love to do but it is something that I have to do for my health. Remember, I am the girl that started whining 3 minutes into my first run and hung on to the treadmill for dear life closing my eyes wishing it would go away!

While at camp over the weekend I needed to continue working out. I do not have a treadmill at camp but I do have my bicycle. Every weekend my husband rides 25 miles on one of the weekend days. I am still new to all this and I knew I wouldn't be able to ride his route with him. On Sunday he asked me if I would like to ride a 5 mile route with him. I did this once last year so I knew I could make it. We left on the route and he kept track of our time. I let him go first so I would have something to keep up with. Knowing myself all to well I would cheat and slow down if I was left to lead. With him in front I had to keep up with him and I did. My heart was pounding and my cheek muscles were burning but by the time we reached camp we had completed 5 miles in less than 40 minutes! Hooray for me!

The beginning of my second week started on Monday morning. I got up and got on the treadmill first thing. I realized how much my ankles were hurting and how tired my legs were while running on the treadmill. My walking sneakers just were too heavy to run in. My darling daughter and I went shopping looking for running sneakers so I could continue running. We went to Dick's Sporting goods and found so many sneakers to choose from. That morning on the today show Hoda Kotb talked about how much her knees hurt while she ran until she purchased her Asics sneakers. I found the Asics at Dick's but I found something a little more interesting called Nike+. These sneakers have a sensor that records your workout for you. It tells you how many miles you ran, how long it took you, how many minute mile, (your fastest and your slowest). I fell in love with the newest sneaker and purchase myself a pair with the sensor and the armband. I also got my darling daughter a pair so she can run with me. Seeing how she has an i-pod she didn't need the armband only the sensor. The ipod, ipod touch and iphone will track your progress as you go. There is also an online sight you can join for free plug your armband into the usb port and it will download your data and help keep track of your progress and calories you burn. This is AWESOME!!!! It is a great thing to keep me on track.

I found myself Tuesday, Wednesday and today having great workouts minding it less and less. Today was my best run so far almost reaching 3 miles in 30 minutes. I looked down at my armband around 26 minutes into my workout to peak at my progress and I had forgot to push the button to run and my awesome workout wasn't recorded!!!! Figures! That is technology for you. At least I knew what I did and how awesome it was it just wasn't going to show on my nikeplus.com. Well kudos to me for making it through 2 weeks!!!! I only have the rest of my life to go :)

If your interested in learning more about the Nike+ follow the link to http://www.nikeplus.com/