10 Things Week 6: JUST DO IT!

Mother/Daughter Shopping Fun!

So, it was a bad week. I traveled last week (which was great) but then came home a little sick. It seemed like a cold but got worse. I ended up missing a day of work and a few workouts.  I still don't feel back to normal but I am much better. I was worried about a week like this--these are the kinds of weeks that usually put a stop to my enthusiasm for exercise. But I did okay. Not great, but good enough.

1. I loved Madonna's halftime show at the Superbowl. The girl is 53!  Having kind of grown up with Madonna, I do know that she never seems to have gotten out of shape. So I am wondering, to look like Madonna at age 53, do you have to be a person that has exercised your whole life or can your body get to that if you start working hard again at 47.  I mean, I know I won't ever work as hard as Madonna but seriously, I am so interested in whether or not you can really get your body back in really good shape at age 50, after being out of shape for a lot of years.

2.  Runners are very funny people.  There are so many T-shirts that make me laugh out loud. Make me want to keep running and get better so I have an excuse to buy some of these and wear them. Another Mother Runner featured some this week.

3.  Okay so this week, the indoor track where I run was packed. There were actually people there I could pass which is very new for me . I realized that no one on the outer circle really cares how fast or slow the other people are going. (I was only on the outer circle for a second or two but it was a quick insight:-)  Anyway, there was a woman walking who was also reading a book on track!! I can't even imagine it.  I wanted to take a picture because I couldn't believe it.  

4. I think I get it. The running thing. It is social and fun. So many times, I mention I am running and someone wants to chat with me about it, invite me to run with their group, etc.  They are so happy to know another runner. The fact that I only run 45 seconds at a time does not seem to bother them. They all seem confident that I will get better.  I guess they all started at some point.  And it would be fun someday in the future to have people to run with. 

5. So, last week, Miley Cyrus saved me.  This week it was the song, "Defying Gravity" from the Broadway musical Wicked.  I do love this song:-)



I am thinking that these songs are upbeat, but they also seem to take me to happy times--my kids watching Hannah Montana when they were little, going to see Wicked with the family. "It's Raining Men" is fun but takes me back to high school and the 80s.  I wonder if when and how you experience the songs matters in how the impact you when you run. Really, I have enough songs for the 24-30 minutes I run but I will definitely need more soon!

6.  My big lesson this week was that even in hard weeks I don't have to quit.  I usually start things strong and then I get sick or I have a busy work/travel week or something. Things get in the way of exercise and I quit. One week of nothing turns into two and two turns into three. Then I don't get back into it. This week I learned that I can cut back without quitting. I still got 3 runs in, but with travel, work and being sick for a few days, I couldn't do the level that I did before. But I did do my runs and rested a bit more.  Stayed with the plan but didn't do everything.  Did enough to keep me on track.This was really big for me. My goal is 5-6 days of workout a week but some weeks I can't do that. I have always been so all or nothing before that this was a huge revelation for me--the fact that I could do some is huge.  And finding time to run 3 times was not so hard.  Very doable no matter how busy.

7. I am reading a book called HEALTHY AT EVERY SIZE (a huge bargain for Kindle edition, by the way). I think I read about it on one of the running/health blogs I have been reading lately.  It is a good book--really makes clear some things about why we have been eating so poorly.  And really helpful in getting back to being in control of your eating without focusing on weight.  This book is such a huge tie-in for me to another I read recently called FED UP WITH LUNCH. Even though they are written for different audiences, the similarities in the content is amazing.  Lots to think about and it is making big sense to me.  I read THE EAT CLEAN DIET a while ago and began to understand the impact of food on the way our systems work.  I think back to high school when I was a size zero or a two and I would get up every morning and exercise with Joanie Greggains

8.  I may need to let my hair grow longer. It is too long to not be in my face, but too short for ponytails and headbands. This does not seem to work for hot yoga and running .At this point, I put a type of toddler-style Snorklike ponytail on top of my head. It works but I look ridiculous.  If it were just a tiny big longer a regular ponytail and headband might work. Do people really decide on hair length based on how it works when running?   I did enter to win my very first running prize on a blog contest this week. These very cool Sparkly Soul Headbands at Marathons 'N' Martinins-They are sooooo fun!  

9. Have I mentioned I LOVE Lululemon yet this week? I went to get my "treat" today.  I went a little overboard but I am building a running/yoga wardrobe you know:-)  And I haven't bought any "real" clothes since November. I bought the Define Jacket (black of course) and the Groove Pant (black of course). And the great news--they hem for free:-) So great for me since I am only 5'2"!  My two daughters were with me.  My oldest was the one who hooked me on Lululemon and she is a yoga addict.  So I wasn't surprised that she bought something. But my 12 year old decided to spend her extra gift money on a pair of shorts for dance. I think she wanted to be "in" since she has spent so much time in the store. I will have to remember not to take her there very often but it was a fun mother-daughter shopping spree there.  And I figure I am encouraging healthy habits like exercise, right?

10. I finally get the Nike "Just Do It" phrase along with all of the others that tell you to just get out there and do it.  Running is one of those things that no matter where you are in the process, there are days you don't want to run. But if you do, you are glad. It is just a matter of doing it. And I think I hit a point this week that I understood that I just needed to follow the plan and do the time I needed to do--whether I wanted to or not, whether I liked to or not. And I had the control to do it. I just decided to.  Getting this seems big.