Wednesday, October 2, 2013

A New Leaf

Hey October, please will you promise to be a bit nicer to me than September was at the end?

That's right, this happened. I was sent home from work and I didn't even try to fight it. I had super important business like eating soup, drinking water, shooting Day Quil and sipping tea. Also cuddling with Holly girl and not stepping foot outside of the house.

Guess what that also means - I missed my 100 miles a month running goal for the first time nearly 4 years. I missed it by 14 miles so I can't make excuses for myself for being sick the last 4 days of the month, seeing that I had the entire other 26 days to do some dirty work. I've come to terms that it's a lesson learned on procrastination, making the best decision for your health and learning to 'go with the flow' sometimes.

Sure somewhere along the way I've banked 14 miles in the 4,632 that I've carried myself since November 2009, but just for accountability those miles will roll-over into October and I'll tackle them there.

This also may be a good time to share with you that I've decided to decrease my running goal. I keep track of every run in an elaborate spreadsheet and see a striking trend this year as compared to last.

Check out 2012 vs 2013:

What the heck - 2013?

My weekends used to be some of the least miles, even in 2012 when I ran a marathon my Sundays were my least. Now it appears that all I do on the weekends is run and the weekdays any miles I do fit in cause a late dinner and an even later bedtime.

The decision has been made for October and beyond to cut that goal in half, increase my strength and flexibility, treat my body right and run because I love it, not because I have pride and an ego to keep up with.

Saying "I run 100 miles a month" for the last 4 years has been fun, but it's not what I want to define me. I want to be able to spend time with family on the weekends rather than be a slave to the streets. I want to see my friends more often, give Brooke her birthday present (yes, overdue from July) and be able to head down to the coast without worry of how I'm going to fit all the normal weekend running in. I want to do my miles during the workday, and let the rest of my time be mine - free from worry about trying to 'fit it all in'.

So, this month's measure will be 64, and I'm quite happy with that.