Just What You Need

There have certainly been times when I got my workout in because I was supposed to. Maybe it was the scheduled workout of the day or I was working toward a certain goal and the workout had to happen - so it did.

After a day at the hospital, a run for mama was just what the doctor ordered.

But today was different.  Today the workout was not because of a goal or a schedule, and I had every reason to not make it happen. But after a long, emotionally exhausting and physically sedentary day, getting a workout was what I wanted. My body was just asking for blood flow, movement, and my mind was begging for moments to myself, a chance to zone out on my breathing and the road.

The better part of our day was spent with tonsillectomy recovery snuggles. Amazing for the heart and soul, not so great for my back.

After getting the kids settled in for the evening, I knew I still had a small window of daylight and could squeeze in a run. It wasn't long, it wasn't intense, but it was wonderful.

That's a turning point. That's a NSV (non-scale victory…a fitness "win" that has nothing to do with the numbers on the scale).  Giving your body exercise for no other reason than because you want to and you know its going to be just what you need.

Treadmill? More like Dreadmill.

 

Welp, here goes nothing...

The treadmill has been killing me the last week or so. No matter what distance I know I am able to do outside for a run, ONE STEP on the treadmill and I'm literally, already "tired." I've been pushing through because I just want to keep ticking away towards my miles for the year (#goalz), but its been brutal. Today I stepped on and thought "I'm not even going to look at the screen. I'm going to run for the length of 5 songs, and whatever I accomplish, that'll be good for the day.

#preach

Well, wouldn't you know, that was enough to do it for me. I was able to just get lost in the music and forget that I was inside running on a belt as I stared out the window at a beautiful day. (Okay, obviously I didn't totally forget that I wasn't out in the perfect 72 degree air, but I did get lost in the music and it was totally fine.) By the time the 5 songs were over, I was close enough to a 5k distance that I went for 2 more songs and got in a solid 3+ mile run. Mental block=defeated.

Get it, gurlllll.

Thats the thing with working out: So much of it is in your head.  You get to these mental roadblocks and they have the power to shut down your body as well. The counting-songs-game might not work every time for me, but its a tool in the belt. Something to pull out when I just can't bear to look at distance or pace. And you better believe Selena Gomez got me through at song number 5 for the win! #cantkeepmyhandstomyself

I mean I could, but why would I want to?

If you see the park, you run the park.

In the infancy of my running life (yeah, yeah, we're talking last year here, people. But I'm now a toddler-runner, thankyouverymuch), I was following a friend on Instagram who was an avid runner and working towards some goals as she approached a milestone birthday.  I quickly noticed that she was posting a lot of photos of stairs. She shared that at some point in her running, she had called "NEW RULE!" and decided that every time she saw stairs while on a run, she would go to them and climb.  "If you see the Stairs, you run the Stairs." Some days her Insta-posts were super upbeat and enjoyed the view from the top, some days she cursed herself for ever making the rule. But either way, she made the rule and she climbed the stairs. I respected that and wondered if maybe I should get into stair climbing on my runs…

I have yet to embrace the stairs. Remember, I'm a toddler? The gates on the stairs are still up for safety.

But I DID embrace her mindset and one day, after running the same set route in my 'hood that I'd become really comfortable with, I approached a park and thought, "I'll just run a lap around this park to slowly increase my route distance." BOOM!  Instantaneously I realized THAT would be my new rule!"If you see the Park, you run the Park."  I live in a town with small neighborhood parks and large school playgrounds every few blocks so for me this could be ambitious. But I quickly realized that when 2 miles started to feel strong, but the leap to 3 miles would be too much too soon, I'd just add a couple park laps and then carry on my way. It was a simple and effective way to add .3 or .5 miles to a run without going off course or farther from home.  It made me feel safe to add a little distance on my runs.

Some days its a bit of a game too… "I want to run down THIS street, BUT theres a park on it…hmmm…" You find yourself making route decisions more carefully sometimes. But you also find great distractions in parks!  The lap around can be filled with watching the kids on the playground or a dog enjoying a game of fetch.  Before you know it your lap is done and the time passed much quicker than it would have on a quiet block that you've run a million times.

So if you're looking to increase distance, take my rule and make it your own!  If thats not your goal, take some time to identify what next steps you're looking to take and when you figure it out, be sure to call "NEW RULE!"