Time for a trade in...my shoes have too many miles on them

Did you know that your running shoes have a certain number of "miles" you can put on them before you need a new pair? I had no idea! They are like little cars for your feet if you think about it. So basically every 300-500 miles that you put on your running shoes you should change them. At approx 250 miles you will start to feel the wear and tear from your shoes in ways such as: back, knee, feet, or shin pain. You are supposed to keep a log of each of your runs and in this log you include the time it took to run, how long you ran, and how the run felt. This will help you know if your shoes need to be traded in. I just ordered my first pair of running shoes the other day and I can't wait to put my first miles on them!
    So today I had the worst nights sleep ever! Yes I did say TODAY and NIGHT in the same sentence:) I work nights so your today is my nighttime. Anyway I woke up at 3:00pm and decided that I was not going to run today. I had made up my mind...I had barely slept and I just didn't feel like getting up and running the bridge. Shortly after my running partner texted me and told me to get up and "Run Princess Run...I felt the instance sting of guilt..I was gonna try to sneak out my run and here was my running partner busting her butt while I was trying to be lazy! So...very unenthusiastically I put on my running shoes and hit the bridge!
    It actually was an amazing run! I ran the entire bridge without stopping which I have not done yet! I also ran a little more than the bridge cause I ran down the sidewalk on 98 too:) So that was exciting! I felt a great sense of accomplishment after..even though I could not breath..what does that matter I had done it! I am back to where I was before I stopped running! Now I feel a great sense of confidence that I needed.. I know that I can accomplish this goal..I think I found my motivation! :)

Until Saturday...(5 miles of running glory)
Peace out little Debbies...and Run like a Princess:)

What is motivation?

Wikipedia describes the word Motivation as: the activation of goal-oriented behavior. Motivation is said to be intrinsic or extrinsic. Intrinsic motivation refers to motivation that is driven by an interest or enjoyment in the task itself, and exists within the individual rather than relying on any external pressure. Extrinsic motivation comes from outside of the individual. Common extrinsic motivations are rewards like money and grades, coercion and threat of punishment. Competition is in general extrinsic because it encourages the performer to win and beat others.
   Today I was telling someone about my goal to run a half marathon and my news was received with a soft chuckle followed by a rather hearty laugh. I was slightly taken aback...why was this person laughing at me? I don't think it's very funny. Once the laughter subsided the question was posed "Are you really going to stick with it this time?" I honestly didn't know how to answer that. I will be the first to admit I am famous for saying Monday I am going to start working out and eating healthy....umm pretty sure every monday I say this..it's kind of a habitual...almost like saying the word What? after someone tells me something. I was honestly embarrassed. This person had just called my bluff. I have rarely stuck with anything I have ever started..well besides Nursing and School. It made me start to think about my motivation to stick with running. What is it? Why am I doing it? What made this monday any different from any of the other ones? What is my MOTIVATION??
   I honestly don't know! I like to run..that is the intrinsic part of it...but I don't like to hurt after...it actually kind of sucks. Has my motivation become extrinsic because I now have a challenge? Am I now running for the wrong reasons or does it matter because it is for a good cause...my brain is a tangled mess! What if noone runs with me..will I still do it or will I just forget about it like all the other times? What is my motivation? I do want to get into shape and change my life but it seems I always find an excuse not to. I honestly hope this blog helps me with this ...I hope I have people who will hold me accountable...and become my motivation to continue with what I am doing. I need to stick with something....for real this time!
  I guess only time will really tell.....I need to find a little time to do some meditation and prayer and find out what my motivation is in life...maybe if I discover this ...I will finally be able to stick with something I say I am going to do.

Until later,
peace out little debbies!

I think I am gonna need a potty chair.....or maybe a hover round would be good

So today I ran again because there is only 124 days till the Half Marathon Disney Princess run. So I have to bust my butt. This morning I got up around 8:00am and took out my little fur babies, Harvey and Murphy, and I decided that I would go ahead and get my run in. SO I did the opposite of what I did yesterday. I ran the bridge first and than ran the neighborhood......its amazing...still not a good idea...I think it was good in theory but not good in reality. It was horrible. After running uphill I had no desire...okay mentally I had the desire but physically I had no desire to run around Woodlawn. Everything hurt and I do mean everything. I am thinking for my 30 minute runs twice a week I will run the bridge but for long distance I will cut it out and do the flat road because the bridge sucks if you run more than just it. I am sure it is because I am a new runner but still...WHOA!
     My ankle is hurting just a little bit from my dog poop-old lady occurence, but I ran anyway. I will just have Ryan fix it when he gets home:) I am not sure he knows he will be doing it yet! At least he won't be mad because I didn't hurt it walking in heels.

(This is the potty I need....it even has wheels..see why below:)

  Anyway...I felt great after my 4 miles..I figured I would hurt but didn't really understand until I went to go to the bathroom...just squating down to sit on the toilet was the worse thing ever! I wish I had one of those potty chair extensions that they give handicap people so they don't have to actually sit on the toilet! Than it was like I was so clumsy all day..I kept dropping everything and of course had to bend down...and it hurt. Tomorrow I am taking the day off and will run again on Wednesday afternoon before work!

Thanks for the support guys and until next time
Peace out little debbies!

RUN FOREST RUN!

So ladies and gentlemen! Today was my first day back on the running circuit since I found out I was sick a month or so ago. It was really hard and frustrating for me to run and not see any progress. I am over it now and I just really want to be healthy. I have so much going on in my life with school and work that I can not afford to be sick. Which by the way I am...gnarly sinus infection, which also by the way, makes it SO much fun to run when you can't breath out of your nose!
  So a girl I work with Becky and I have decided to sign up for our first marathon. We both started training today. We are going to do the Disney Princess Run:) You can wear tiaras and princess skirts over your running clothes! I am going to be Princess Aurora , so I will wear two different color pinks and she is going to be Belle, so she will wear gold/yellow. We are both super excited! There are 125 days till the race and after this morning's experience...we have much to do! The disney princess run is at the end of February and goes through Disney and Epcot. We are making our own shirts that have the princess names that we are on the back and maybe a saying..something like "you don't have to wear a glass slipper to run like a princess..or "take of those glass slippers and run like a real princess". I dunno..My brain is working.:) The money raised goes to cancer research for lymphoma and leukemia which is a great cause! I am going to try to also run the Breast cancer run in Jacksonville two weekends before..I think it will be great practice.
   So this morning I woke up with a sense of destiny...I think:)! I knew even sick I was destined to run this morning! Well...I got a little ahead of myself. I mapped out a 4 mile run through a neighborhood..that would bring me back to my condo and THEN up and over the bridge..FIRST MISTAKE! Probably should have ran the 74 feet incline up and back FIRST before hitting the flat road but nope sure didn't. I ran through the neighborhood just fine and about half way up the bridge and 2 1/2 miles into my run I felt my life flash before my eyes and I just knew I was gonna die right there on the hathaway..?does anyone have an oxygen tank and a nasal cannula laying around up here? ...what a way to go! I did stop and stretch and walk the rest of the uphill battle than I ran full speed downhill...where I proceeded to try and miss a pile of dog poo (WHO lets there dog poop on the bridge..that is SO nasty! and by the looks of it ...it was a MONSTER dog!) and the little old lady blocking my path and I took a slight dive down the bridge..luckily I walked away with only my ego bruised and a little bit of an ankle limp. Flipping dog poo!
  I can feel the soreness already sinking in...my body is TICKED off at me..oh well whats new...my immune system hates my thyroid and my muscles hate me...GET OVER IT!:) Tomorrow we are running an area Becky mapped out in her neighborhood...it is flat road so I should do much better! We shall see!

DAY TWO here we come..but first I need a soak in the jacuzzi tub!

BTW if anyone wants to do the Disney Run let me know! It would be awesome if we had all the major princess and ran as a group! The princess Run is for women only but they have a mens run also that night. I need to know by November 30. We run together every Saturday morning/afternoon depending on the weather and the rest of the week it is up to you to train! We just started today so you won't be behind!

Until next time!
Peace out little debbies...and Run like the wind:)

ps. the music at the bottom is the playlist I used this morning to run. There are more songson there but these are my favorites and the ones without too many bad words..I like to run to rap sometimes:) haha