Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Move (Get Out The Way)

       For some people, the ability to move comes easy. Some folks are born athletic and are blessed with speed. Some are dancers and exhibit grace and poise. Some are adventurous and daring performing feats that require courage and balance. For some of us moving did not come naturally. A person could feel clumsy and awkward, slow and lumbering and fearful.
        I can identify with all. As a small child I went to dancing school and learned how to tap dance. I remember riding my bike down steep hills without holding on to the handle bars. I was not paying attention to traffic either.  In junior high I placed softball and was a cheerleader. So why, when I was on the right path to being an active person, did I give it up. I have no idea. I remember once in college having a friend who said she was going running. I told her that I could run but I didn't know why I don't anymore. We ran around the reservoir one afternoon and I surprised myself that I could do it. We made plans to do it again sometime.  But I never ran again. Until now.
        I will not pretend that running now is not a conscious effort. Everyday that I decide to run I have to talk myself into it. I have to crawl out of bed at some crazy hour, sometimes in total darkness, to go running around a track until I am sweaty and exhausted and for some particular reason a little bit high and proud that I have done it.
       I have been on my WLJ( Weight Loss Journey) for a mighty long time and I know that it takes as long as it takes. That can be frustrating. So I have turned my attention to things I can control within reason like running. Every time I run an event I get a non-scale victory that no one can take back (not even the scale).
        Then there is cross training. While I have been concentrating on running, I have allowed other skills to lapse like biking and strength training. My chiropractor, Dr. B. has been working on the latter.  He has one of those Total Gym machines attached to the wall in his office. Most of the time I would run in and have adjustments on my back and massage therapy and run to my next event "Tuesday Night Happy Hour". When TNHH became Wednesday Night Happy Hour, I told Dr. B. that I am not in a rush. Do you know what he said to me? Carin, would you like to work out a little bit? Sure, why not!  It started out with some strength training exercises to help strengthen my aching back. But then it progressed to my personal strength lunges. Not exactly a fave but my legs have always been my strongest muscles and I think we tend to enjoy things that we do well. Now he is working on my core  ( the gut that won't go away).

THIS WEEK'S ACTIVITY
Wed.- walk 30 min
Thurs. - Richard Simmons DVD- 50 min
Fri. - jog 4.1 miles 1hr 9min
Sat. - Jog/hill drills 3 miles - 57 min
Sun - no formal exercise- did laundry
Mon. jog 3 miles - 55 min
Tues. - Strength training w/ Dr. B

                I usually just add a Bobism but this week I would like to add some quotes that I thought are both funny and motivating.
"I can resist everything except temptation"~ Oscar Wilde~
"I am nobody. Nobody is perfect. Therefore I am perfect." ~ unknown~
"The elevator to success is out of order. You'll have to use the stairs... one step at a time" ~ Joe Girard~
"Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal"~ Henry Ford~
"Lead me not into temptation, I can find it myself"~unknown~
"Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things when they are small. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step."~Lao Tzu~
"It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop." ~Confucius~

" One of the things I hate the most about tracking is that it forces me to know what I did eat."~Bob~