2011: Time to Run
Remember when I wrote this little post last year about how I started training for my first ever Run Melbourne event? And remember this joyous post after I completed the event?
Well… I have lost my running mojo. Six months on and Run Melbourne remains as the ONLY running event that I’ve participated in, and I still cannot run further than 5km. In fact, I am no where near as fast as I was back in July 2010. This is possibly because I have spent the last few months doing everything BUT running.
As you can see from my Runkeeper page, I’ve attempted to run once or twice over the past few months, but haven’t stuck to any regular training.
Enough. Enough excuses (it’s too cold, it’s too hot, it’s too rainy, it’s too dark, it’s Monday, it’s Friday), enough of being lazy, enough of being disappointed with myself. I have decided that 2011 is the year that I am going to become a runner.
Time to kick my own butt.
So my first short-term goal is to GET OFF THE COUCH! As much as I’d like to say that I’ll now be getting up at 6am five times a week, I know myself better than that. Here is what I believe I can realistically achieve each week:
- Two 35-45 minute runs (extending running time each week as I become fitter)
- One half hour swim
- A one hour pilates class
Achievable yes?
Because I found that I had so much success with the C25K program, I am going to continue on from this with the Freeway to 10k interval training. But instead of using the podcasts (awful repetitive techno ‘music’), I am going to program the intervals into Runkeeper and listen to my own music.
My long-term goals are to complete the following fun runs, which I found on the Start to Finish calendar of events:
When:12th February 2011
Distance: 6.5km
As my last run was 5km, I’d like to run a course that is just a liiiiittle bit further. PLR is perfect! 32 days to prepare.
Followed by:
When: 8th May 2011
Distance: 8km
Just under 3 months to add an extra kilometre and a half? Yeahhhhh.
And then back to where it all started:
When: 17th July 2011
Distance: 10km
If I can run twice as far as last year, I’m not doing too badly right?!
So what do you think? Any tips for me about staying on track and not becoming a lazy bum again? I’d love to hear from any long-term runners about how you manage to stay motivated.
Ok, time to stop giving my typing fingers a workout and actually use my legs. I’ve spent good money on the nice Skins, the Mizuno shoes and the bloody Runkeeper app; time to use them already! First training will be this evening with Mr. Yeah, he’s going to get dragged along with me. Bless.
I’ll be posting all of my activities here. Hopefully the fear of people checking up on my commitment to my goals will be good motivation for me.
Fingers crossed that if everything goes to plan, in a few weeks time I’ll feel like this again:
Wish me luck!
Images courtesy of www.pumaloverun.com.au, www.runmelbourne.com.au and www.mothersdayclassic.com.au
Food gobbler. Wine lover. Kitteh keeper. Gen-Y. Fiancée. Twitter addict.
Fighting the war against Leggings As Pants one fashion victim at a time... 
I am looking at getting back into running again after a 10 year hiatus. Being a former sprinter, I want to experience the joy of being able to run for longer distances (like I could when I was a kid).
I am definitely doing the Mothers Day Classic and I am also doing the Brazilian Butterfly Queen of the Lake 5km. I may get to the Puma Love Run (sounds interesting).
Good luck with your training!
Miss C
Good luck to you too! The Brazilian Butterfly run sounded good, but I don’t think I’ll be ready in time! Will wait the extra week for the PLR
Sounds like a good plan. Being realistic is much better than deluding oneself. I know I can’t hit the gym 4-5 times a week like I want to, so I’d rather be happy that I can go 1-2 times a week.
As for the music part, I find that audio books are a really good tool. You get so engrossed in the book that the physical pain of the run is lessened and time just flies by.
A group of us food bloggers are going to run the Run Melbourne event. Would you like to join us?
What a fantastic idea, never thought of that. Any recommendations? Will be doing Run Melbourne for sure. Let me know when you sign up!
I like to listen to action/thriller audio books as I really get into them. So stuff from Dean Koontz, Dan Brown, Cliver Cussler, Jeffrey Archer etc are all great. Shall definitely let you know when we sign up for Run Melbourne.
What a great idea! A great goal – that at this point I can’t fathom an actual run, an actual event! I like how you’ve set some goals as to time based goals for the week – but seriously – with Melbourne weather, its so hard NOT to use it as an excuse! Thanks for this post :)
Thank you! So true about the weather- made a big mistake by running too late in the day today (only 10am), nearly fainted when I finished.
If you want to go the next step – and be completely toned up by the wedding – you might want to check out Can Too (www.cantoo.org.au), which gets folks ready for half-marathons and even full marathons. Friends who couldn’t even run a couple of miles at first did it and wound up running the whole thing – they loved the whole process. A great program, with lots of camaraderie and training, and all for a good cause.
Will definitely check it out, thank you. Although the idea of running a half marathon seems completely out of the question at the moment! But if it worked for your friends…here’s hopping :)
I don’t have a hot tip for sustaining motivation! But I wanted to show my support for your goals all the same. I know that fear is a big driver for me – fear of poor heart health, fear of humoungous bum, fear of not being able to use my body as I wish to as I get older etc etc.
To feed that fear, I commit to various races/events, and fear of making a public ding-dong of myself comes into play! Probably not the best reason to run, but it certainly gets me out the door and moving.
Good luck – I’ll be following along to see how you go :)