#runningoffthecrazy

I moved to a new position at work almost three years ago.  Coincidental, I had just started to dip my toes into the world of fitness after a whole life of moderate to inactivity.  I also just run my first half marathon.  A different breed of ladies waited for me at the office.  In any given population of adults, it is assumed that only one out of a hundred has ever in their lifetime completed a full marathon.  Somehow, I ended up working closely with a few of these curious people.  One lovely lady was going for 2,015 miles in 2015 at the time.  

She had spreadsheets for mileage tracking.  Spreadsheets to track her shoes.  I am very sure there were more spreadsheets to track other aspects of the adventure, but was too shy to ask.  This tends to happen when an accountant to do with such a lofty long and tedious goal. We tend to feel most problems and goals can be managed so much better with Microsoft Excel.  Armed with her tools, she accomplished what I think were about 4-6 full marathons (two back to back in one weekend), a 24 hour run resulting in 88 miles, and a full 100 mile run.  It was phenomenal.    

I was doing a conservative 1,400 mile goal myself.  But you could tell she did not have children.  Who could log that much mileage with kids?  The 1,400 came and went easily enough.  I completed a full marathon that year with the support of my co-workers and family.  As each year draws to a close, I look into doing something similar.  But back off quite quickly.  I have no idea why.  What can I do?  Why do I always put myself in a mediocre spot?  

So today, I am sitting here thinking of 2018 and what I would like to accomplish.  There are the kids, the husband, the general household needs. I have noticed that I do better with a goal to strive for.  When one goal is finished and I do not have another to go for, it gets weird.  A stagnant state in one area of life seems to leak into other areas of life.  Which brings me back to the stupid idea of 2,018 freaking miles for 2018.  I pulled out and blank spreadsheet and broke some things down.

What 2,018 Miles in 2018 Means to Me:

-5.53 miles per day minimum (if I ran every single day 365 days straight)

-38.8 miles per week (if I ran every single week for 52 weeks straight)

-302.7 hours of straight running.  This is less than two full weeks.  Keep in mind average person needs 60 minutes of exercise a day.  Then this is almost spot on! I would have to space about 120 MORE hours onto the full spectrum of exercise for the week to accommodate for cross training.  This figure still actually gives me hope!  It will not take away from my children.  

-6-7 pairs of shoes.  This figure terrifies my cheapskate side. Especially when one pays $65-70 per pair of solid running shoes.  Yes! Some people need to pay more for specifics, but generally, I get them around that price and have had little to no problem.  This means $450 in one year on shoes.  I do not know where to really cut the cost of this.  The only way would be to run less or endure injury.  Buy one get one half off options will be my only saving grace. I guess this means other luxuries will go up for negotiations.  

-191,710 extra calories burned.  Let us explore this fun figure some more:

              +340 ½ Big Macs.  This is almost one a day!

+1,475 FULL Beers.  No light, lyte, or lite crap here.  We are talking the real stuff.  This almost means 4 beers a day.  

+124 Cheesecakes.  

+54 pounds of pure energy expenditure.  

I turned thirty today….. Oh yay!  

Actually, I feel awesome. I see no bad things about this.  I am in a better situation than I was yesterday and better than I was ten years ago.  It has been great.  Again, I like goals.  When I do not have something to go after, I tend to flounder.  I can coast, but I am not really progressing toward being any better in any area of life.  

The weather began doing funky things in the past few weeks.  Some weeks its rainy, a little chilly.  Other weeks bring lots of snow.  We even had a few days of sixty degree weather with sunshine.  My running has been off a bit primarily due to this.  It is hard to stay motivated to go out and run so many times a week when you really cannot predict how safe it will be out on the pavement.

I made no mileage goals this year.  My knee had some swelling while in the deep throws of marathon training.  In order to qualify for Boston, speed is the key. Increasing the amount of miles on the road are not exactly preferable.  I took the better part of January replaying my good-ol’ Insanity DVDs. This has kept me from going too far gone fitness wise.  When I first started running, right after my first (and truly only “round”) of Insanity, I was shocked at how well I could do long distance running.  I would do an Insanity workout, every week or so.  I noticed my speed would improve after doing one of these workouts as opposed to just running.  So, as it snowed and I was house-bound, I went back for a bit.  

I puttered out.  Maybe I am just over Insanity.  I know I need something “new” but let’s face it.  The MLM, and basic sales base of Beachbody products scare me.  But I love my P90x and my Insanity.  These are quality products that I believe brought a truly positive influence in my life.  I feel I would shell out some money for something new.  It has been over five years after all!  But what do I need????  

I spend a good portion of my time thinking of what my training should look like for my next marathon.  I want this one to hand me a golden ticket the Boston Marathon.  My times are improving very nicely, and I still need to keep thinking about what the heck I am going to plan out!  Do I get me a trainer outside?  Can I make that time commitment?  I can do it, but sometimes my workouts have to happen at 3am just get it done.  This may not be ideal for any trainer to take me on.  Nor do I think a running group with set times will help either.  

               I just got the notification I created this blog more than a year ago.  I abandoned it.  No excuses! I am more upset about not documenting the 365 days of a roller coaster.  This year will not be the case.  It is decided.

               My running was a slow and steady progress into what I came to find as the necessity of gaining a stronger hold on my life.  As life began to grab hold and make things more difficult, I noticed I would run from the problems.  Now I just “went for a run” before or after actually tackling the problems.   Amazing things happened.  Three years ago I was huge, unhappy, and becoming broke.  There were so many loose ends in my life.  My graduate degree was almost done and CPA exams ahead.  My husband finally got his bachelor’s degree but no job.  The custody battle over my step daughter was going on 2 years and 4 months of waiting on any word of a ruling from the court.  Oh!  And I was looking at a pay-cut from work.  

               The only thing I could control was me.  I found that my body was the only thing I really had complete say and control over.  What went in the body, what went out, how I used it.  I worked out, watched what I ate and found that a run (good, bad, or ugly) could not be measured in its importance in my life.  

               Within months of getting pissed off and feeling out of control, I slowly got some answers.  We received a ruling from the court awarding my husband custody of my step daughter.  I finished my Master’s degree.  I was concerned about taking on the CPA exams right after in the fall.  My step daughter was living with us fulltime and starting school in a new city.  My husband still did not have “solid” employment.  But with his blessing and encouragement, I slid into my CPA studies.

               I dare anyone to say they lost weight and came out healthier after going through CPA studies with both a license and their sanity. I think I joined a very exclusive club. I kept a fulltime job.  Two very active girls engaged.  Studied.  Sweated. Passed.  Passed.  Failed (yep! I did!) Passed.  And this time last year, I passed.   I was freed!  A weight fell off of my shoulders.  

The night the scores on that last test were coming out, I knew I would have to stay home with a sick child.  I decided to stay home with her knowing I wouldn’t  sleep well knowing the test scores were coming out and Pookie Pie was gonna need to sleep off a bad stomach flu. I was up and down all night!  At three o’clock in the morning I had a toddler in bed and grabbed my phone.  I plugged in my info into NASBA and gritted my teeth.  

               79.

               I processed the information and tried to wake my husband up.  “Look!” I was telling him over the 40lb. child taking up 75% of the bed.  He grunted from his little corner.  “Look!” Shoving the phone into his face. He turned his face into the pillow. “The light is too bright,”  He whined.  I told him I passed.  He began snoring again.  I went out for a six mile run on some icy roads that I probably should not have.