Exercise: Just another excuse to buy new shoes

[IssieCol]

First half marathon completed and it was awesome. I was happy with my time and actually, doing runs in the super cold this past week helped me a ton for the run. It was cold and windy today, probably in the high 30s when we started, but the weather report said it felt colder. I kept pace with my sister who is usually a faster runner than I am and we crossed the finish line together which was a cool experience. Afterward, we went with our families to our favorite Mexican place and fucking went to TOWN on fajitas. Now I'm home in my jammies and between football playoffs and the Golden Globes tonight, I'm not planning on leaving my couch much for the day.

[ophy]

I will just have to live vicariously through you. I have worked out a grand total of 30mins in the past four weeks. Blergh.

Now I'm home in my jammies and between football playoffs and the Golden Globes tonight, I'm not planning on leaving my couch much for the day.

This is me, minus the football and the 'having earned it' part.

[LaaLaa]

Congrats on the half-marathon! I have a couple of friends who just did a Disney marathon? Some people run in costume, apparently! So fun. And it cracks me up how all my friends who are marathoners can and will gorge themselves on heart-attack food right after. I'm talking those burgers with grilled cheese sandwiches as the bun.

I'm going to try to stick the mini-elliptical in front of the TV tonight. Hoping the pretty, pretty gowns will be good motivation and not send me spiraling into a bag of chips.

[isadora]

Congrats!! That's great!

Does painting trim count as an arm workout?

[jennk]

I just made a salad dressing for dinner tonight and it involved a LOT of whisking.

I am an embarrassment.

[isadora]

You MADE salad dressing? God bless you.

[IssieCol]

Thanks, guys! And Is, I have like no upper body strength so painting all day would be a real workout for me as I'm sure my shoulders and upper back would be sore the next morning.

[BreezyK]

Issie, have you ever run a marathon? I feel that you're headed in that direction. My sister ran one in November and shamed me into starting running, which I have NEVAH enjoyed, but I got kind of into it - the day before her race, I ran a 5 mile race and that felt like a great distance for me. I don't think I've mentioned here that I'm pregnant - 19 weeks - so I've stopped the running for now. Instead I'm going to yoga 2x a week and trying to fit in one more workout in our building's gym, either bike or elliptical. I know that staying active is good both for health during the pregnancy and also with recovery afterwards, so that's what I'm focused on, but sometimes it's HARD to drag my ass down there, which sucks.

[isadora]

Congrats on your babymaking, Breezy!

[LaaLaa]

You have not mentioned! Congratulations on the BabyK!

[ophy]

WOOT!

That's awesome!

This is the closest thing to an appropriate cake I can offer you:

[IssieCol]

Congratulations, Breezy! I'm super excited for you! As for a full marathon, I have never run one. I have trained for one a couple of times, but never went through with the actual races because I was too lazy to complete the training process. Running has been my workout of choice for forever, but it's really only been since I was 25 or so that I've done it regularly. In my early 20s, I'd go weeks without doing it and then have to retrain myself to get back into the habit. This half I ran was the longest distance I'd ever covered and it did feel very manageable. I already run for an hour almost every day, so adding another hour to it did not feel like that big of a deal. But a full marathon does sound daunting and frankly, just not at all enjoyable.

I don't know how to explain it, but I REALLY hate working out. It's a daily mind fuck to try to get my ass out of the door. The reason I run vs. doing yoga or whatever else is because it's the easiest. Yoga, zumba, crossfit all involve other people and mirrors (fuck me, who wants to watch themselves work out? GROSS). I put my headphones on and as long as I feel safe, I can zone out while I'm running. During my runs, I am hating just about every second of it. I have this inner monologue that's basically like, "You can make it to the end of this song, don't be such a lameass." Every once in a while, I have an awesome workout where everything's clicking and I like my tempo and my playlist is perfectly aligned with my mood and the weather is awesome and I'm breathing well, but it happens maybe once out of every 20 times? It's really rare. It's why I keep saying that if I can make myself do it, given how lazy I am, I really REALLY think anyone can do it. It's just mind games and you have to be able to play them on yourself.

[isadora]

Given that I never do anything I don't really want to do (unless I'm being paid to do it?) you're like amazing.

[LaaLaa]

Worrrrrd.

But I kind of get you, Issie. I jogged every other day for that whole three months last year, before my Vegas trip, and the whole time my brain yelled at itself like a tiny 'roided up boot camp director.

My friend has that Brazilian Butt Lift nonsense that I might try. It looks frigging ridiculous, but I'm very curious about what it feels like to actually have an ass.

[jennk]

Congratulations on the pregnancy, BreezyK!

Issie, your feelings about running are mine exactly, but I just can't get motivated. I ran track and cross country in high school, but have pretty much not run consistently at all since then. I hate it SO much

You MADE salad dressing? God bless you.

This is not typical behavior. We do family dinners every few weeks and yesterday was my last one before my big Chicago move, so I made the dressing for my favorite salad ever. Normally I use bottled everything.