Wow, I can’t believe it. It’s already November! Thanksgiving is in a few weeks, but more importantly BLACK FRIDAY! Yes, I’m the crazy shopaholic that gets up at 3AM the day after Thanksgiving for good sales.  Last year I got the  HP Laptop that I’m typing on right now for only $198….

Anyway, I put some more thought into why I wasn’t feeling my “run” on Saturday. I read your comments too.  We as humans are such creatures of habit, however, I realized, I needed something different. I go to the same park, jog the same trail, and I’ve listened to my Week 3 podcast so many times, that I know every word of every song and can do a 3 second count down before every interval. It was definitely time for a change. I weighed my options. I’m just not comfortable going to the park after dark, so the gym was my only location option.  Then I considered using a stop watch to time the intervals….but yeah right, I knew I wasn’t doing that, I don’t even own a stopwatch. Then I thought about other couch to 5K podcasts and remembered Robert’s podcast. His podcast is what helped me run my 1st 5K  and inspired me to create my own. I went to his site, and downloaded his Week 3 podcast to my iPod. As I was heading out to the gym, my computer photo screen saver flashed a pic of my family and friends with big poster signs supporting me at my very first race. I smiled knowing that God sent a little reminder that I have people who are cheering me on.

I picked up my Little sister and eagerly climbed the stairs to the indoor gym track. As I walked up the steps, my bad knee started talking to me, asking why I didn’t put on the supportive brace before I left….Oh well, I forgot it, but I was already there and determined to get through Week 3. It was so refreshing to hear something new. I ran every second of every interval, even with the post nasal drip sliding down the back of my throat… It felt so good. Well, mentally and emotionally good, physically, it was quite challenging. Maybe it’s hard because I’m too fat I told myself, and then I rebutted, maybe I’m not too fat since this is the same body that I’ve used to run several 5K’s. It’s amazing how our mind can trick us if we let it. At the end of the run I felt success. I was so happy that I was able to not only acknowledge that there was a problem, but fix the boring parts and move on. Even though sometimes being a creature of habit like working out on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays can be a good thing, doing the exact same work out can get old and make you lose interest. So lesson learned: Keep your routine, but find a fun new way to mix it up so that you don’t get bored.

6 Comments
  1. That is so true Carli, once you get bored with your workout you get less interested to take part. Glad to hear your switched things up a bit and succeeded on Week 3. Keep it up girl, you are doing awesome!!!

  2. I have yours, Robert’s and Suz’s podcasts for C25K so I can alternate between all 3. You are so right about switching it up. I’ve been doing 4 days/wk of TKB (which I love) and 1 night of either Zumba or Nightclub Cardio but haven’t seen any results and I’ve been slacking off whenever I felt like it. I’ve tried added runs either before or after kickboxing – but that’s become too much (time, workout, sweat, etc). So I’ve decided to cut my kickboxing to 3 days, add 2 days of running, 1 day of spinning. That’s ambitious, I know but should give me options and a change of pace.

  3. I am fortunate to have an assortment of running tracks to use: one is 1/4 mile around, one is 1/2 mile around and there’s a third that’s one mile, with a giant hill half way through!! I find sometimes that I’m actually looking forward to going to a different one…

  4. Thanks Linda!

  5. TexNYQueen, I was tired just from reading your work out routine. LOL! That’s impressive. I did spinning once in college…that was my first and last time. If you want to see more results, swap out some carbs for veggies, you’ll see a difference in just a few days.

  6. Kathy, that’s cool. Now that I’m officially training for my half marathon, I need to know exactly how far I’m going. I’m going to have to find a track close by so I can keep count of my distance.

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