The American Cancer Society:

The American Cancer Society:
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Penny Jenkins for American Cancer Society

De-Clutter

Anyone who knows me, knows that I LOVE to be organized and have a "plan".  I love the idea that everything has a place and everything gets put back where it belongs as soon as you are done with it.  I have been called a "neat freak" before and I take it as a compliment, because for me, having things organized reduces stress and makes me happy to be in my home. I also applied these same skills out in the corporate world, which made me very successful at my job.
In my endeavor at training for this half marathon, it has occurred to me- that I should apply these skills to getting healthy. One of my absolute favorite professional organizers, Peter Walsh, has a show called Enough Already with Peter Walsh.  In these episodes he helps people deal with not only their physical clutter, but also their emotional clutter as well.  Now I definitely don't have physical clutter, but I do have emotional clutter (I think we all do), so I'm ready to explore that and see if I can push through.

Peter has 5 steps to decluttering that I believe you could apply to almost anything facet of your life.

• Step 1 - Empty the Room (during this process, arrange like items together)
• In this step, as related to health, its important to clear everything out.
• for me - decluttering the kitchen - I removed all food from the kitchen, and decluttering my thinking - I got a piece a paper and split the paper in half........on one side I wrote positive and on the other I wrote negative. On the positive side, I wrote all the positive things about me.  On the negative side, I wrote all the negative things about me.
•   Step 2  - Create a Vision
• In this step, what do you envision your health looking like?
• for me - I see my new healthy lifestyle equalling:
• healthy meals for myself and the family
• running and/or exercising on a daily basis
• having lots of energy and vigor
• losing weight
• reading more <--watching TV less
• Step 3 - Sort Into Two Piles
• In this step, sort items or thoughts into two "piles"
• The Vision Pile - in this pile you would keep all items or thoughts that support your new vision
• for me - kitchen - I put all the healthy food that I pulled out of the kitchen and put it in this pile, thoughts - I put the Positive part of the piece of paper on this side
• The Out the Door Pile - in this pile you would put all items or thoughts that Do Not support your new vision
• for me - kitchen - all the "un-healthy" food, and thoughts - the Negative side of the paper
• Step 4 - get rid of the Out the Door Pile of items
• In this step, I burned the Negative thoughts side of the paper (maybe too dramatic, but that's a memory I can go back to) and I threw away the un-healthy food or sent the food to my husbands work to be eaten by someone else
• Step 5 - Rebuild - using the items in the Vision Pile
• This step requires a continued commitment to the new Vision
• for me - Kitchen - I put the healthy food that I already had back into the kitchen and I have committed myself to buy primarily unprocessed food to restock our pantry and fridge. Mostly fruits and vegetables, brown rice, whole wheat/grain bread and pasta and so on. Thoughts - I put the Positive side of the paper in my journal so that I can see it everyday to remind myself what I already thought was good about myself and I have committed myself to recognize when I am "negatively" speaking to or about myself and immediately address the feelings. Also I am committed to defend my healthy lifestyle decisions against the negative "nay-sayers" <--- whats a nay-sayer? Anyone who tries to tell you that you can't do it, or tries to implant seeds of doubt that you can't do it. (on purpose or not, these individuals will sabotage your progress, if you allow it to happen)

Here is a link to Peter Walsh's website, http://www.peterwalshdesign.com/
He truly inspires me in so many ways!!

Run #6 - Danger

Today's run started off well enough...........
I got a late start in the day, so it was a little warmer than I would have liked, but still 75 degrees, so not bad. It was a little windy, but the first mile went really well........
As I was moving towards the 1 1/2 mile marker, a car pulled slowly behind me, and someone inside the car yelled something at me, that I didn't make out............but it did make me turn to see that there was a car full of guys following me, with one hanging out the car, looking right at me. 

DANGER.......................


FIGHT OR FLIGHT.............bells and whistles immediately went off in my head, as I decided my next move, not really sure what they were up to, but not wanting to be a part of it either.  They were on the road and I was on the path next to the road, with a parking lot directly in front of me and a playground and big grassy area to the side of me, so I went into the parking lot, where alot of cars were.  I saw a woman, who had just pulled in and still in her car, so I went towards it and stopped, with the hopes that my instincts were off and the people in the car would just keep going, or at the very least there would be strength in numbers.  Instead the guys in the car stopped in the middle of the road, starring over at me, like they were waiting for me to start jogging again.
Call me paranoid, but my parents didn't raise no fool.....................................its better to be safe than sorry!!
I immediately pulled out my cell phone and started walking in the opposite direction across the grassy area where cars can't go, making a b-line towards my car. My thought pattern being that if they were looking for trouble, I would have ample time to call the police and/or get to my car before they could drive all the way around. As I glanced back, I could see they had begun to pull away......perhaps thinking that I was calling the police or that it wasn't worth it..............or maybe I imagined it all in my head..........
Either way, the whole thing totally freaked me out. They were probably teenagers being stupid, trying to scare someone, because they think it is funny, but it left me feeling very vunerable.

I reached the parking lot where my car was located and after a few minutes of constantly checking to see if they were coming, I realized that they had left the park, or at least went somewhere other than where I was. I tried to resume my run, but I couldn't shake the feeling that someone at any moment was going to jump out at me, and all I had was a cell phone, so I eventually packed it up and went home.

Since then, I have been thinking, what should I have done? Should I have just kept going, ignoring the car and the guys? Should I have stayed to complete the run, after I didn't see their car anymore?  The only thing I can say is that I did what I did, and I can't take it back now...............I am a firm believer in following your instincts, and something was telling me that these people were up to no good.

So for the future, I'm wondering how I will feel the next time I go to that park.  Will I be constantly checking over my shoulder? We will see.........

I will need to go out and run tomorrow to make up for today..........as my run was only 1 1/2 miles and it was supposed to be 3 miles.  So I will chalk today up to an extra workout :-)!!

Run #4 and #5

Run #4 - Long run - 3.03 miles distance, 20'15"/mi pace
This should have been a Monday training, but I wasn't feeling well, so Tuesday had to do.  I felt good when I arrived at the park, but when I began to jog, my knees hurt and felt weak.  I ended up fast pace walking most of the way, but still felt good because I completed the distance. :-)


Run #5 - Success - 2 miles distance, 16'26"/mi pace
Today felt really really good!! My knees didn't hurt at all! I ran more than walked, so that felt like I was making progress. I went to a new park to run and I'm so glad I did! It has many trails and trees and is a really big park, so lots and lots of distance that I will be able to explore! The best part of the run was that my pace was the best it has been! My goal is to get to at least a 12'/mi pace by the time of the race!

Next run - Friday

Run #3

Friday's run was a success! I was able to run more than walk and on my Nike app for tracking my pace, it showed I was much more consistent!

Stats:
Distance - 2.00 miles
Time - 34:45
Pace - 17'19"/mi

Run #2

Okay so you know Jane, the young vampire from the movie Twilight? Remember how she looks at her victims and says "Pain"..........and her victim drops in agony (except for Bella of course, cause she is immune)?



Yeah...........................

Run #2 ---------------- PAIN!!

I picked the same route for my 2nd run, which was at a park with flat paths in some spots and heavy inclines in others, and even though I was sore from day 1, I still felt good and ready to go. I had on my new running shoes (Nike Zoom Structure +14), thanks to my awesome husband, so what could go wrong?  Ummm.........ALOT!
Unfortunetely I made the classic mistake that alot of people do when they are new to working out, I pushed my body too hard! I should have picked an "all" flat terrain because when I got to the hills in the back of the park, my shins almost completely locked down. I kept going but I wasn't able to regain my mometum and speed.

So...........lesson learned. 

Listen to your body and don't let your ego get in your own way!

Run #1

Well it was harder in some ways and easier in others, but my first run/walk is officially over.  Several things went against me yesterday morning (my planned workout morning), it was chillier than anticipated, Chris forgot his phone (so I had to go back to his work), and I didn't feel 100% in my chosen workout attire, but...................I went anyway!
I am so glad that I did!!

First mile----> Killer and slow! My legs were aching, I felt so heavy on my feet, and jogging even a little was a chore, but I kept pushing......
Second mile----> My legs started to warm up and everything got easier, I jogged more and my pace sped up..........
Third mile-----> I came to a realization that I actually can do this!!!!

I found this amazing Nike running app for the Iphone, that keeps track of my pace, mileage and route (using GPS)!! It even cheers you on as you go along.  The best part is that it keeps record of all your past history runs!

So here is my stats for my first time out -->

Distance - 3.01 miles

Total time - 52:14

Next run - Wednesday