Bramell, Party of Five: A Challenging Challenge

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

A Challenging Challenge

You know those little mind games you play with yourself? Oh, like "today I will quit eating sweets" or "starting tomorrow I will eat more vegetables?"  Come on, it can't just be me.  I do it all the time.

I've been trying to get in shape since forever. Well, really since the twins were born almost four years ago. But, let's face it, with three kids and a full-time job outside the home, the time and energy just aren't there--especially when the kids weren't sleeping through the night. I would start to exercise, do it for a couple of weeks, then just quit. It's always easier to quit.

I've always been (a little bit) athletic, but I wouldn't call myself an "athlete." I like to be active and actually enjoy some kinds of exercise. But again, time is not on my side. I work all day and then go home and work half the night; I'm tired. I know that some people will think that's just an excuse, and maybe it is, but that's my reality at this point in my life.
 
But something happened last month that got me motivated. I started keeping up with my friend Jasmine and how she set a goal for herself to run 50 miles in March. Now, first let me say this...Jasmine is in waaaay better shape than me; she plays roller derby and she runs.  I don't run and never have. My body just wasn't made for running. But I started watching her and, oops!, got a little bit inspired by her determination.
 
So I decided that I would challenge myself. I know that 50 miles of anything besides driving is unrealistic for me, but I decided to go for 30 miles in the month of April. For me, the miles will be mostly walking, but I have worked up to running a little bit--actually more than I ever have in my life. 




Here we are at the mid-point of the month and I've clocked 16.5 miles so far. It looks like I'm gonna make it! So, what am I doing?
 
For me, the exercise window is very small. I prefer to get the workout done first thing in the morning, while I still have full energy. Problem is that I'm home alone with the kiddos, so the exercise has to be indoors at home. Hello, 4:50am alarm! Another problem is that I like to sleep, so that 4:50am thing doesn't always work for me. Morning walks/jogs happen at 5:00am so I have time to get us all ready to go before 8:00am. I can realistically squeeze in two miles in the mornings. Weekends are more flexible with Lee at home, and now that it's getting warmer, I prefer to be outside.
 
Now that I've gone all public with my challenge, I hope this motivates me to stick with it. If I hit the 30 mark for April, then I plan to up the mileage for May. I'm feeling good about my progress, now I just hope that I start to see some results from all the hard work.

3 comments:

  1. So PROUD of you!

    Love you...
    Mom

    ReplyDelete
  2. You go girl! But I have missed seeing you at Jazzercise!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Good for you! I want so badly to get in some exercise, but I've got the time problems as well. I need to get on that bike that's collecting dust in the corner of the room.

    ReplyDelete

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