Getting Back to It....Slowly.

It's 39 degrees here, feels like 34.  The cold air rattled in my chest and throat, making my throat ache with every breath.  My feet were dragging, and I wanted nothing more than to stop.  But my German Shepherd, Nala, kept going, not to far in front of me, but enough to say, "C'mon, Mom, you can do this."  She'd look back at me every now and then, and my energy would boost, even just for a few seconds.  Oh, how I love my dogs. 

You'd think I ran 5 miles.  Or even two.  Nope. Only one..

But it's better than sitting on my butt, watching it get bigger and bigger.  And going for a run made me feel better (once it was all said and done and I finally stopped coughing up my lungs).  Th'at's how it always is, I dread making myself do it, I try to talk myself out of it, but once I start running (if it's not cold outside) I start feeling better.  And once I am finished I feel like a completely different person.  Usually I refuse running outside when it's cold, but I needed to do something.  I was getting frustrated for no reason, and I was bored.  And usually when I get bored, I tend to eat... A lot!

So, I'm starting a new challenge.  Every time I get frustrated or angry, and I feel like stuffing my face for the emotional relief eating provides me, I am going to grab Nala's leash and take her for a walk or run instead of cramming sugar down my throat (the reason I only bring Nala is because she is the best behaved on a leash), or I'm going to do a few sit ups, a couple of push ups (literally only a couple!), something other than eating.

I know I can do this.  I just have to want to do it. 

Today was day one of my half marathon training.  I'm going to alternate between distance running and interval running.  My goal is to increase my mileage by 1 mile per week until I reach 13.1 miles.  I'll have 1-2 days of rest per week.  With the interval running, the first few weeks I will walk 90 seconds, run 60 seconds, and repeat for a total of 30 minutes.  This helps with speed and it burns a lot of calories!  Once I am in good enough shape, I'm going to switch is up; walk for 60 seconds, run for 90.  The next stage of it is incorporating a new level.  Slow, faster, full out sprint.  Walk for 90 seconds, run at a moderate pace for 90 seconds, sprint for 60 seconds. 

I'm also going to start incorporating a couple of weight lifting exercises that are supposed to help you shrink a size in two weeks.   I'm going to run for a week before I start adding other excercises, just to avoid overloading and giving myself an excuse to quit.  I also found this calendar from the Sisterhood of Shrinking Jeans.  They have several calendars, so check it out!

My second weigh-in is on Sunday, hopefully with running (even only for three days) it will help burn off these extra pounds I have!

I've pinned several things on Pinterest worth looking at, so follow my board Motivation. Just search for Krista Detherow.  Check it out!