Early Morning Run

I promise this blog won't become a documentary of my running life but I do want to share a moment from this mornings run.

First of all, kudos to me for hauling my butt out of bed at 5 AM on a Sunday.  Dena was not a happy camper when her alarm went off and even less of one when she got out of bed and Blair rolled back over and went to sleep. I loathe being the first one up.

But I fed the cats, started the coffee, put on my running clothes and had a nice, long stretching session while I waited for the sun to come up. I headed out the door at 5:30 AM.

What a fantastic  time to run. Minimal traffic, the birds were in a frenzy of song, and the world felt quiet, like an infant just on the verge of waking from slumber. I ran for 45 minutes and (please no jinx, please no jinx) it was easy.  Covered 4 1/2 miles with no problem. 

Along the way I saw 8 cats (how happy was I?) lounging in yards and on top of cars. Two rabbits darted from the underbrush in front of me and a field of horses raised their heads from feeding to watch me trot by. There was a momentary hesitation on my part when I came to the rooster and chicken in the road and the rooster let me know with loud crowing that HE was the boss around here. But he shuffled the chicken off to the side and I passed by without incident.

I came home, showered, and read the paper. "How do you feel?" asked Blair.

"I feel great!," I answered. "What a magnificent way to kick off the day! I could do anything!"

Then sleep deprivation set in. I crawled into bed about 8:30 and slept solid for an hour.

Okay, so the program needs a little fine tuning. But I believe the goal now will be to run on Tues/Thursday/Sunday mornings with one evening run thrown in.

Part of the fun is that it's still new. I'm a little worried what happens when the monotony sets in.  Nothing to do but wait and see.

Goal Setting

I know--the term is way over used and sends shudders down our spines. But I'm writing a column right now for one of my magazines on this very topic and it's got me thinking I need to spend some time in the goal-setting arena.

I tend to think of myself as a goal-setter but what I really am is a list-maker. Big, big fan of the "To Do" list. You need a list baby, you give me a call and I'll hook you up. But I don't set a lot of goals.

One woman I interviewed for my article is the CEO of a company that helps businesses grow. She stated every business (or individual running a business) should set goals in three primary areas: 

1. Financial
2. Product-Oriented
3. Customer-Oriented

You have quarterly goals in each of these areas and sub-goals (there are my to-do lists) to help you achieve them. What I'm seeing is I am one of those people who get bogged down in the minutia. I have a list a mile long - "update the web site, send out books for review, find places to speak, send out query letters..."  But I need a prime goal to help me determine why I should be doing certain tasks and why I should be letting others go.

Another person I interviewed for the article, a psychiatrist, stated before any goal setting could take place you had to set a vision for yourself. This is bigger than your goals. It's not "I want to be a famous writer." It's the needs behind the goal. So for example, a writer who likes to travel and buy nice things will be motivated by money. Another writer may just want recognition and winning contests may meet her needs, even if she earns little income.  Our internal needs are what drive our goals.

So, I'm thinking I need to sit myself down and tinker around with some visions and goal-setting and see what comes of it.

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 Running time last night: 45 minutes.

Can't Sleep

It's 11:30 at night and I've lain awake for over an hour before caving in and admitting sleep is just not in the picture anytime soon. I blame it on TV. We watched So You Think You Can Dance right before bed. TV always revs me up and I get excited for the dancers in this show, so it was a lethal combination.

My friend Trisha suffers from insomnia and I don't know how she gets through it. I was up at 5 today, it's late and I know my brain is too fuzzy to do any real work, even though I have a manuscript to critique and a new column to write.  TV is a definite no-no. I don't even really feel like reading, but have grabbed one of the many middle-grade novels members of my writers group have loaned me and hope reading Bruce Coville's My Teacher Glows In The Dark will lull me to sleep.

My guilt factor also apparently goes into overdrive after 10 pm. I'm up, so  I should be cleaning out my e-mail inbox, organizing files, roughing out my article, working on my novel, combing a cat, doing online research... You've had moments like this, I'm sure.

More than likely what will happen is I'll cave to the urge to go downstairs and eat a banana, read the entire Coville book, then go back to bed and lay there until sleep takes me.  

Maybe warm milk will help. I tried that once when I was single and lived alone. Had the heat up too high and burned the milk. Reminds me I need to add "learn to cook," to my list of midnight madness.

Sweet dreams to you and yours.

42 Minutes and Still Ticking...

I went running last night with my neighbor and her husband (I'll call them Roy and Macy, just so they have names).  I found it to be a HUGE motivator, running with other people. Roy set the pace and Macy and I followed behind. We ran for 42 minutes, about 4 miles.

What I found was that running SLOW is the key. And basing my run on time versus distance helps a lot. If I know, for example, I have to run 4 miles, I'll try to run as fast a pace as I can so I can be done with it. Running for 30 minutes though, is running for 30 minutes. Fast or slow, I'm out there the same amount of time. And I was amazed how much longer I could go with a slower pace.

Also a huge help was running with other people. I haven't done that since college when my friend Trisha and I used to run together. When I'm alone, I'll stop when I get tired. But when I'm with someone else, my competitive nature kicks in and I'll hang in there with them.

Of course, there was payback. My legs were sore once I stopped running. I'm hoping that will ease up with time and practice.

I'm going to run a 3-mile race in Kernersville July 4th and am really considering trying to do this half marathon.  I'm going to give it a month of running every other day and see how I feel.