Really, it's a nice evening for it and even though I didn't feel like it at first I had a really great run up my nearest hill. I feel SO much better for it now, so just thought I'd share. I'm really starting to question why I can never seem to stick to this stuff :rolleyes:

I have so many good intentions then I fail miserably! :bang: I've not gained much weight back since I last went on a fitness bender, but I've not trained for like three weeks. :spank:

The periods of slacking off are getting shorter though... If only I could grow a will, I'd do this all the time :nod:

Still, not to be too negative I did get off my a$$ tonight and I feel good for it :)

Nutri-Grain GREAT (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIU1Ai5pTNI)!

Doing good things for yourself = relatively easy and fun.

Doing good things for yourself consistently over a long period of time = relatively difficult and fun.

Eliminating bad things from your life = hard and often not fun.

Eliminating bad things for your life consistently over a long period of time = very hard and very often not fun.

End result of all of the above = awesome.

gg with the run. :tu:

Yes! My get-up and go question to self is: "Have you EVER come back from a run, a bike, a lift feeling worse? NEVER!"

Enjoy it, folks! Drink deeply of it, and feel lucky to be able...

I used to hate running... I mean really loathe it. I can remember hitting my head against a wall in a tantrum (literally), trying to motivate myself to run after driving over to the track. :bang:

But this summer I sat down one morning and faced the reality that I had to do it sooner or later, and I printed out a 16 week long 5K training plan from Runner's World and I committed myself to doing it. It was VERY difficult at first, especially doing the really long runs on Saturdays, but now 10 weeks later I get home from work and go out for my 4-5 mile run without even thinking about it. If I miss a day, or take one of my scheduled days off (Fridays, Sundays, and the occassional Tuesday) I don't even feel normal, like I'm restless to just go for a run anyway.

It's hard to believe that I've gotten this point. But this stuff, all this stuff like eating right and sleeping right and working out, is just about habits. And what does it take to make or break a habit... 3 weeks? Then you're set.

By the way, great point made by vidasuena. My greatest fear these days is that I'm going to get taken out by a car while running on the side of the road, and never be able to do this stuff ever again. In the past, I've made the mistake of not appreciating how great it is to be healthy until I lost it. Not anymore. Work hard, but work smart and err on the side of caution.

Tim

Running at low intensity sucks for the first twenty minutes or so and then it feels amazing. You just got to get through the intial suck period.

Good point, Chic... I notice that mile 2 or 3 is the worst. After that I feel like I can go forever, at least until I start to become aware of the pounding on my knees and hips somewhere around mile 9...

Tim

Good stuff! After years of hating running, last year I started to actually change my view of it...slowly over time, I realized that every single run ended with happiness and my being glad I did it, so I eventually started seeing running as something that brings goodness and not pain (which running inherently does). I now look forward to most runs and enjoy most of them. Some are a chore, but they are only a mild one and I never skip them. Others are somewhat druglike, especially with the right music. Nothing like running several miles and then feeling _more_ energetic and speeding up.

I now have done the same thing with cycling and I train a lot. It's easy now for me to understand how people get addicted to training!By the way, great point made by vidasuena. My greatest fear these days is that I'm going to get taken out by a car while running on the side of the road, and never be able to do this stuff ever again. In the past, I've made the mistake of not appreciating how great it is to be healthy until I lost it. Not anymore. Work hard, but work smart and err on the side of caution.
I don't have the fear when I run, because I run in fairly empty neighborhoods, but when I bike outside it's a constant fear. I am sure it crosses the mind of every cyclist when they go out. However, I have thought about it a lot and come to terms with it and just hope to heck it doesn't happen, but I don't want to live in fear of something that's highly unlikely to happen if ignoring that fear lets me do something I love. I have a family and otherwise superb health and everything, but I can't live my life afraid of every possibility; I'd never drive in the rain or go skiing or do anything, and life would suck.