Give me a reason

I ran 12km today!

Correction - I slowly jogged 12km today. I loved it!

My new favourite time to run is in the evening. The sunset was beautiful tonight. Another highlight - another runner shouting Merry Christmas at me.

I am learning to love running the more I do it.

Sunday

So I went for my run this morning! 6km in the rain. It was so cold and drizzling so I wore a giant bright orange reflector jacket so cars could see me, and Dads swasi and beanie. Toasty warm!

My sister took my car because she couldn't find her keys - so church was a no-go. Am substituting a real service for a podcast.

To the left?

Is there a proper side of the road to run on? I don't think there is a law about it (correct me if I'm wrong), but I always thought that you should run on the right hand side of the road so you can see oncoming traffic and move off the road as much as you can.

But then my sister said she thinks it's better to run on the left side of the road.

My preference the left side too, simply because then there's more distance between you and the car drivers (ie. less awkward do-I-look-up-or-just-keep-running moments)

Run in rain? or Flag?

I usually don't feel like going for a run until I actually start running. Then I nearly always enjoy myself. But during the build up beforehand I usually complain about it.

I guess it's sort of like a ritual. Having a programme has helped me to get over that. If I know definitely that I'm running that day I feel mentally prepared for it so I don't waste as much time ummming and ahhhhing over whether I should go for one.

That's when conditions are perfect. When it rains it's ten times worse! I have to be mega motivated to run in the rain. There are so many things to consider:
1. visibility will be bad on road - increased chance of death by being hit by a car
2. I might get a cold
3. Getting wet.

Is it silly to not go running because it's raining? Today I decided to go... but I'm not sure it was worth it...

Pro and Con

The cool thing about telling people you're training for a half marathon is that they say "good on you" - and you feel important.

The bad thing about telling people you're training for a half marathon is that you have to run it.

The good life.

Wake up. Breakfast. Run. Church. Work. Dinner. Beach. Giggles with sisters over a cup of tea.

Neigh

More drills today. My uncle said when I do them it kind of looks like I'm impersonating a horse.

Baked Beans Reverse Fly

That is actually the name of one of my weight training exercises!

It's the only thing funny about my weight training.

Weight training has always felt pointless to me. I've always had the opinion that if you're going to exercise, you should be going bright red and getting sweaty. I don't understand ladies that go to the gym in these flash exercising clothes and over-clean shoes, hop on a treadmill, get out a magazine and WALK.

Seriously! They don't even need to have a shower afterwards.

Anyway, after completing (somewhat hurriedly and half-heartedly) my circuit this time around I was actually getting a bit puffed. I think it was the push ups that did it. And I have to be honest, getting out of bed this morning wasn't the breeze it normally is.

Even baked beans reverse fly doesn't seem funny anymore.

Day after rest day.

25 mins jogging today. Was easy but it's so HOT! Like icky, muggy heat at half 9 in the morning.

I brought a key to the local pool yesterday, so I'm looking forward to when I can run to the pool and then cool off by swimming in it. =)

Big run

Did the first 'big run' of the programme today. 6km. Wasn't that big a deal to be honest, just ran down the road 3km and turned around and came back.

Running in the country is so much better than in the city as well, I've discovered. I can't decide which is more dangerous though. In the city there's lots of people, so the chances of a person being scary and creepy increases. But in the country, there is hardly anyone around at all, so there is less chance of someone coming to your rescue if you needed help!

My mum makes me take my phone with me, anyway. Needless to say I spent probably about 4km of my run yesterday dreaming up scenarios where some people are chasing me down the road and I'm yelling important details like car registrations down the phone to the police.

It's kind of disappointing to be honest, when all the cars drive by and no-one is the least bit interested in me.

I did get a toot! Twice! But it was my Aunty who lives next door, and then my cousin.

Drills drills drills

So yesterday was my 'rest' day, and if I have time I am supposed to do drills. The drills are to help my alignment and turn me into the ultimate 'girl-runner'. Since I am all enthusiastic about doing this programme properly I attempted them. There is a lot of butt-kicking and toe-tapping and feeling silly.

Apparently my knees turn inwards so my legs kick out to the side instead of straight behind me, the left leg even more so than the right.

In short - I look stupid when I run.

Brilliant.

First run of God knows how many.

First run of the programme is 30-35mins jogging. Easy. Sounds a bit boring, actually.

At 70-75% MHR. (Whatever that means).

I can do this. I set off with my iPod down the back of my farm, ready to face the challenge and defeat fear and conquer pain. (LOL I love self talk) And then it starts to rain so I have to hide under the shelter of an old shed. Don't judge. I'm only wearing a cotton t shirt and I don't want to get sick for work. Besides, it's only been 5 minutes. I still have an entire 30 minutes to go. I am NOT running for 30 minutes in the rain. So I jog on the spot for 7 minutes until it eases off. Ha! I am flexible and still on track. Nothing will stop me!

The rest of the run is relatively non-eventful. Except that on the way back home I realise Dad has let the cows out of the milking shed and they're coming straight towards me.

I try to be nonchalant and jog in the most disinterested-in-cows way possible, so I can sneak past without freaking them out and sending them back up to the shed to Dad.

Who said running is boring? This is going to be fun.

Why am I doing this?

So I've decided to run a half marathon in 12 weeks time in Auckland. I even went to the gym and I have  a programme and everything. It tells me how long/far I should run each day and what drills I need to do etc. [Apparently I run like a girl and not like a girl-runner. My gym instructor tells me there is a difference]. I'm not looking forward to the 18km training run about week 7.  =/

I keep asking myself why am I doing this. I'm not completely sure, but so far I've come up with the following:
a) I have nothing else to do over summer.
b) My friends are doing it.
c) So when I go to house parties and dance, people won't think I've gone for a swim when it's actually just excessive sweating. (real story)

I'm sure as I get more into it I will have to come up with some more reasons to keep myself motivated. But these will do for now.