Back to Work

Ok, so my summer has ended and I'm back to work.  Last week was Inservice and the kids come back tomorrow.  I have always had a difficult time maintaining an exercise routine when my schedule changes.  In college, I was thrown off every term or whenever I got a new job, my work schedule changed, or I got sick.  Work and school always came first.  This year, I'm determined to keep up my running schedule.  It will be my main priority once the kids leave my classroom.  I honestly believe I can do it this time for many reasons:

1. I'm still very focused on running a spring marathon.
2. I have a running schedule set to take me through to my first 1/2 marathon at the end of November.
3. I'm so tired of quitting and having to start over.
4. I'm finally noticing changes, both physically and mentally, and I like them and don't want to lose them.
5. My district is trying to improve employee wellness and health, so exercising is encouraged.
6. I'm looking forward to running in the rain again! (I'm a true Oregonian!)
7. I'm learning how to flex my running schedule to fit into my life schedule.
8. I love the person I am becoming.
9. I feel like I have a purpose.
10. I WANT to keep running!

So that's an even 10 reasons.  There are probably more, but the point is that I'm going to do what I can to keep my momentum going.  I do worry about getting sick and missing runs, but hopefully nothing too bad will develop and I'll be able to keep running.  I've been running for about 5 months now.  I think this is the longest stretch of continuous exercise I've maintained since college.  August has been my best month so far!  Last spring, I discovered that it worked well for me to run at 4 in the town in which I work.  That gives me time for a snack when the kids leave and then I can drive home when I'm done and be able to worry about home stuff when I get there.  My running bag went with me all last week and will remain in my car so that I can run whenever I have time.  The biggest challenge this year is that my husband now works at my school, so he'll have to wait for me to finish running before we can go home and no one will be home earlier to let the dogs outside.  I don't think it'll be too big of an issue, though.  He's also started running again with our big dog, so we may come home in time to run with the dogs.  We'll see.

I took this little monster running with me yesterday.

 This is Steve.  He used to run with me years ago, but lately I haven't been taking him.  He pulls and that worried me since I had knee issues earlier this year.  Also, I constantly seem to run into loose dogs.  Most of them are friendly, but my little Stevie is overly protective of me and has been known to try to pick fights with other dogs.  I worry about his aggression causing an unsafe situation.  I read about some spray citronella (or something) stuff that will deter dogs.  I may look into purchasing some of that.  I know Stevie needs more exercise and he gets very sad when my husband takes our big dog running with him, so I think it is worth it to take him with me.  He could also stand to lose a couple of pounds.  

Yesterday, Stevie did very well.  I am so happy with him!  Since it was my short run (3 miles.  It's strange that that seems like a short run now!), I decided he'd be able to make it that far without too much trouble.  He calmed down a lot about halfway through.  We had to pause a couple of times at the park so he could cool down by swimming in the pond.  I'm going to try to take him with me a few times a week.  Hopefully, when I hit my really long runs, my husband and both dogs will be able to come with me.  I will feel safer that way.

Another important milestone of this week is that I hit 5 miles for my long run!  Yay!  The great thing is that it wasn't that hard.  I didn't worry too much about my pace and just focused on running slow and steady.  I don't want to say it was easy because that would mean I wasn't going fast enough, but I still had energy at the end.  Everything I've read says to take the long runs slowly to avoid injury, so that's what I'm doing.  I'm feeling very optimistic about my running goals.  It's going to be a great year!

Cheers!
Ashley