A little news...

Whew - what a weekend. I can't wait until weekends feel more like a little break, rather than feeling like I have to come back to work to rest! LOL

Weekend was great, eating and exercise went very well. The weekend always makes me a tad nervous, because there is so much opportunity for eating poorly. I mean, that's what weekends were ABOUT for a long time. Where should we go to eat? The activities we enjoyed were centered on what restaurants were in the area.

Of course, that was also pre- two-kids-who-don’t-wanna-sit-still-in-any-restaurant. Probably lucky for us!

SO, I have a 5K coming up on Sunday. It's my first one since LAST March, when I ran/walked a 5K with bronchitis (in my defense, I didn't KNOW it was bronchitis at the time) and got pneumonia out of it. Hmph. I feel MORE prepared to run this one, but not totally confident I can run the whole thing (as in, without walk breaks). I have been training on rolling hills, and I think that will help, since this is totally flat. It should feel a bit easier.

Yesterday, while running, I could actually feel what people mean by "establishing your pace". As a mostly non-runner, I never really understood what that felt like. However, I think I felt my "pace" and it felt comfortable! I mean, comfortable, running? WHA?? I never thought that would happen! Running = pain, right?? Well, some of it did yesterday (especially the damn hills...) but much better than I have felt before while running. So, this race makes me a tad nervous, because I want to run the WHOLE thing. Of course I will finish - no brainer - but running the whole things is the ultimate goal. I would be ELATED.

My training (as any good little C25K-er) has consisted of running and walking intermittently. So far, I have run for 5 minutes at a time, with a walk of 2 minutes in between. Another thing I have noticed while doing this: I recover MUCH faster than I used to. As soon as I stop running, my heart rate drops significantly, and seems to be almost normal only a minute or so into the walk. This is great and speaks well to my physical conditioning. Makes me happy.

I know running at 5 minutes at a time seems ridiculous to runners, but I feel good about it. I know I could push myself for longer, but I have been following my program. Even when I was sorta-kinda training myself last year, I would only run for a song length, 3-4 minutes max. I am improving.
Isn’t that the point?

The hubs is running with me, but has not been able to train quite the way I have. He is very self-conscious about walking on the raceway, and I am trying to calm his fears. I explained there are plenty of walkers in 5K's like these, and we would be in good company... one thing I am a little worried about is that he will really want me to stay with him, and I will really want to try and do my best with this race. I'm feeling very torn about this. We will see what he says.

So, as promised - I have some news. I have officially decided to stop teaching. I informed all of my private students this weekend. Some didn't seem to care all that much, and a few were upset. But, I know this is the right decision for ME. I can't worry about what other people think about me. Only what I think of myself. So, as of the beginning of May (yes, I had to give them some time to find a new teacher!) I will have only ONE job! I'm very relieved and happy. Looking forward to the Spring and Summer when I have more time to devote to my family.

Till next time, soldiers! Keep moving forward!