When there is no desire to “Just do it”

Sometimes just wanting it done (and not wanting to face one’s self the mirror after not doing it) is enough.

I really, REALLY didn’t want to run yesterday. What I really, REALLY did want was Sushi for lunch. And Sushi I got, along with agreeing to take over all the dog walking for the rest of the week if I didn’t run after work.

Speaking of Sushi (if I may digress for a moment) – despite the fact that I’ve been running 2-3 days/week and am going on my 3rd week of 2x sessions of getting my ass thoroughly kicked, I have been unimpressed that the number on the scale is not going down, and the pants aren’t yet feeling any looser. So I figured I’d start tracking what I’ve been eating (which I thought wasn’t all that bad).

And I found that indeed, what I eat most of the time is not all that bad. But I tend to ruin it completely with one disastrous food decision each day. For example: did you know that Gyoza is about 150 calories per dumpling? So 4 tiny Gyoza is about 20% of the calories I’m supposed to consume for an entire day? Me neither.

So now I’m using SparkPeople.com to track what I’m eating. And looking up what the caloric content for most foods are before I eat them. So far so good – though it’s only been one day.

Anyhow, back to the running. Last night we wrapped up week 5 of the Couch to5k program. It was a bit of an odd one.

Instead of doing 3 identical runs over a week, this week runners move into doing 3 progressively harder runs, going for longer runs each time. Day one is 3x 5min runs with 3 min breaks in between, day 2 is 2x 8min runs with a 5 minute break in between and day 3 is one 20 minute run.

Let that soak in again – twenty. minutes. of running. no stopping.

And let me remind you – this is on a program that, 5 weeks ago, had me running a mere 60 seconds at a time without stopping, and feeling like I was going to barf while my head and lungs exploded at the end of that burst.

To say I was a little nervous would be an understatement.

Anyhow.

I was all ready to brag about my 8 minute runs once I finished them, but I was foiled. I (usually) run on Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays, and see my Trainer on Tuesdays & Thursdays. That particular day he had decided that he wanted to a cardio benchmark, and had me do a 12-minute run. With the caveat that I could slow down and walk at any point if I felt I needed to.

So I told myself I’d get to the 8 minute mark (since I’d be doing just that the next day) and see how I felt. And at 8 minutes, I felt… okay. So I kept running. For another 4 minutes. And it was fine!

I ran 12 minutes without stopping! At a 12min/mile pace!

I JUST RAN A MILE!

So the next day I did my 8 minute runs, and figured I’d save the bragging for after I finished the 20 minute run.

Run day came. And along with it, the promise of rain and snow. I put off the usual lunchtime run (when it was still pretty pleasant out), and opted for after work, hoping I’d feel more like running later on.

I didn’t. I wanted to do anything else.

But slightly more powerful than that, I wanted the run to be over with – and the only way to make that happen is to go out and do it already.

And so I did.

I ran.

For twenty whole minutes.

Without stopping.

And didn’t barf!

With tiny rainy snow-pellets pounding me in the face, and soaking wet feet. I did it.

And then I went home at ate soup. And skipped dessert. Stupid Gyoza.