Have you seen this movie?

It's kinda weird how the most random things can inspire people to change...I saw a movie back in November of last year called "Run, Fatboy, Run" with my roommates and that's where my running days started. It followed the life of a middle-aged man who many considered a loser; he was out-of-shape, just floating along in life in a dead end job with no real goals and he certainly wasn't living with purpose or fulfillment. His only joy came from hanging out with his son, whom he shared custody with his ex-wife. His ex drops the bomb that she's serious with this highly driven, highly successful guy and, of course, gets jealous and attempts to compete with him. After hearing that the new guy is running a marathon in a few months, he is inspired to run the marathon to prove to his ex and their son that he is a changed man, that he no longer runs away from challenges.

I was immediately intrigued and reflected back on my own life. For most of my life, I was that floater, the student who coasted his way through high school and college. I was driven, but when things got really tough, instead of buckling down, I settled in my old ways and crammed as much info as I could one or two nights before midterms and final exams, and luckily that was enough. That movie got me picturing myself 20 years down the line and I just didn't want to regret not living life, not working hard for things that I knew I wanted.

You're probably thinking, damn this movie must be amazing. A little more background...before this story I was already trying to incorporate positive habits into my routine, so I think of this movie as the final piece that motivated me to take control of my health and challenge myself at the same time. Looking into the future, I have big plans. By setting this huge goal (I've run one 5k in my LIFE and straight up don't like running), planning and organizing time to work towards that goal and overcoming barriers (physical and will power), I feel empowered and sincerely believe I can do anything I set my mind to.

Weekly Update:

1/25/09 - jogging total of 3.16 miles in 28 minutes
1/28/09 - jogging total of 3.22 miles in 28 minutes
1/30/09 - jogging total of 3.32 miles in 29 minutes
5k this Sunday in Huntington!

Exhausted!

Howdy peeps, it's Friday of week 2 and boy, am I exhausted! I just got back from Washington, DC on Wednesday afternoon and I'm still trying to recover from that 5-day long action-packed weekend. Not too much to update you guys this week in terms of running at least 10 miles, but I did manage to get some in this morning:

1/23/09 - 3.36 miles in 30 min
1/20/09 - 0.5 miles in 10 min (jogging to the gates before they closed off the last entrance to the National Mall to view the inauguration - check out the all the people traffic in the pic, 'twas bananas!)

Anyways, being away from home made it tough to stay on my routine, therefore, I consider traveling as a huge barrier keeping me from my goal. It is, however, only a barrier, and with proper planning and organization, I definitely could have brought several extra layers of running clothes and my running shoes to combat the forces of nature in Philadelphia and DC (but for this trip, I just focused on surviving the 20 degree temperatures).

A second barrier, somewhat related to the first, is getting sick or injured. I am experiencing some symptoms of a cold and felt a some buckling in my left knee as I was running on the treadmill this morning. Being sick or developing an injury is tough and is partly out of an individual's hands. Taking preventive measures such as eating well, resting, hydrating, proper hand washing and managing stress levels work to an extent to ward off illness. Proper stretching and acute awareness of body mechanics, techniques during exercise also help in preventing injuries. Unfortunately, sometimes illness or injury happens and all you can really do is rest and recover.

The last barrier I'd like to bring up, one that has affected my exercise routines in the past, is just flat out juggling too many things and having to drop a couple for a while. I think it's safe to assume that we've all experienced this - school transitions into midterms and finals and we resort to eating, sleeping and studying for extended periods of time while "temporarily" letting go of our exercise routine. Time management and planning usually can prevent huge disruptions in exercise schedules. By breaking up studying or projects into smaller, manageable chunks, one doesn't have to pull all-nighter after all-nighter during those particular weeks. Also, exercise is a great way to work off any stress that midterms, finals, projects and papers might bring.

I'm gonna do what?!?!

So I told the class on Wednesday that my goal was to run at least 10 miles a week for the next 16 weeks. That goal is definitely still on the table. Even before this class I became motivated to run a half-marathon (funny story to be included in future blogs)and was planning on running one on Super Bowl Sunday in Huntington Beach. Unfortunately, the day I finally had money to pay for the registration fees, was the same day that I realized it was already sold out...so, I ended up registering for a 5k, which I've done in the past, with the intention of building up to the big half-marathon, which I've already registered for on May 3.

Revised goal: Complete the Avia OC half-marathon, Newport Beach in 2 hours and 20 minutes.

Action plan: Run at least 10 miles a week for the next 16 weeks and gradually increasing total distance per week as the semester progresses.


Week 1 update:
1/14/09 - jogged 3.25 miles in 28 minutes
1/16/09 - jogged a total of 3.3 miles in 29 minutes