Making Strides

I feel like the first half of January was a bleak, depressing time for me. I remember feeling uninspired, tired, unmotivated and just plain BLAH. Maybe it was a case of the post-holiday blues, or the combination of short, dark days and cold, snowy weather. Or maybe it just WAS. The important part is that I'm feeling better and am doing the most I can do to change the things I can.

Today is the first OFFICIAL week of half marathon training! Woo! I do believe having something to focus on training-wise really helped me break out of my funk. Things are going fine so far. It's a pretty basic week (running, cross training, etc.) so nothing too exciting to report there.

I've been making friends with the Parks & Rec treadmills and have used those the past two Saturdays for some long runs. While I can't say I LOVE the 'mill, I do appreciate that I have access to them. I'm trying to embrace them for what they are instead of loathing them for what they aren't. And I'm trying to use the 'mill's benefits in my favor, namely being able to set a steady pace, the option for interval workouts, etc.

Tomorrow is normally my spin class (which I adore), but a local running store is starting a women's running group during my spin time so I'm ditching spin to check out the group. I'm super duper excited about the potential to meet some other local runners and would love having a group to run with again. But it can only happen if the time moves. I've already paid for spin, I love it, it's a great cross-training workout and I'm going to keep going. We'll see what happens tomorrow. At the very least, I know I'll get in a run!

I'm looking forward to cashing in a Groupon I bought earlier this month. It's for a private gym/boot camp that I've heard GREAT things about. I just can't decide if I want to do the 1 month of boot camp or 4 personal training sessions. They both have their merits and I think it's win-win no matter which way I go.

Lastly, I'm super psyched that I seem to have broken through a nasty weight plateau I've been fighting for at least a month now. I'm down 4 more pounds (33.4 total!) and am sitting right at 181.6. I hope I can blow off another 2 pounds and get me under 180. (Under 180. Man. I remember when I was hoping for the day I'd get under 210.) So close to that ultimate goal of 175!

I feel like I'm making some good strides towards my big goals and I like it. I know I have a long road ahead of me--I have no delusions about how difficult things will get very soon--but I like how I feel and the direction things are moving! I just have to stay in motion...