Excuses and Running Links

This past week became an excellent example of how easily I can go from being on a consistent running schedule to accidentally taking seven days off.

The week went like this:

• Monday: I had a good two-mile run late at night with M. Felt awesome, but my knee was killing me afterward.
• Tuesday: I usually run every other day, so it was normal to take a day off. Plus, Valentine's Day! So I didn't feel guilty about not running.
• Wednesday: My birthday...this seemed like a good enough reason to take the day off. We had friends over for dinner and cake, and it was a work night. I got to bed late.
• Thursday: My allergies caused intense sinus pressure, stuffed nose, and played havoc on my asthma. Another day off, and early to bed.
• Friday: We left for the weekend to go to Miami, which had been planned ahead of time anyway for my birthday. So...clearly no running there, since I had work and then had to pack and get the animals squared away.

Now, usually if we're out of town for a few days I'll pack a set of running clothes just in case. But I'm so unfamiliar with the areas we were going to, I figured I wouldn't want to run on my own. Little did I know that one of our friends brought workout gear and hit the gym while we were there. So I missed out on that, and felt tremendously guilty about it.

We did a lot of walking around a catamaran show on Saturday, and we walked downtown to dinner instead of driving. So Sunday, when we finally arrived home late, I wasn't very motivated to run.

So that brings us to Monday. A full week with only one run in. I know a week off is easy enough to catch up on, but in the past when this has happened, a week usually turns into two or three without my even realizing it. The difference this time is my new NY resolution to be more consistent. And, of course, seeing tons of runners in Miami and Fort Lauderdale really had me feeling jealous and antsy to get out there.

(And can I mention the abundance of gym-hard bodies on the beaches there?! Talk about motivation!)

The plan for tonight is to run without overdoing it. The last thing I need is to hurt my knee, giving me another excuse to take some time off.

The bad news is that I've been planning to run the Hooter's Half Marathon on March 4, and it's unlikely I'll be up to that. Realistically, I just know I'm not going to be ready in two weeks' time.

But this weekend raised a lot of good questions for me, including questions about being a runner but not being competitive, or not wanting to really increase mileage. Those are posts for another day.

Now, I leave you with some interesting reads of the running variety:

Treadmill vs. Running Outside
Chocolate is Good for Endurance
The Dangers of Eating Disorders in Runners
3 Part Training Plan
Jog.fm Running Songs
Running and Immunity
The Color Run - a FUN 5k!
6 Benefits of Running
The Hooters Half

ABK