Almost a year: a smattering of thoughts

April 30 will mark a year since Gabi and I ran the Illinois Marathon! To this day I still can’t believe we did it!

I believe a year ago, I was in the best shape of my life! I had tons of energy, was running anywhere from 15-30 miles a week and I had it goin’ on. Really. I mean, I ran a 46:18 8K in Chicago! For me, that’s flippin’ awesome.

July 8 will mark a year since we’ve been in El Paso. There are so many things I can complain about when it comes to running in the desert, or working out here in general, especially since by next week we’ll have temps in the 90’s. Yes. 90’s in April. Oh my. So, here goes. I’m just gonna get it out of my system, ok?

• It’s hot
• It’s dry
• I have to get up at the butt crack of dawn to get a run in before temps soar,
• The gym (you know, the free one on post) is a 10-15 min drive away

When I was working full-time (and going crazy…) I would have given anything to have time to work out more and just have the energy to do it. Now that I’m working part-time, I should be all gung-ho about working out, right?

Heh. Not so much.

Running and I have not been getting along. Once I’m actually running and can see and feel my progress, I’m good. But lacing up my shoes to run outside in our less than scenic side of town? Ugh. I miss the river, and parks, and trails, and GREEN. (Please, cry me a river because the Rio Grande here is nothing more than an oxymoron.)

I’m not really sure where running and I will go. Currently I’m not signed up for any races. I’m not sure that’s the key to getting motivated, either.

I’ve been attending spin and kettlebell classes once a week for a couple weeks now. I love group fitness because it gives me accountability. As in, I get there before class starts, and I stay until the end. Sometimes peer pressure is good! No one wants to be that person who chickens out and leaves before the class is over.

I think something that will help my cause is to work out more at home. I have a yoga mat and I actually did use it this morning! I found this workout on Pinterest, and man, it kicked my butt!

I also did this workout to the best of my ability:

And of course, this is always some motivation….