For the last few months I have been in a running rut...I guess if my glass was half full it would be called a maintenance period..but if my glass was half full I would have been powering along instead of wallowing in the rut.
I have been content with 5k training runs 3 times a week, but a few weeks ago I realized I am entered in 13,14 & 21k runs that I don't know if I have what it takes to run.
So I got off my butt, last week I ran 3 10k training runs, which was amazing psychologically and physically. I am happy I can cover the distances in the runs I'm entered in now, but my goals are slightly shifted.
I have decided I want to achieve average 5min30sec kilometers across all distances.
Getting off my ass can be accredited to a few things, firstly I had my massage therapist treat my ankle which after 2 treatments and several bruises is at about 90% of what it was pre rolling. Secondly I swam/rode/ran the family triathlon with 3 of my nephews this year, and I saw how my passion for running had impacted my nephews, on in particular is developing a very healthy passion for sport, which is something I wish I had as a teenager. To influence someone by my running makes it incredibly rewarding.
Secondly I was going through the scenario of where I would have been from a health perspective had I not turned my fitness around. Would I have diabetes yet, heart disease, would I be able to walk up a flight of stairs without dying. This put my achievement in a new light, all of a sudden I realized that I have managed to take one foot out of the grave and kick morbid obesity in the ass with it.
Lastly we got a new trampoline for the kids. This is a little odd but, I really like our new trampoline, it's big enough for me, and then kids just love time on there with me. I really want to be able to do a forward flip, and more importantly teach the kids to do tramp tricks. There is no was the fat old me could have done this, as by now without running I would be over the weight rating for the trampoline. Instead I'm doing flips, and jumps so the kids have a role model.
Running now feel like I am working towards something again, each step is a reward for changing my life, each step sends out a spiritual shockwave that hits my kids and pushes them towards an active life away from a sedentary one, it seems that the shockwave extended further than I first imagined, which makes running even more worth it.
I no longer run for myself, I run for my family, and for the feeling of being endorphin stoned :)
So I am in love with it all again, fitness, running, the new trampoline and especially the impact it all has on my family.
