January 17-22

Monday - 360 Fitness for 20 minutes

I was able to fit the 20 minute workout into the afternoon. A little easier to schedule since Margie took Hailey and Derek all day. The workout felt great--especially needed to do more abs workouts. She covered that pretty well. I am liking the 20 minute workouts. Going to the gym including the drive would take 1 1/2 - 2 hours out of my day. It is nice to spend 20 minutes in my own house and be done with it. I do miss being around people and being outside of the house. I almost wonder if that is affecting some of the moodiness I was experiencing...not the sole reason...just a symptom. I might look into the running club once I finish my Animal Science class...maybe this spring or summer. I did go to the MOPS gathering last night and that helped. Even so...with the miserable weather keeping us trapped indoors, it's been tough.

Tuesday - Ran 3 miles

Yucky, yucky rain! When will it end!? The run went well though. I did the Liberty to Holder to Lone Oak route. I like it except I hate running on Liberty and hitting the three traffic lights all in a row. Once I get on to Holder, I feel more in the groove. The first mile I felt tired and winded, but picked it up by the second mile. It was raining the whole time, but not pouring. I ran during Rob's lunch again. My mood was horrible this morning, but it was the after affects of a rough late afternoon/evening that I am not so sure really had to do with the anxiety--different symptoms. Had nothing to do with the MOPS gathering either...that was a good distraction. Once I hit 10 AM today, I was fine. I really held it together all day. Even though the kids weren't great today, I was better and in control. I noticed the arm shakiness and head aches were non-existant. That makes all the different. I guess this is also turning into a mood journal. But nutrition/exercise/mood balance--it's all so related, isn't it?

Wednesday - 360 Fitness for 20 minutes

I really enjoyed it again today...though I wish I had the handweights. I did it in the afternoon while the kids napped, although Hailey played while I workd out. Moodwise, no issues at all today. Thank goodness!

Thursday - Timed Run - 2 miles

Mile # 1 - 7:24

Mile #2 - 16:19

I beat my time by last week (16:36 last Friday). After Mile #1 I felt more winded and struggled to keep my pace. I did the exact same course. The air was colder, but I should not have worn mittens because my hands were so sweaty and uncomfortable. I kind of like competing against myself and ultimately would love to try do a 5K in under 25 minutes eventually. My all time best time was around 24:50 or something like that and that was in May of 2004.

Weekend

And unfortunately I did NOT run all weekend. This was mostly due to scheduling problems and other committments. Maybe a lack of motivation too. I realized on Saturday it is not realistic for me to train for a half right now. Physically I know I could do it and run it well. Mentally I am doing a heck of a lot better. I am having a few side effects from the medication, but those outweigh the anxiety I was experiencing before. This Animal Science class is taking up a lot of time and energy. I enjoy it and I like learning the new material. But I am trying to juggle too much. Only running during the day is harder than I thought it would be. I am going to do the Team Winter 5K in April. I am going to be doing a rigorous 5K training plan to try and get my 5K at 25 minutes or less. For now I am going to keep doing 360 Fitness and 2 - 4 mile maintenance runs throughout the week. I am way more comfortable with this. It is way more realistic. Come this summer I might be able to look into halfs or full marathons again. I can only do one race like this a year or every other year at least. I feel good about my decision. I am reminded again and again I have slow my life down the next few months. I don't want to quit running, but I don't want to do hard core training right now either.