Working out is fun?

I got a text last night from a friend that went something like this

"Will I ever look forward to working out?"  

This question comes up quite often in the gym setting.  It's hard to answer with just a "yes" or "no."  There are some days that I really look forward to my runs, and there are other days that I drag my feet (sometimes literally) and have to make myself do it.  Even though I'm a trainer, weight training isn't fun for me personally.  It's not something that I wake up thinking about for myself.  It's something that I think about how I can challenge my clients.  Yet, I know I still have to do it.  And that's what has made the difference.    

The other day I was trying to explain the importance of consistently working out to a lady who is lacking some motivation right now.  We figured out the best way for her to think about working out is personal hygiene.  If you can get it in your mind that working out is on the same level as brushing your teeth or taking a shower, it seems to take on a new meaning.  We started a list of how much better she felt when she's completely put together at work and how it definitely translates over to her workouts.

It doesn't matter if it's not always the longest, best workout you've ever done.  The effort each day is what is going to make the long-term difference.  If you do that, you will look forward to the feeling that you continue to get, regardless of the results you'll see as well.  


"You'll never regret that you did.  Only when you don't."  

New Running Shoes

My new running shoes...

Training is going well okay.

The weather is still extremely hot here, but the next few weeks should start to cool down a little.  Definitely ready to get back outside and run! 

Let the training begin...

First an update:
I'm still running...and still complaining(more in my head than to others).  Running is not a ton of fun yet.  Just work.


In other news:

Half marathon training has commenced.  We're registered for a half marathon on November 6th.  The heat is really throwing us off.  Almost all of my runs have had to be treadmill runs so far and as much as I don't mind running on the treadmill, I really want to be training outside.  I've decided to try to document some of the training process through this site. 

The true training test will be during family vacation.  The goal is to still complete every training workout...and convince my sister(share pros/cons, logical one) and brother in law(just need to mention that it would be fun!) that they should come and race with us!!  13.1 miles is so much more fun when you've got a friend or two with you!

Off to run...again.

Running and Complaining

After my run tonight, I was complaining a little about the difficulty of getting back into running after you've been out of it for awhile.  I know there are people out there that can jump back into it after taking a break- I'm not anywhere close to being like that.  I completely admit, I became almost addicted to helping other people get results that I put myself second to my clients, job, and life.  For the past few months, I've struggled (hence the break in the blog posts...), but I think I'm back.  

Anyways...

my favorite part of my cool down tonight was that during my complaining (I tripped on my run), my husband just looked up from his book and said-

Run when you can, walk when you can't, and crawl when you have to.

I stopped the complaining and remembered why I originally started running in the first place- To prove to myself that I could,  To conquer something I had never been able to do before, and To challenge myself to do something hard.

At the time I thought my husband was very insightful(which sometimes he is), but he told me a few minutes ago that he's been reading Run! : 26.2 stories of blisters and bliss by Dean Karnazes.  I'll be stealing it from him as soon as he's done (he just let me know that he's read 17 miles :-) 

Until then, I've realized that you need to be inspired just enough to keep going.  And that's exactly what I intend to do.