Good Enough is the Enemy of Excellence

It is such a motivational cliche and one that I generally don't put much stock in - if anything, I think in most efforts striving for the best often gets in the way off accomplishing the good. But when it comes to running, it certainly seems that good enough is my worst enemy.

I was pleased with my time for the Maritime Days 5K. Very pleased.

But what do I do with that contentment?

I slack off, of course!

I almost wish I'd posted a lousy time, if only because that would have been a wake-up call to snap me out of my "when I feel like it" approach to running. But a good time only serves to reinforce the "good enough" mentality.

Intellectually, I know I need to train more often. Not just to improve my times but also to improve my endurance - we are building up to a longer race, after all! - and to really cement the habit of running regularly.

But still I find myself making excuses.

It has been a long day. Every day is right now, with football practice starting at the crack of dawn for my oldest. But long is not the same as hard or tiring, and getting up with the sun means I have plenty of time to go for a run before the other kids even roll out of bed.

It is hot/cold/raining. Probably my worst cop-out, because we've had an absolutely lovely summer. Maybe a bit on the cool side, but for running cool is better than hot anyway.

I just don't feel like it. Well, at least that one is honest. We're in the middle of yet another stressful financial/career transition on top of a busier-than-usual summer, and my motivation and focus are just about shot. But exercise inevitably improves my mood and lowers my stress level.

I did go out for a run today, only my second in the two weeks since our last race. It was a perfect morning for it, not too warm, not a cloud in the sky, and very quiet in our little town that early on a Saturday morning.

As I ran, I found myself thinking about my stumbling blocks. 

The one that seems to really be dragging at me right now is money... My husband is quite unexpectedly back in business for himself, thanks to two layoffs in a row and a lack of solid full-time opportunities around here, so money is tight. Tight enough that I've had to pass on our second planned race for this month because I couldn't responsibly spend the $60 to register for it in the midst of all the back-to-school expenses and as we adapt to an unsteady cash flow once again. 

To make matters worse, our RunDisney dream is on hold indefinitely. With no ability to forecast our income, I didn't feel like I could register for either of the races we were interested in and they've both sold out now so even if the job situation improves there's no making it happen before my annual pass expires. 

I think the disappointment of having the "carrot" that started this journey so completely out of reach at the moment is messing with my head more than any other single factor. 

But my daughter doesn't seem to care - she's found other races she's far more interested in than anything RunDisney has to offer. She wants to do a color run, a glow run, a zombie run. She wants us to walk the Mackinac Bridge next year on my birthday. And she's making noise about the scariest run I can think of - the Detroit International Half-Marathon, which crosses into Canada through the tunnel under the Detroit river... A tunnel I don't even like to drive! Fortunately I have four years to prep for that one because she's not old enough just yet. 

Her interest in running has taken on a life of its own. She's even challenged my husband to start getting out there with us. 

So I have to find myself a new carrot and run on. 

One Quick Post

I am literally on my way out the door, but had to post a quick brag.

My town's 5K was this morning. Official results haven't posted yet, but MapMyRun is showing a total course length of 3.42 miles and a time of 48:15... For a per-mile split of 14:07.

That's right. 14:07!

A full minute per mile faster than the last 5K I ran back in June!

And that's with almost no training, just walking the dog and getting around on foot/bike like I always do during the summer.

Just imagine what I could do once I'm back on the training wagon.

Now, for 3 hours in the car to pick my son up from band camp...

I'll post a full race recap later.

I did it!

Only have time for a very quick post before I get back to the craziness that is May in my household, but I had to share the few pics I took and my thoughts about yesterday's Save the Manatees 5K.

The day could have gotten off to a better start. I woke up with a headache, totally self-inflicted so I was determined to power through it. See, I'm a caffeine addict. I don't mean I'm cranky before I have my morning coffee. I mean I get migraine-like withdrawal headaches if I don't keep up with the habit, and I was on the go so much on Friday between a morning run, afternoon at the park, and evening getting a new dog that landed on our doorstep settled in that I just didn't feel much like anything other than water. And I was paying for it as I got ready to go, but after a breakfast of Motrin and toast I was feeling a bit better by the time we got on the road.

It was cool and cloudy when we arrived, but as the morning progressed the sun did make an appearance. The weather really couldn't have been better - probably mid-60s with a gentle, warmish breeze. We got to Lake St Clair Metropark around 8:30, which gave us plenty of time to pick up our race packets and stretch a little before the 9:30 start.

Shanna had to have her picture taken in front of the giant manatee balloon.

It was clearly a family-oriented event. The race packet for under-12 runners included a really cute stuffed manatee. A DJ was on hand to entertain the crowd, playing a very beachy selection of tunes, heavy on the Jimmy Buffet. Very apropos since Jimmy Buffet is one of the founders of the Save the Manatee club. An adorable clown was on hand making some very creative balloon animals for the kids, including manatees of course.

The first race of the day was the Mini-Mile and it was really cute watching the little ones line up to run. The youngest child out there couldn't have been more than 3 or 4, and it got me thinking that next year maybe Katie would like to join us. 

Then it was our turn. The turnout was bigger than I'd expected, about 1200 people registered for either the 5K run or 2 mile walk, but once we got a few hundred yards from the start the course didn't feel crowded at all. Shanna and I ran together for about the first half mile, then I slowed to walk some and she left me in her dust. I only caught sight of her once after that, when the course doubled back on itself, and according to her time she was at the finish line about as I hit the 2 mile marker. 

The course itself was very nice. The park occupies a small outcropping into the lake, and the course went all the way out to the end before doubling back and winding through the more developed parts of the park. 

I ran about half of the first mile, then walked all of the second, then alternated between running and walking through the rest. My overall time wasn't bad - 46:47, which breaks down to 15:05 per mile. I'm shooting for 15 minutes as my first pace goal, because that feels comfortably under the 16min/mile pacing requirement for the time-limited races I'm interested in, so I did get close and was slightly faster than my best training run so far. I was disappointed with myself for not running more, though. I wasn't sore and was only mildly tired afterwards, so I know I could have pushed myself harder. 

I was very proud of Shanna, though! Her final time was 31:11, pretty good for a first effort especially since she abandoned me on our C25K program for the duration of track and baseball seasons! 

All in all it was a very nice outing. I'm taking today off to work on things in my garden and around the house, but I'll be right back out on the track tomorrow morning to get ready for the next race, which right now is looking like it'll a local charity fundraiser on July 20th. 

15:36

Today was cold. It was windy. It certainly didn't look anything like spring. But I stuck to my guns. No excuses.

My ankle and foot are still a bit sore, so I didn't want to push myself too hard or too far today.

I know when I start a workout in Zombies, Run! I absolutely despise not finishing. In fact, I've only done it once and only because my 4yo decided to have a total meltdown mid-run that necessitated an immediate return home. And once she was settled into her bed I left her in my husband's care and went right back out to finish what I started. So in the interests of listening to my body and taking it easy on my still-healing foot and legs I decided to skip running from the zombies for a day and go for a more free form walk/run instead.

I hit the track with one goal: to cover 5K in distance. No worries about pace or time and every intention of slowing down or even taking a break if I started hurting.

Not only did I cover that 5K without a break, I did it in a pretty solid time for me - 15 minutes, 36 seconds per mile on average.

For the first mile, I really didn't think I was going to make it. My ankle just isn't flexing normally yet and I had a hard time finding a comfortable stride. At the one mile mark I decided I'd just shoot for half the distance - 6 laps instead of 12.5. But by the time I hit that 6th lap I'd gotten into a pretty good routine, running 100 meters each lap and walking the other 300m. And before I knew it I was done, in just a hair over 50 minutes.

It isn't going to win any races but a 15 minute mile pace, sustained over the entire 3.1 mile distance, is my first major training goal. The minimum pacing requirement for Disney's 5K events as well as for several local races I am interested in is 16 minutes per mile, so training to 15 minute miles should give me enough of a cushion to work in water breaks and tying shoes and any other brief stops that might come up mid-race.

As I run more and walk less I'll obviously have to set a more lofty goal, but for a 200+ pound woman who is new to this whole running thing, 15 minutes per mile seemed a good place to start. And to be so close to that goal so early in my training is a real thrill!

The Most Embarrassing Injury

I went into the holiday weekend with the best of intentions. Yes, we would be busy visiting family on both Saturday and Sunday, but I was still going to fit in at least a short run.

Then I broke our stairs.

Okay, it wasn't entirely me. They weren't properly built nor installed, and we didn't realize the extent of the jerry-rigging until they crumbled. Think six foot wide, four foot high cast concrete steps... with no support other than the side walls, no back-fill when they were installed, and no reinforcing wire or rebar in the construction at all. It is amazing they lasted as long as they did... According to neighbors, the previous owners put them in a few years before they moved so they were probably close to 10 years old. And we have some very heavy construction going on in our neighborhood that is revealing all sorts of hidden weaknesses; our neighbor had two 100+ year old original basement windows shatter because of the vibration.

Really it was a blessing that I was the one to "discover" the weakness. My husband works in construction and battles a recurring ankle issue so this could have sidelined him just as we're going into his busy season.  I'd hate to see any of my very active kids get hurt, particularly with two of them starting track practice next week. And if it had happened a day later it could have been my 65 year old mom going up and down them when she came over for Easter dinner.

Still, it is pretty embarrassing for me to admit that I didn't run this weekend because I am too sore from falling through our front steps!

Thankfully, nothing is broken. My shins are bruised and a little scraped up, the heel of my right hand took a beating because I caught myself before falling completely, and my right foot and ankle are very tender and a little swollen from being trapped under a piece of concrete. But a long hot bath and an ibuprofen got me through Easter Sunday, including cooking dinner and the whole nine yards, and today brought some improvement.

If it hadn't been 40° and windy I might have braved a walk to test things out but between the general soreness, post-holiday exhaustion, and the foul weather I let the excuses win.

They won't win tomorrow.

The First Goal

I am not generally an ambitious person, but I am very goal oriented. That is, without a goal I have endless ability to procrastinate, make excuses, and otherwise drift along without accomplishing much of anything.

To combat that tendency, I knew I needed to find myself a tangible goal to keep me honest in my training. Not the vague "someday" goal of not only training for but also finding the money to add another trip for a Disney race before my annual pass expires in March of next year, but something that is right in front of me, looming on my calendar as a constant reminder to keep me focused.

Today, my daughter found that goal for me.

The 10th annual running of the Save the Manatee 5K.

Mommy brag time: My daughter is a brilliant, driven girl, active in so many things and with a clear goal for her future that she's had in her mind since she was very young. She wants to major in biology with an emphasis on marine biology and conservation. She absolutely fell in love with the manatees in The Living Seas pavilion at Epcot on one of our first Disney trips. Even before that she knew she wanted to work with animals when she grew up, but that was the start of a great fascination with the plight of marine mammals as their habitats see ever increasing human traffic. On our last trip to Florida, we even braved an unseasonably frigid 40° morning to kayak along a spring-fed river and see manatees in their natural habitat.

So when she came across the Save the Manatee 5K in doing research for a school presentation I knew we were going to have to register. I mean, what are the odds that we'd find a manatee conservation fundraiser that is held in Michigan, 1100 miles from the nearest manatee? And that it would be a 5K, scheduled for just about 2 months from now... more than enough time to train but still near enough to keep the pressure on. It is  the perfect first race for us.

On Saturday, May 18 I'll be running my first 5K. It isn't timed but I'm shooting for a 15 minute mile pace, since that's what I need to achieve for a Disney race. The course is through a very pretty and entirely flat park, so it really is ideal for a first event, and I am very much looking forward to it.

Zombies!

Twice I have started the Couch to 5K program, and twice I've dropped out. The first time I did it the old fashioned way, with my watch as a timer, because that was the best tech I had at the time. The second time, I tried the C25K Free app for my shiny new Android phone. But still I lost interest by week two or three.

Over this past winter I didn't walk or run. I hate the winter and I have that whole "not coordinated enough for land sports" thing working against me when it comes to running on ice and snow. Between the cold and my conviction that I'd somehow fall and break my neck, it was easy enough to make excuses and stick to half-hearted indoor workout sessions on the Wii.

Now spring is starting to peek in, tentatively and a little overdue but enough to banish the snow and ice and with them my excuses. So I've started training outside again. And just like the past two springs, I started thinking about the Couch to 5K program and setting race goals to keep me motivated.

Then I stumbled across a message board post - DisBoards to the rescue again! - about an app I knew I just had to try: Zombies, Run! 5K. It is the same basic idea as C25K - interval training to develop both speed and endurance - but it has a zombie apocalypse storyline that makes the time pass far more quickly and an internet game connected to the app that I can't wait to get further into.

I'm only through the first week so far but I can already say that I like it so much better than any other C25K-type program I've tried in the past. I actually look forward to each 'mission'. It even makes something I used to consider an annoyance - the fact that I often can't get out for a workout until the kids are in bed - into something I look forward to. There's something about running at night, on an unlit track, with only the sounds of your own footfalls and the frogs in the ditches, that fits perfectly with a training program that has zombies moaning through your headphones.

Oh, did I mention that something I love just as much as I love Disney is post-apocalyptic fiction? Or that I'm absolutely enthralled by The Walking Dead at the moment? No? Well, I do, I am, and that's probably why this app is such a perfect tool.

Today was supposed to be an off day for me, but I was feeling okay, not too sore and very well rested since it is the first day of spring break so I didn't have to get up early to haul kids to school. So I went out to do the final workout of week one around 10pm. My 11 year old joined me, which was really cute because she is using the same app but found it too creepy at night. She put on a playlist and followed my lead for the interval timing! Together we only covered a hair over two miles, quite a bit less than the four I logged on my own yesterday, but it was still a good workout.

I can't wait to see what my next mission brings. Week two is when I get to start collecting supplies to use in the online world-building aspect of the game.