100 Days to Go!

 

Yesterday was the first day of fall. The Autumnal Equinox began at 9:31 AM on Tuesday morning. Fall is my favorite time of year. The colors, the flavors, the smells and the cool brisk air makes me so happy! I will admit that I miss the longer days but when we have limited hours of sunlight, I believe it makes you appreciate the sun even more!

Well today, Wednesday September 23, 2020 I am celebrating 100 days left to this year!! This year, as we all know, has been a bit crazy and unpredictable. We have missed out on gatherings with family and friends, sporting events, races and so much more (too much to list). We as a country have rallied around front line workers but become divided over everything becoming a political issue. But I digress and it is not my plan to write about politics. 

It is my plan to celebrate these last 100 days. To embrace them and make the most out of them. During these 100 days I will try to break some bad habits that I started during this pandemic. I will go back to basics and try to improve what I started. I will continue something I started because it can only help not hurt and I will finish the year as I started it. What is all of this you ask...well let me explain.

At the start of 2020 I challenged myself to 100 days of journaling. It was something I embraced and found I really enjoyed. Although I am still journaling, I don't do it every day and some weeks it is only one day. So I am challenging myself again to take some time to write my thoughts down and embrace what isn't always easy. 

Recently I took on a challenge of 25 pushups a day for 25 days. I am 14 days into the challenge. I video tape myself and share it on social media to raise awareness for PTSD, anxiety and depression that result in suicide amongst men and women in the service. I also decided while I am down on the ground doing the pushups I would also throw in some planks and bridges. I announced at the end of the 25 days I would make a donation to a veterans organization, The Fisher Foundation.

Well I decided to continue this challenge for the next 100 days. I will continue the original challenge and post that on social media until I hit 25 days (11 days to go) but will continue with this until the end of 2020. I don't think I will video tape myself every day (I have to admit I don't like that) but I will figure out a way to share my accomplishments. And at the end of the 100 days I will make a second donation to an organization (to be determined).  I will admit I wonder if I can continue this one and it will be a challenge. But what do they say about challenges? They build character!?

I shared at the beginning I started some bad habits during this pandemic and with all of the changes going. Or maybe I broke some good habits that I want back. I have shared with you my struggles with getting focused on the research for my doctorate. I am distracted by the tv and what's on, and I have to admit I haven't found much. And I get distracted by wasting time on I don't know what but not anything important. So over the next 100 days I am challenging myself to dive into my school work. Work on it no matter what, get it done before I do anything else. I have wanted to accomplish this goal for so long...for over 30 years I can't give up now. So I am telling myself that every day I need to spend at least one solid hour doing my research and writing. You can do anything for 1 hour and you can accomplish a lot in 100 days!!

Finally, I am going back to basics. I need to limit my added sugar intake; lower my overall carbohydrate intake and increase my protein. This isn't any special diet it is what my body needs. If I increase my sugar intake and not pay attention to other things my body and GI track take a hit. I don't feel well and it can wreak havoc. I am not saying I am getting rid of everything because let's be honest some of the best holidays are coming up and that would be difficult. However, I need to pay attention and do what is best for my body in order to function properly. 

So I am embracing the next 100 days... the last 100 days of 2020 to do better and to be better. We have 100 days I can't be wasting time. 2020 wasn't all bad some good things happened. So with that I will not just wish my favorite time of year away, Fall, I will embrace it and try to make the best of the end of 2020!

#Keepmovingforward #Believe 

It was the best of times...it was the worst of times!

Through all my years of training for full and half marathons as well as triathlons of all levels I have discovered that you learn just as much, if not more, during a bad training day as you do during a great training day!

This weekend I had a 20 mile training run on the schedule. I decided I would do it on Saturday instead of Sunday to get it over with. I shared with a friend of mine that I had this scheduled and she asked, "are you ready?". I responded physically yes, I just need to stay out of my head. 

I had this brilliant idea that I would run the 20 miler during the last 4 hours of daylight. My thinking behind this was all of my training have been great when completing them after work compared to when I was doing them in the morning. So I got up, ran some errands and did some school work waiting for 3 pm, when I would start the run.

Around 2:30 I started to get ready. Bottles were full, stinger chews were lined up, one last trip to the fancy port-a-potty (the bathroom in my house) and I was off. I had my route mapped out. I would do a few different loops throughout my neighborhood giving me the option to return home to refill bottles and use the fancy port-a-potty. Things were going well.

Six miles down...return to top off the bottles. During the second loop I found myself drinking a lot more compared to the first loop and I was out of water by mile 10. I had two miles until I was home and my legs started to cramp...damn what was my body doing to me. I got back to my house, filled up my water bottles again and tried to start running again. My legs wouldn't move, they hurt, and I couldn't run another step. I ended up walking for an additional mile, thinking if I walked a bit I could start running again, that didn't work. I felt like I got hit by a Mack truck!

So what did I learn during all of this? Sometimes the best laid plans don't bring about the best results. Mentally I was ready for this run. I was excited to see if my brilliant plan would work. When it didn't and my body failed, I beat myself up. There was not one nice thing I was thinking about myself. So as I move forward into a new week I need to stay hydrated and let it go.

There is another 20 miler scheduled for Saturday!