Wednesday, January 20, 2010

First Full Mile!

School is officially back in session, which means I can look forward to waiting in line for a treadmill AND changing in a room with 30-ish skinny, athletic girls (yep, I'm officially out of the bathroom stall) everyday (almost) for the next few months.

I got to the SERF at 8:30 this morning and was up on the cardio floor soon after. I'm always winded by the time I reach the 4th floor BUT then I use a stairmaster and I'm fine for (what it claims to be) 60+ floors. Can someone explain this to me? It's embarassing to be out of breath before I even get on a machine.

Anyway, today I spotted an open treadmill immediately. I saw at least 2 other people walking towards it, but I pretended not to see them and hopped on. What can I say? I'm ruthless. It had been awhile since I had gotten one because usually I'm banished to the less-popular equipment (like the ancient, bulky stairmaster that sounds like a vacuum cleaner, left.) or a stationary bike. No one likes those. They're treated like a quiet bookworm is treated in high school; ignored unless interaction is unavoidable. I like to think the elliptical is like me in high school: kind of weird and not easy to get used to at first, but actually really awesome. (No, I don't really think about these things when I'm working out. Don't mind the rambling, I'm exhausted).

As you already know from the title, I ran my first mile today. Since I finally got on a treadmill today, I decided to use my time to see just how far I could run. I can't even remember the last time I ran. I hate the cold, so I really rely on those treadmills. After a short warmup, I pressed the little "up" arrow until I really couldn't handle the speed anymore. I didn't even look at the number. I didn't want to know. I just focused on my music, the skinny guy in the too-short shorts in front of me (never fails to gross me out), "The Today Show" playing on the plasma screen with captions too small to read. Anything. I just kept running until I couldn't. By the time I looked down, I had already run almost the entire mile and I suffered through the rest of it, just to say that I did.

So, now I'm saying it. I ran a mile!

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

The Little Engine That Will

Second day back from winter break and lemme just say, I am SO proud of myself. Not for the running (I didn't do much, bra issues) or the stationary biking (I am in love with those things!) but because I've changed so much since I started. It really hit me today. Instead of dreading the treadmill, I'm actually excited to get on. All the way to the gym I was hyping myself up on the bus, perfecting my playlist and impatiently waiting for my stop.

I always heard that the "I can't" attitude is purely psychological, but I never took that to heart. On my first couple runs I was "The Little Engine That Could (But Really Didn't Feel Like It And Therefore Decided It Couldn't)" chanting "I know I can't, I know I can't."

As soon as I proved to myself that I CAN enjoy running (or cardio in general) and it really DOES make me feel better, my tune changed to "I know I can, I know I can. I will."



Song of the Day: "Boom Boom Boom" Black Eyed Peas remix with Kid Cudi

GD: -1 (I'm going to keep track of my "good decison jar" resolution on here. I'm less likely to lose a blog than a notebook. I'm still in the negatives because the first 3 days of the year were lazy ones.)

Monday, January 4, 2010

the new year

I lost my wallet last night. I do this kind of thing all the time. I left it on the bus and, long story short, I tracked it and caught the same bus when it was back in my area (after it went all over town). Luckily, it was still on the seat where I left it. The point is, when I realized my wallet was gone my first thought was that without my student ID I wasn't going to be able to get into the SERF. I panicked! It took a few minutes before I even thought about my bus pass, cash, credit card, etc. I guess I was really excited to get back, huh? Progress!

The SERF re-opened its doors today after a break for the holidays; from now until the ever-so-distant 5K I will supposedly be running in August, it won't be closing for any more extended periods of time. I have no more excuses for skipping the gym for more than a few days at a time. I think I can handle that. I hope I can handle that. It's going to be a tough semester. I hope I can continue to see exercise as a way to relieve my stress instead of another obligation that will add to it.

Tonight, the SERF was packed. I mean, it's always pretty busy, but this time there were actually lines to get on the machines. I'm guessing it's because everyone is beginning their new workout routines for their resolutions to lose weight, get more exercise, train for a 5K because their mother told them to, etc., etc., etc. I think for the past few years my resolution has been to lose weight and get in shape, not because my weight is a particularly pressing issue in my life, but because every year around this time everyone starts talking about their resolutions and weight loss is mentioned at least 234349 times. I just think "sure, that sounds fine. I'll go with that" and then, like everyone else, I'm back to my usual greasy-fingered habits by mid-January. That's good news for me; it'll only be a few weeks before the SERF clears out and I'm able to get back on my favorite treadmill.

I'm trying something new this year. I read in a magazine that a good idea for a resolution is to start a "good decision jar". The idea is that you put a dollar in for every good decision you make and at the end of the year you buy yourself something you usually wouldn't splurge on. I'm doing it a little differently, though. First of all, I'm going to do it on a day-by-day basis. If I feel good about the decisions I made all day, then it's +1, but if skipped the gym and headed to Cold Stone, it's -1. I'm not going to give myself a dollar for each "good decision" because then I'll convince myself that everything I do is a good decision just for the excuse to use the money on an expensive trip abroad. Because, if you know me, that's really all I want. I'm not going to use real money everyday, though, because I'm sure I'd find a way to leave it on the bus and some lucky person would find a jar full of MY good decisions.

Who knows? Maybe I'll forget about this whole thing in two weeks.