Yes, I'm a Slacker

I’ve been terrible about keeping up this blog lately, in part because I feel like I don’t have anything new to say and in part because I haven’t had enough time to do much reading and commenting on others’ blogs. But I thought I’d check in and count myself among the living.
I feel like such a slacker with so many other bloggers taking on new races and challenges at this time of year – Lara’s half-marathon, Susan training for one, Jon training for a marathon, Jack running his second, Mia keeping up a running schedule with a freakin’ NEWBORN?! The list goes on…And I have dropped any racing plans, and am just focusing on exercising for fitness and enjoyment – including some running, but also walk/jog workouts and hiking – with the family, with friends, etc. I am really enjoying myself, and finding it easier to keep in control of my eating than when I’m ramped up on a pre-race running schedule. The racing bug will no doubt hit again, and I fully expect to be starting a more formal training program for running in the spring, but for now I’m treating my running as a good friend that understands if I only call a few times a week instead of almost every day. ;-)
I mentioned in my last post that we’re going to Australia in February – my husband is leading a study group there, and we’ll be living right on the coast in New South Wales for 4-1/2 months. So we’ll be leaving the dead of winter in central New York and going to a place where it will be summer. Should be a great adventure! And I’ve already learned of a running club there, called the Kembla Joggers, that sounds like a great group and also sponsors some races, training runs, etc. So that is enough to keep me motivated to at least maintain a semblance of running conditioning without actually training for a race in the near future.
Happy running and racing to everyone! I’m enjoying the vicarious experience of reading about all your training and racing adventures.

Back to the routine...

The kids, hubby, and I are all back to our normal school/work schedules, and things are busy but going well. We've been having some unbelievably beautiful weather around here, and fall - my favorite season in central NY - is in the air.
I have decided that the half-marathon ain't gonna happen for me, and I'm okay with that. In the last couple weeks before school started, we had tons of family activities together, and lots of other things going on, and I was starting to get super-stressed about trying to get my long runs in (I had gone up to 8 miles). Then I realized that it made no sense for my RECREATION to become yet another source of stress for me! In addition to the fact that I wanted to spend as much time as possible with the kiddos before they headed back to their full school schedules. Those long runs, and recovery from them, sure do take up a good chunk of a day, at least for me! And I realize I could still run the race, and probably still finish even with what I've done so far, but I don't have any need to prove that to myself, and I'd rather run a race like that when it can seem like a real achievement rather than just something to struggle through so I can say I did it. When I ran a half-marathon before getting pregnant with my daughter, I had really trained well for it over a period of months and was in excellent physical condition, and I felt so great about it - I want to feel the same way the next time I run one!
Part of what threw off my running schedule over the last couple of months was the fact that, since my daughter switched to her "big girl" bed, she comes in to get me in the middle of the night and wants me to sleep the rest of the night with her (luckily, we got her a full-size bed!). I know I should be a hard-ass about it, and make her sleep by herself, but damn, I know how fast their growing up goes by, and it won't be too long before she doesn't want to be seen with me, let alone have me sleep half the night with her! So my early-morning runs went by the wayside for awhile, but I am now able to sneak out early without waking her up and still get them in. Those early-morning runs really help me keep consistent with my schedule, so I'm very psyched to be getting back to them.
I'm re-evaluating what I should be doing with my running at this point. Despite doing a lot more running this year, my weight has stayed roughly the same, so I'm at the point of wanting to use my running more as a fitness/weight loss tool instead of just an end in itself. I'm considering heart-rate monitor training toward this goal, as well as walking breaks during my long runs and walking on days I don't run. If I find that all doesn't keep me focused enough, I'll pick a race somewhere out in the distance and start training for it. And I hope by this time next year to be training for at least a half-marathon, if not a marathon! We head to Australia in February for 4-1/2 months, so I'll have a short winter this year!
Loved reading about the New Haven RBF meetup on various blogs - sounds like a blast!