Morning run

I so didn't want to get out of bed this morning. The plan was for a run somewhere between three and eight kilometres. I told myself that all I had to do was 3 km. With that promise I managed to get myself up and out of the building. Once I was dressed it didn't seem too impossible, but it took me ages to get out the door.

It was lovely outside, but I was in that "I don't want to be running" frame of mind, which meant that I didn't appreciate it. I managed to run a whole 500 metres before deciding that walking was a good idea. I got myself running again by setting myself targets to reach before I was allowed to walk. I did find that I was able to run further when there was a walker on the path. Isn't vanity a powerful motivator?

After about 2 kms I found myself coughing away and realised that I was probably so reluctant about running because I'm still not over the sinus infection I had last week. I felt a lot better about the whole expedition after that. I gave myself a mini goal of running home from the turnaround point and I managed to run most of the way, apart from the coughing fit. I was out for just over 25 minutes.

I've made a decision to start losing weight again. Being an advanced dieter (thanks Kathryn for the phrase) I know exactly what I need to do for me to regularly lose half a kilo a week. All I have to do is keep on doing it. I made a good start today. I've written down everything I've eaten, I've made my calorie and exercise targets for the day, I've drunk plenty of water and I've bought lots of healthy food for the next few days.

The last few times I've decided to lose weight I've been half-hearted about the effort, and I've managed to sabotage myself almost before I've started. This time I'm feeling really positive about my decision. I've decided to enlist help from people, which is new for me. Hopefully it will make a difference. I've really noticed that exercising with people makes it easier, so I'm hoping that losing weight with people will also make it easier. I've decided to set myself some mini goals and rewards, as this was really effective when I lost weight before. I just have to work out what the rewards are. Instead of starting over Christmas and setting myself up for failure, I deliberately waited until after the holidays. It's much easier for me to manage my eating when I'm away from home.

I had planned to go for a swim today. I was going to swim and run this morning, but when I was so reluctant to get out of bed I decided that I'd just run and that I'd swim this evening. Then I realised it was very hot and it's school holidays. I just couldn't face a crowded swimming pool this evening, so I went for a walk instead. When I lost most of my weight previously I was doing a lot of walking so I am going to try to keep up my step count. Mind you, I wasn't organised enough to take the pedometer out of the aggravating plastic packet today, so I have no idea how many steps I took. I walked down to the swimming pool then to the supermarket and home. I was out for a little over an hour.

Tomorrow the plan is for a swim and a run. Hopefully I'll manage both.