Week one done

How to improve were the buzz words a week ago. A good portion of the population was putting some thought into what they needed to do to change their bad habits and everything needed to start with the timing of the new calendar year. There was a flurry of articles concerning weight, health, and nutrition. Get your plan, start your charts, make those improvements, now is the time.

It's been a week since the brand, spanking new 2016 rolled in. What has happened during that week? Is it time to reminiscence about what took place and what we need to do for the future? It's not a bad idea. Taking a closer look can keep you on track because it can help keep you focused on the important things. It should come with the warning that it can't turn into a beat-up session where you take issue with things that didn't work or didn't get done. There is no progress in that. This process must stay objective.

For my one week report I can say:

• Ran a 5K on 1/1/16 and (surprisingly) came in third in my age group. (Didn't see that one coming).
• Started and kept to my second week of run training (See, everything doesn't start with the New Year-I started before)
• Wrote up a daily blog post
• Started exercise one of my Plot Whisperer workbook.

Not too shabby for one week but then it IS the first week and that always goes well, right? So what now? Keep it up. Look for another race to sign up (yikes! not sure why that is so scary now). Keep going with the run training, write some more, and smile about it. I think the most important thing to remember about this entire How to improve idea is it takes a lot of consistent patience. Make it count, enjoy the moments, and yeah, get it done.

TT

Fast but unamazing

My three mile run on the treadmill yesterday afternoon flashed by at an incredibly fast pace. That is in comparison to the laughable experience of the day before where I managed a 5 mile run, in my home, without a treadmill. It was mostly running in place in front of the television with spurts of actual movement during commercials. Who does that?

I was trying to avoid opting out of running completely. I knew there was no way I was running outdoors due to the poor weather. I wasn't looking forward to going to the gym. I was leaning heavily toward skipping the run. My solution was to stay in the comfort of my own home but still try for some kind of running. I don't know where these ideas come from but my tracker was able to let me know when I reached 5 miles while running in place and actually running through the house during commercials. It took forever, but I got what I wanted. It made yesterdays 3 miles on the treadmill a breeze. There is something to be said about forward motion.

I'm not sure it was such an amazing idea but the thought of having a group of people running in place at my house is funnier than Woody Allen. Can you imagine the chaos when the commercials came on and everyone headed out into the rest of the house, dodging kitchen chairs, living room tables, and each other? Can you imagine Jay coming home during this run and asking what the heck is going on? He would have said the same thing if he caught me doing it all alone. The day I did that. It seems like fiction but it isn't. It was a long, slow, kinda crazy way to run 5 miles but I got it done.

Yesterdays three miles on the treadmill was fast, but much less interesting.
TT

Show up

I read somewhere that Woody Allen once said. "Ninety percent of success is showing up." I wasn't trying to find out how to be successful and I'm not sure I'd take advice from Woody Allen although he can be humorous. I do think being funny is important. It's hard to be happy if you're goal is to keep a straight, serious face all the time. You need to practice the art of smiling and if there is someone that can help do that for you, it's a plus.

Sometimes you need to rely on yourself. I was struggling with myself yesterday. I had a 5 miler scheduled. I was freezing all afternoon at work. The outside weather was horrendous. I was visualizing my options dwindling from running outside to facing the use of the treadmill at the gym. I could tell my mind was wanting to figure out how to recalculate when to run.

I knew when to run. It had to be that day. It's a schedule with little room for variation and let's face it, I'm only on week two. Mess up already? But my mind was giving it a rethink. Options: 1) Run outside-nope. 2) Run at gym-eehh. 3) Don't run-looking better. Option three was coming at me full-force. Then I thought again. If option 3) Don't run was fitting into place, than anything would be better than option 3.

I knew I recorded an hour long show on my DVR I hadn't watched yet. What if I ran at home while watching the show with all commercials? That would be an hour. And no, I don't have a treadmill but running in place is something, right? It would be the anything is better than option 3, right?

It's what I did. It took me an hour 15 minutes to get my 5 miles. You just can't get any pace speeds running in place. I gained a lot of ground during commercials when I would actually run through the house. Thankfully, there wasn't anyone else home, and that last half mile sped away as I actually moved from bedroom to kitchen to lapping the living room into the den and back and then back again. Commercials were my life savers because I got to actually move instead of kicking up my knees with no forward motion.

I will go to the gym today to run my scheduled 3 miler. It will be a breeze and I bet my pace will be awesome. It's ridiculous to run in place for 5 miles but I can say I got it done. You have to get outside your mental box sometimes to realize the other options aren't so bad. And I think I was at least ninety percent successful since I found a funny way to show up. I'm counting it.
TT

Get to work

I've dived back into the pool of the regular job after an especially long and nice vacation. It isn't as bad as it could have been since it was a break for many and not only me. At least I showed up, which has to be tough on people who managed to contract some illness over the holiday and remain sick even when the calendar tells them it's time to return.

I guess I'm the lucky one since I have not had that bad luck befall me. I've managed to stay happy and healthy all through the season. I've managed to enjoy the entire time off. Now it's time to re-figure my routine to make the things I want to do after work. I know when my committed time is spent at my daily job and need to arrange all the other things I want to do around it. I'm not taking it on as a long, broad plan but merely an almost day to day decision. It's also about staying open to the possibilities of the moment and not spending too much time making the decisions.

So it's off to work I go with plans for after and after that. Let's see how it all goes.
TT

Let's learn

We've counted down, looked to the past, figured out the new and there is no stopping what we can get done. We are bounding toward that next great resolution, the illusive goal, that thing we need to reach that will give us our sense of pride, accomplishment, and confidence.

Hold up. That seems like a lot of pressure. Maybe we can ease down the throttle of impending doom that will spring out of this heightened sense of go out and conquer. Let's scale back the enthusiasm for all the resolutions, the goals, and all those things out there we reach for, so we can think about them in a more realistic way. What if we trim off the jittery energy, that is sure to fizzle and burn off quickly, and replace it with the pride, accomplishment, and confidence we already possess.

Yes. There are things we want to get done. I agree. But we need to approach them from the direction of learning. It's not do or die. It's not fight or flee. It isn't succeed or fail. Eliminate the idea of failing completely. If you fail, you stop. That's it. Kaput. No more. Bring on the sorrow, the mourners, the dashed dreams that will never be realized.

Step out of the stigma of failing and into the idea of what you can learn about reaching the ultimate end. Every time you try, you learn something you can apply to make the choices on how to proceed. It builds you up. It adds more to what you know and experience. It keeps you going even when mistakes are made because you can learn from those mistakes. I remind myself of what I've already laid out:

• Try with real intent
• Make a true effort
• Stay in the now, the past comes soon enough
• Don't worry about the future, it will happen anyway

Learn a little along the way and live a lot. It's not win or lose. It's all good.

TT

Planned moments

The second day of the New Year has started out cold and rainy. It should stay this way all day if you believe the weather casters. You can let their predictions rule your life or not. I say not since I have some things I want to do today and not all of them involve staying indoors.

I have a 4 mile run set for today. I've made use of the gym treadmill more than a few times in the past two weeks. I think I've made my peace with the thought that it works when I can't face the elements, like today. It's better to do than not to do so I will.

I need to stop at the grocery store. It's better I get the few items I need now instead of waiting until the real week starts up again. I have the time and I always like to be prepared. It's a whole comfort thing. Or is it control? It's a toss-up.

A little laundry, a little clean up, a little put away the holiday decorations and give the kitchen a good wipe down is all in store. It seems I have priorities all in a row and then I should/will have time to write. Ah, yes, that seems to have landed last on the list, yet again. I need to do something about the arrangement of those priorities even if it's only in the way I think. That isn't last and won't be squeezed in 'if I feel like it.' I will mark out a specific time today and put it in proper priority.

I've had my coffee. I have my plan. I still have the next two days off. What's up for this moment? Let's get started.
TT

Perfect start

The first day of the year has almost come to an end after an absolutely perfect New Years Eve. That evening we fried our oysters, made an impromptu batch of fresh pasta, and cheered all our good fortune. We lit some fireworks and rang it all in with glee.  Prior to the lovely evening I was taken to lunch by Sonny, Mr L, and the Big Boy. The last day of the year was jammed packed. I told you it was perfect.

Today, the first day of 2016, started out cold and I was determined not to change my mind about attending the 5K I signed up to run. I couldn't not sign up when I found this race. It was on the first day of the new year, it didn't start until 10:00 am, and it would take place at one of my favorite places to run. How could I not sign up? So I did and the morning dawned.

I made sure I was going. I had told more than a few people about it but I was really nervous. I couldn't figure out why unless it was because it was cold and people would know if I wimped out and ditched the race. I went and knew I would run and be done.

I was thinking I was crazy for signing up, insane for showing up. When it was all over, I checked the board for my pace and thought I lost my mind. I came in third in my age category. Huh. Wow. Cool.

After all the internal whining I was kind of badass. I didn't think that because I placed in the race but because I showed up. It would have been much easier to skip out. I didn't. I got all nervous for no reason and drove myself over there and stood and shivered for a while and ran a race. I went, and now I have started this first day of the very new year in a perfect way.

Isn't that badass.
TT