Somewhere between falling asleep reading and that one horrible look in the mirror, there came a change of plans.
The first reason. Reading at night is not very useful, as I tend to fall asleep, or be too tired, and then my brain learns that reading=bed time.
The second reason. My waist is beginning to overflow my favorite pair of jeans, and this is simply unacceptable. I haven't stated this here, but a favorite all around goal is "stop decline before it begins." I didn't catch it before it got started, but I'll be damned if that means I'm going to let it just go willy-nilly and let myself get fat!
The third reason. Yes, there is a third. I've caught myself being very irritable lately, and they say that exercise balances chemicals in the brain and helps such things. After getting very upset with a friend of mine, I decided that I needed to, first thing the next morning, go for a run. A very, very long run. Like a purifying ritual style run.
So, the next morning, I woke up, chugged some water, waited anxiously for the water to digest so I wouldn't get sick, then walked outside....only to find....snow. Lots. Of. Snow. Cursing the skies, I walked back inside, grabbed a coat, and made my way to the neighboring building's exercise room. The treadmill was not exactly what I'd been planning, but I got on anyway, and ran somewhere above a mile (though thanks to a mechanical blooper, I couldn't tell you exactly how far, or how long it took).
The next morning, it was like I was on auto pilot. I hadn't exactly planned to go running, I just woke up, got dressed, and went straight to the treadmill. I ran an amazing 1.6 miles, non-stop, in 17 minutes. Not a stellar time, but hey, it's a start.
And yesterday? Same thing. Got right up, got dressed, and went for a run. Due to feeling a little ill, I only ran 1.2 miles, though still nonstop, and in 14 minutes, 33 seconds. That does include a walking cool down, by the by. I ran the mile straight, then walked .2 miles.
Today was more of a hassle, I was very tired, and feeling even more ill. I went running anyway, but had to pause when my throat got so dry that I started coughing, and the second I stopped running, I got nauseous. That ended my running venture at .77 miles, but in a decent 8:43.
To fill you in on a bit of underlying story, my mom and sister have started a tradition of running a race called "Beat The New Year!" which is a New Year's Eve 5k in which the goal is to cross the finish line before midnight, having started at 11:30. My mom always asks if I want to run with them, and I always say "No...but maybe next year."...(and then my sister calls me a wimp)...so this year, I decided to really try to make it and run with them. To 'Beat the New Year', I need to be able to a) run faster than 10:00 miles for just over three miles and b) be able to run in frigid temperatures on dangerous footing, in the dark.
To accomplish this, I had decided to start running seriously in the summer, timing a mile weekly, all the while building my endurance. Eventually the timed mile would be a timed two miles, then three, then three and a half, to ensure I'll have enough steam to make 3.1 miles at the race. To deal with the cold, I would continue running in the winter, outdoors, and since I'd already be up to endurance standards, I'd just have to adapt to the cold. I've never done it before, but I doubt it'll be too hard, given enough time.
However, since I'm starting to run now, I'll be able to work up more slowly, and depending on weather (I refuse to run when it's actively snowing) I'll get a head start on acclimating myself to the cold. As Mr. Burns would say....Excellent....
Well, I think I've ranted enough for today. I'm keeping strict track of how much I'm running (how long and how far, and how many calories I burned according to the treadmill) so I'll post another update soon...I might actually just post here every day about my general experience. We'll see.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Thursday, January 22, 2009
A Slight Change in Plans
Well, due to the revelation that reading before bed makes me get tired when I read at other times, I've decided to switch my goals. Now, the morning routine will be most important, and reading whenever there is downtime is the optional goal.
I started this morning, and the meditation went off without a hitch. I need to pay more attention to the rest of that routine, though. Having tea first thing in the morning would be a great way to wake up and prepare for the day. I've been treating the tea as an "if I feel like it", when really it should be mandatory.
Another portion of my routine that needs more attention is reviewing not only my daily goals, but my long term ones. I should be keeping those in mind throughout the day, if possible, even carrying them with me on a sheet of paper.
Uh oh! As I went to find my long term goals file on my laptop....I discovered I don't have one! Not an up to date one, anyway. I'd better get on that!
That brings up an interesting quandary. What kinds of goals should I be setting? There are material goals (like running a 5k at the end of the year) and then there are more intangible ones...like keeping to a stricter set of morals. I think I'll set the material goals in one file, and the intangible ones in another. When I've got a set that I'm happy with, I'll post them here.
Until then, my friends!
I started this morning, and the meditation went off without a hitch. I need to pay more attention to the rest of that routine, though. Having tea first thing in the morning would be a great way to wake up and prepare for the day. I've been treating the tea as an "if I feel like it", when really it should be mandatory.
Another portion of my routine that needs more attention is reviewing not only my daily goals, but my long term ones. I should be keeping those in mind throughout the day, if possible, even carrying them with me on a sheet of paper.
Uh oh! As I went to find my long term goals file on my laptop....I discovered I don't have one! Not an up to date one, anyway. I'd better get on that!
That brings up an interesting quandary. What kinds of goals should I be setting? There are material goals (like running a 5k at the end of the year) and then there are more intangible ones...like keeping to a stricter set of morals. I think I'll set the material goals in one file, and the intangible ones in another. When I've got a set that I'm happy with, I'll post them here.
Until then, my friends!
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Introductions are in order!
Hello all! My name is Yami Hodges, and this is my challenge blog. Here, I will be keeping track of my work on the "Power of Less" New Year's Challenge, as well as my progress in applying the principles of Less to my daily life.
First, let me tell you a little about myself. I am a student at the University of Utah, majoring in Computer Science. More importantly, I am a writer, and an artist. I breathe music. If I don't have my headphones, something is wrong with me. The same goes for my sketchbook, or at least some blank paper and a pencil.
I used to be addicted to reading. I always had my nose in a book, to the point of getting in trouble for it. I've fallen out of this, much to my dismay, so when I heard about the New Year's Challenge, I knew what I would do.
The New Year's Challenge (started by Leo Babauta of Zen Habits, author of The Power of Less) is rather simple. Start a habit. Any habit. Ten minutes a day, 7 days a week, for a month. Naturally, my desired habit is to read every night before bed.
Not to break into a tangent or anything, but New Year's has always been a tough time for me. I have long been in the habit (there's that word again!) of making a whole page worth of New Year's Resolutions...and then getting overwhelmed and keeping none of them. So this year, having only one thing to do, I'm finding myself scrambling. Why? Because I'm used to having so much to keep track of and beat myself up over...only this year, I've got one thing to do, and I'm doing it, so I've nothing to beat myself up over, either. My brain doesn't like this. So I decided to give myself just ONE more thing to do, but put it on the back burner, so if I do mess up, I won't get upset about it.
This one more thing is to keep a steady routine, morning and evening. In other words, I now have a set schedule for the morning and before bed. This schedule is fairly simple. It includes meditation, checking my RSS feeds and the weather, reviewing my goals, and the usual morning things like brushing my teeth and making some tea. In the evening, it's about the same, mostly in reversed order, but also adds packing my bags for the next day and cleaning my room. (This way I wake up to a clean room, which just brightens my whole day!)
I keep this schedule where I will see it, and do my best to adhere to it, but if I mess up, it's totally okay, because it's optional in the first place. No stress, see?
So, anyway, this blog will be used to track my success in those two areas, and, as previously mentioned, in applying "Less" to my life.
So far, so good. I've been reading Leo's book nightly, and I recently processed my inbox down to zero. This is very good. Now I just have to do my other two email inboxes...and then keep them that way. I've been very good about remembering to meditate, which is usually the hardest part of my morning routine. I've got to do it before I put my contacts in, which is usually the first thing, because if I don't meditate before that, one thing will lead to another and I'll be on my computer without having meditated...and then there's really no going back.
Well, here we go, friends.
Onward and upward.
First, let me tell you a little about myself. I am a student at the University of Utah, majoring in Computer Science. More importantly, I am a writer, and an artist. I breathe music. If I don't have my headphones, something is wrong with me. The same goes for my sketchbook, or at least some blank paper and a pencil.
I used to be addicted to reading. I always had my nose in a book, to the point of getting in trouble for it. I've fallen out of this, much to my dismay, so when I heard about the New Year's Challenge, I knew what I would do.
The New Year's Challenge (started by Leo Babauta of Zen Habits, author of The Power of Less) is rather simple. Start a habit. Any habit. Ten minutes a day, 7 days a week, for a month. Naturally, my desired habit is to read every night before bed.
Not to break into a tangent or anything, but New Year's has always been a tough time for me. I have long been in the habit (there's that word again!) of making a whole page worth of New Year's Resolutions...and then getting overwhelmed and keeping none of them. So this year, having only one thing to do, I'm finding myself scrambling. Why? Because I'm used to having so much to keep track of and beat myself up over...only this year, I've got one thing to do, and I'm doing it, so I've nothing to beat myself up over, either. My brain doesn't like this. So I decided to give myself just ONE more thing to do, but put it on the back burner, so if I do mess up, I won't get upset about it.
This one more thing is to keep a steady routine, morning and evening. In other words, I now have a set schedule for the morning and before bed. This schedule is fairly simple. It includes meditation, checking my RSS feeds and the weather, reviewing my goals, and the usual morning things like brushing my teeth and making some tea. In the evening, it's about the same, mostly in reversed order, but also adds packing my bags for the next day and cleaning my room. (This way I wake up to a clean room, which just brightens my whole day!)
I keep this schedule where I will see it, and do my best to adhere to it, but if I mess up, it's totally okay, because it's optional in the first place. No stress, see?
So, anyway, this blog will be used to track my success in those two areas, and, as previously mentioned, in applying "Less" to my life.
So far, so good. I've been reading Leo's book nightly, and I recently processed my inbox down to zero. This is very good. Now I just have to do my other two email inboxes...and then keep them that way. I've been very good about remembering to meditate, which is usually the hardest part of my morning routine. I've got to do it before I put my contacts in, which is usually the first thing, because if I don't meditate before that, one thing will lead to another and I'll be on my computer without having meditated...and then there's really no going back.
Well, here we go, friends.
Onward and upward.
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