Time to Get DETERMINED!!!

So, I came to a bit of a realization today…and I had some help from a fellow blogger. One of my favourite blogs to read is Running Haiku. All of her posts are in the form of a Haiku, and some of them are hilarious. If you haven’t checked it out yet, you really should.

Today’s haiku was about the struggle to get out of bed and get workouts in before you start your day. Be sure to click on the link above and it will take you right to the haiku. It hit home with me since I constantly struggle to get out of bed and run before work. I set my alarm, it goes off, I wake up, shut it off, and because I am so tired and not motivated, I just roll over and try to get another hour of sleep. Charla’s haiku was about winning the struggle. I commented on her haiku saying how impressed I was that she got up and did it, since I don’t usually. She replied back with something that hit home. She said I should stop waiting to become motivated and just be determined.

So, as of right now, I am no longer concerned with motivation. I am now just going to be determined. Determined to get my training runs completed. Determined to work up to running 8k without stopping. Determined to complete an 8k tempo run. Determined to run faster. Determined to finish the Niagara Falls Half Marathon in 2:30 or less.

I put my new found determination to the test tonight as I tackled my first hill training session of my half marathon training schedule. I really wasn’t looking forward to this run tonight, but I was determined to do it and despite wanting to stop on that last uphill run, I refused to quit. I think it helped a lot that I was running with my sister tonight. As you know, she is fast, and I just kept chasing her up that hill! In the end, with a short warm up run from where we parked at the Running Room to the hill, 5 runs up the hill, and a short cool down back to the car, we logged 5.68k in 43:33 for an average pace of 7:40/km. This pace included a bit of a walk once we got to the top of the hill and a bit of the way down before we ran down the hill, and a short walk before we started our next lap back up that hill. All in all, I am pretty pleased with that.

Here is what the hill laps looked like:
Hill 1: 2:42:45 429m. 6:21/km
Hill 2: 3:01:65 431m. 7:02/km
Hill 3: 3:02:68 431m. 7:04/km
Hill 4: 2:56:27 425m. 6:54/km
Hill 5: 2:56:02 428m. 6:51/km
The first trip up was my fastest, but I was impressed that I managed to improve my pace on my last 2 hills. I was tired, and feeling it, but I was determined to keep going!

So far, I’m liking this determination thing. I’m not waiting to be motivated anymore, I’m just going to be determined to do it!

Once my newly determined self got home from my run and showered up, it was time to sit my ass on the couch and watch tonight’s Big Brother episode. I won’t give it away in case you haven’t watched yet, but I will say that Dan has perhaps pulled off the biggest move in Big Brother history. The guy is a genius! I can’t wait to watch tomorrow night and see who gets the boot.

Alright, it’s late and time for bed. I hope your Wednesday was a good one.

Are you watching Big Brother?

Do you have a challenge that you are facing? Are you determined to succeed?

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