{ Body for Life Momma }: Unprepared

Monday, July 4, 2011

Unprepared

Today, on the eve of my second attempt at my first challenge I ran a half marathon.

Here's how things typically go for me. I'm in pretty decent shape; like half-marathon-running-in-a-respectable-time kind of shape. But, somewhere along the line I get into my head that I'm ready, that I'm above the challenge, that I have "earned" the right to go easy on myself. Like eat junk food and stop running every day for two weeks before a race I've been training months for.

Who binges the few days before a challenge starts? Who stops exercising and takes up living on the couch right after resolving to exercise more? Who eats a bowl of ice cream while watching the latest episode of "The Biggest Loser?" Who adds junk to the shopping cart on top of all the healthy snacks? Who skips going to the gym simply because they didn't feel like it today??

Who does that? Who just takes all their hard work and throws it out the window?

I've done it a million times and every single time I've regretted it. I hate that feeling when I do something that I've prepared pretty well for but I'm not satisfied because I knew it wasn't my best and that I could have done better.

Like today, with the half. I really to be under two hours. But there were hills and they were much, much more challenging than I was expecting, so I walked a little more than I had planned to. No biggie, almost everyone was walking. And then the mile markers were blown over so I had a hard time gauging how far I'd come and how much I still had to go. And I couldn't see the finish line, even when I was right at the end. And plus, I was really close to my goal, only missed it by 8 minutes, which is great considering how hard the course was.

Every excuse is a choice to fail.

Not this time. Failure (aka excuses) are not an option. On September 27, perhaps for the first time in my life, I'm going to look at myself in the mirror and know that I gave it everything I had and that I don't have any excuses for what I did or didn't do. I'm going to do my best, period. And I'll never know how far I'll go until I give it all I got!

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My Unique Challenges

I'm anticipating these challenges and planning ahead to overcome them:

1. Breastfeeding. Supporting a growing babe not only requires a lot of time, but also that I consume extra calories to support my milk production. I also find myself getting hungry after middle-of-the-night feedings. I plan to overcome this challenge by mapping out my meals the night before and having lots of healthy snacks on hand (like pre-cut veggies) just in case I get the munchies. And when I feel hunger or cravings coming on, I'm going to grab a glass of ice water before I reach for something to eat.

2. On-the-go lifestyle. Life with a toddler and a newborn means that I'm constantly taking a minute here or an hour there to get everything accomplished that I need to every day. We're in the car a lot and it seems like my diaper bag has to carry all the necessities! I'm going to make a car "emergency kit" filled with water bottles, protein shakes and bars and other healthy snacks for those times when we're on the run and I might be tempted to snitch some goldfish crackers or fruit snacks from my toddler!

3. Weekends. As a med school wife, schedules and routines are the glue that keep our family together. We thrive on knowing who will be where, when and what we'll be doing. So, when the hubs is home on the weekends, I see it as a little bit of Momma break time. And to the detriment of my diet and exercise routine, this usually has meant that my resolve to stick to a plan goes out the window. This time around I'm committing to "Free Day" and to making plans so that we're not driving around at noon on a Saturday, looking for somewhere quick and cheap to grab lunch.