Good Intentions and all that...

I had intended to update a lot sooner than twelve days but you know how things can go. I am a new job, it is a temporary thing but the hours are demanding right now. I am singing to the tune of 65 hours a week right now. The good news is that I can put together a bank roll while I try to find something permanent.I have been trying to keep up on my exercise, the point of this blog after all. I managed three runs and 3 martial arts workouts last week and and 2 runs and two martial arts workouts so far this week. As this is the last day of the month I will be going out to do at least enough to get me to 50 for the month or 4.08 miles. I think 4.12 sounds good.

It is cold out there and I have been retreating to the gym in the cold but it is closed. So I have no choice tonight. There is always an excuse if you look for one, always. I say don't give in. It is always easy to seek comfort and difficult to force yourself to choose pain. That is in fact what we all do us "exercise people" as one coworker labeled us. We choose pain over comfort. It is the right choice. Here is my nugget of wisdom of the day. We are all choosing pain all the time those who do and those who don't. If you choose the couch over the road, you will pay for it. It won't be today or even tomorrow but it will catch you and the payment when it does will have a good deal of accumulated interest to deal with. So I say run and exercise now the payment plan is much more reasonable today.

Back Outdoors, at last

I have had to run inside since early December. This was started by an injury to my left calf and continued due to some bitter cold and ice. So today, when it was seasonably warm, I finally got to get outside and run a little. My conditioning is sub par. I really struggled with the little three mile jaunt. But no need to get down on one's self, you just draw a baseline and know that you will keep at it and you will get better.

When I started out I felt fine but my lungs started to scream a bit after a half mile. I think that this was just some rust. After a few weeks out of doors I am sure I will be better. But it was a good start and I still managed more than 14 miles for the week which was good. Next week I will need to get outside more.

Happy running.

The Week That Was

I managed 3 times at the gym and did treadmill time each day. It was not the way I prefer to run but while nursing a bit of a leg injury and the bitter cold it seems to be the order of the day. Today I managed to run almost five and a half miles. This was 60 minutes straight running, not too fast but steady throughout. After almost no running in December it was nice to know that my endurance was still decent. 13+ miles for the week, I will take it.

I also managed to make it to my martial arts class 3 times and log about 10 hours of practice time at home. It was a good week on the fitness front. If I was a man of leisure I would do this every week. I hope to get to 15 miles for the coming week.

Keep running.

Oh Treadmill, how I hate thee ...

Treadmill, oh treadmill, how I hate thee let me count the way. This week I have been stuck with the treadmill. Mostly because of a little nervousness related to my left calf. The good news is that I have progressed from the elliptical machine. I have to say that treadmills have progressed a bit and it was not as horrid as I recall. That may be because I had some foo fighters and linkin park to keep me pumped up.

Wednesday I was able to put in 3.75 miles and today I put in 4.55. It is not the best running I have done in my life but any time on the treadmill is like 1.5 times what you would do on the roads. That is my story and I sticking to it. So it is really like 5.6 miles and 6.8 miles.

For anyone interested I did have an interview today that went pretty well. It is only a short term job but it will take the heat off for a bit.

Dealing with a Lay Off

I was laid off on Monday, I knew that it was coming sooner rather than later. It was still a bit of a shock when it came. I hold no ill will against my now former firm. They have been much more than fair with me over the time I was there. I have nothing but good things to say.

Now I find myself in the midst of a job search. The economy is sobering at best. I have submitted numerous resumes and have had a few face to face discussions and quite a few phone calls. It seems I might have something within a week, but there are no guarantees. I was able to put my student loans on hold so that was good.

Here is my checklist for keeping positive during this stressful time:

1. Take a breath - being laid off is not a reflection of your abilities, it is a reflection of the economy.
2. Remain energetic and vigilant toward your goals. Put in as much time finding a job as you would working. As this is your job right now.
3. Exercise - this will help to keep the frustration at bay.
4. Get your rest - losing sleep does no one any good. You have to be rested to be effective in your job search.
5. Take a breath (again) - be relaxed and execute your plan for finding a new position.

I know that I will have things worked out shortly.