First Goal of 2013 - Done!!

My first fitness goal of the year was to walk 10 miles.  In January, I started back to walking...with 4 miles.  Each week I increased the distance by a mile.  On Sunday, February 17th...I walked 10 miles.  Yes...10 miles...and it felt really, really good.  The timing was perfect...because I will taper down a bit and then start my half marathon training on Feb. 25...I will be 14 weeks away for the real deal.  I'm learning how to push myself physically.  I'm learning how to hydrate.  I'm  learning how to trust the data.  I'm learning the things that break the good habits I'm trying to keep in place.  I'm learning that some things are going to have to give in order for to me keep healthy and keep moving towards my other fitness goals for the year (an unassisted pull up, half marathon, and marathon).  I need to get the balance back.  Work can't always win in terms of priority.  I need to take control of my time.  It will be hard...but if I can set my mind to walk 26 miles...surely I can set my mind to leave work by 6pm at the latest each night.  I need to take control of my time.  I need to just do it.

One of my ideas is to start going to the gym after work again.  For the past several months I have been going in the mornings and it worked for a while...in terms of being a good stress reliever...but now it isn't working so well.  Switching things up every now and then is good.  Plus, I have noticed that I do stay even later than usual at work now that I don't have to go to see Gym.  So, you can see where I am going with this.  The other thing is that I want to allow plenty of time for my training...doing things right...allowing time for warm-ups, cool downs, speed/form drills, and stretching.  If I work out in the morning, I'm going to feel rushed.  I don't want to feel rushed.  If I work out after work, there is no time limit.  I can just take my time.  My time.

So, I didn't set out to reward myself for the 10 miles...but as luck would have it...I found a really cute purse today that was on sale...20% off and then another 20% off.  I haven't purchased a new purse in a long while (gasp)...and my pretty Juicy Couture bag was starting to get a bit frayed at the edges.  So I did it, I bought a new bag and a few matching accessories.  It is a totally different kind of bag for me..and it reminds me of a giraffe (which is my favorite animal and my inspirational Tri-Athlete friend's favorite animal too)...so it felt like the right bag for me as I head into a new chapter of my life.  Getting Marathon Ready...