Run streak

I did manage to keep my run streak going yesterday. I simply ran home from the bar. It was a little over 1 1/2 miles, so the run took less time than waiting for the bus and riding that home. I did also try to run a little bit with both dogs. It wasn't horrible. I had to be careful about them crossing in front of me and trying to kill me, but they didn't do that as often as they did on past run attempts.

I may have to take them out for a run again tonight. It's either that, or take them out and then go running. Either way, it will be late at night before I'm done.

Busy

I've kept up the running for three days. I've been helped by not having any plans Mon-Wed nights. Tonight and tomorrow are going to be tougher. I have plans tonight, so I'm going to leave work, run, and then do directly to my plans. I have an even tougher schedule tomorrow. My post-work plans don't leave me any window to run after work. I will need to either run before work, or at 10ish tomorrow night.

I will do it, though. I don't want to give $11 to bigots. I also promised myself and others that I would do it. I will probably try to take a dog with me tomorrow night, though. It's dark and cold that late at night and I'll feel safer with 80ish pounds of fur near me. I said that my minimum to consider it a run would be a 13 minute mile. I sure hope the dog can handle that pace.

I really hope that running with one dog will work, because it does not work with both of them at the same time. I have tried it a few times and they just try to kill me and each other the entire time. I can't get up any speed without risking tripping and falling. I think one of them might work, though. Plus, the dogs are a bit chubby, so running will help them, too.

Incentive

As a way of motivating myself to stick to my run streak, I have bet $99 on me. If I don't run every day, $11 each week that I miss that goal will go to Maggie Gallagher's group, iMAPP. This is an awful thought. Not only would I be out the money, but that money would go to someone who actively hates me. This is a modern way of using a stick as motivation.

I have a carrot already. Everyone has a carrot for motivation to work out. We all know it will make us feel better, lower our health care costs, increase longevity and many other positive outcomes. It's a bit harder to find a stick for working out, though. Most negatives for being lazy are not experienced immediately. No one wants to hire someone to physically threaten them for laziness, either. Luckily. StickK has come along to fix this.

It works on a simple concept. People set goals and can set financial penalties for not hitting those goals. The money can be sent to a random charity, a friend, a foe, or to a charity that makes your skin crawl. I don't have any foes, wouldn't mind donating to a friend or random charity, so I picked the stomach-turning charity option. The idea of Maggie Gallagher having any of my money makes me physically ill. That should motivate me to keep my run streak up.

This site lets you have a friend ref your commitment, so you could easily set it up as a bet on who will work out according to an agreement. It really looks like a good site. Not sure how they make money, though. Unless it's all still just a continuation of their acedemic study. Regardless, I now have a stick to help keep me motivated. The carrot is trying to get my running speed to improve so I can finish the 2013 Bank of America Chicago Marathon in under 4 hours.

New Breakfast

I have been lamenting the lack of yummy, yet filling, breakfast cereals for several years. I would love to eat Cocoa Puffs in the morning, but know that it will just make my hungry again at 9am. If my goal is to avoid hunger, I'd be better off not eating breakfast than eating yummy cereals. 100 calories with 2 grams of fiber and 1 gram of protein won't keep me satisfied.

Finally, my prayers have been answered. Fiber One has introduced a chocolate breakfast cereal. 80 calories, 9 grams of fiber and 1 gram of protein. It tastes just like cocoa puffs, but with enough fiber to keep me full until lunch.

I know that I could eat oatmeal, eggs, or other foods that would provide the same nutrition without the processing and sugar. Sometimes, though, I want food that's emotionally satisfying as well as nutritionally satisfying. I understand that I probably shouldn't look at food emotionally, but society and family have conditioned me to view food as more than simple fuel. I have removed some of the unhealthy links, but not all of them. Instead, I have learned to accept them and tried to find foods like this that satisfy both needs.

Challenge #3

Today's challenge is to do challenge #2. Something I didn't do last week when I picked it. I will also be adding my running back into my schedule. Today will be my first day of running every day until the end of April.

Yes--a run streak. I'm setting my minimum distance at 1 mile in order to consider it a run. I am setting a maximum time of 13 minutes. Even if I end up walking much of it, that's a solid power walk. I will not break the run into shorter distances.

Now all I need is someone to take on the challenge with me. That will give me someone to compete against.

Any takers?

Lent Challenge #2

I did make it through yesterday's challenge, but it was harder than I expected. It didn't help when my dog was licking my ankle or stepping on my calf during the 10 minutes. I still managed to get all 10 minutes completed. Did anyone do more than 10 minutes yesterday?

Today, it's on to a new challenge. 10 minutes of wall squats. I will also try to do some planks, but the main goal is the wall squats. If I keep doing the prior day's challenge with the new challenge, I'll be up to 400 minutes at the end, and I don't have that much time each day. I do have 20 minutes today.

Who's with me on 10 minutes of wall squats?

Slacking

I have been slacking on my exercise and fitness in 2013. That ends today. I will start adding a daily challenge on here and tell you how I did on the previous day's challenge, too. Again, I'm using Lent as an excuse to start this. It has nothing to do with Ashes, full moons or anything like that. It's just a good reminder from everyone around me to do more. It's kinda like a second New Year.

Challenge #1: Complete a total of at least 10 minutes of planks before the end of the day.

It doesn't have to be 10 minutes at a stretch. It can be 120 planks for 5 seconds each. I hope you'll try it, too. Check back tomorrow to see who completed the most time in the plank position.