Standing on my Soap Box

Before we get into my goals for 2015, let’s take a look back at 2014. WELL – neither my De-athlons nor my Triathlon happened in 2014. I did get serious starting back in September though… I have been on the treadmill almost every work day since then. I try to do running outside on the weekends. I started a 36 days challenge back on American Thanksgiving, and that was to run 1 mile every day until New Years day. I completed that challenge, and some of those runs were in the cold as I didn’t feel like spending the time to get ready to go to the gym, drive to the gym, do my mile and then drive all the way back. At one point I ran was with a feels like temp of -33, and it was actually a mile and a half. Either way, I am back and exercising 6 out of 7 days per week.

My training plan of choice this year is Jeff Galloway’s Run Walk Run. Because I run at the turtle speed of 15 minutes per mile, I run for 30 seconds, and then walk for 45 seconds, and I do that continually for the duration of the run. If I can run for 30 seconds with 100 extra pounds on my body, YOU can run for 30 seconds.

Back to my 2015 goals… Are you ready? I’m not, so why should you be. 😉 I am in training to run a half marathon the end of February. That will be my second half. I have a couple other halves in mind, including the Manitoba Marathon. However, they  want runners running at 14 minutes per mile. That will be a challenge as I am currently running at about 15 ish per mile. I have a little work to do. Speed work here I come! I also plan on running the Rock N Roll Half Marathon in Las Vegas in November. They shut down the lights of the strip only maybe twice a year – and this is one of those times. You get to run the strip under the lights. This will be a stretch for me. Not only do I have to training for the race, I also have to save the money to go. I am not a gambler; however Las Vegas is someplace I have always wanted to see, so I hope to do some sightseeing while I am there. Let’s see what me and Varagesale can do this year to help save money…

The major challenge I am doing this year with 2 others is 2,015 miles in 2015. Our team name is “Team Turtle Speed”. I do feel sorry for Justin, as he is certainly no turtle, but Margaret and I certainly are. Between the three of us we need to run 2015 miles before December 31, 2015. This challenge was put out by an organization called Run the Edge, and there are MANY people who have taken on this challenge. Between my training for a few half marathons I should be able to pull off 1,200 on my own. This means that I will run a 5K every Monday to Friday, with longer runs on the weekends.

So…why am I doing this? Not because I am unhappy with “Me”, but because I want to challenge myself – say that I can set a goal and complete it. Yes, I am 100 lbs overweight. Yes I want to lose that, yes I get discouraged when the weight decides it is sticking to my body whether I like it or not. However, because I know that I have a thyroid condition the weight will not willingly leave my body. I know that I am slow, and that I run “turtle speed”, but I also know that I have a race that has been set before me. If I can inspire one person (aside from me) to get healthy, then all this is worth this.

With that in mind, what are you doing 2015? I certainly don’t expect anyone to do what I am doing, however, once again, if I can run for 30 seconds so can you!