An uphill battle

So, I am sad to say that I did not quite reach my goal of running 40 miles in January, but finished just two miles short, at 38. It seemed a bit harder for me to get in the running groove this month and crank out the few days per week I needed to make my 10 mile weekly sub-goals. For one, I try not to run two days in a row; every other or every two days is better on my body. The writing class has eliminated Thursday nights, and my social life has monopolized the last few Fridays, so finding a balance has been more difficult. It doesn't help that I like to take yoga on the weekends, but don't like climbing onto the treadmill after exerting myself in a 75-minute class.

(I only take yoga on the weekends, by the way, because those teachers are phenomenal while the weekday teachers suck. FYI, Equinox.)

(I won't cut back on the yoga, either, because aside from the fact that I love it, I've found it actually helps with my running. It stretches me out more than I can ever do on my own, and after I missed it one weekend this month, I was in pain the whole following week. It may keep me from running once in a while, but it's also the thing that's going to keep me running for - hopefully - years to come.)

Anyway, I've decided to reinstate my 40 mile goal for February, but, to make things more manageable, only 20 of those miles will have to come from running -- the rest can come from the elliptical or the stepmill. I'm hoping this will serve me well, actually. I always marvel at the fact that I can run for an hour with little trouble, but can't walk up a flight of stairs without huffing and puffing and losing my balance as if I've never exercised a day in my life. Hopefully this will be easier on my joints, and still provide the benefits I am looking for.

You've probably noticed that I've installed an exercise ticker/tracker in the top right corner of the blog. (Thanks Jill!). It's not so much because I expect you all necessarily want to follow along; rather, I am hoping that by making my progress public, I'll be unavoidably more accountable. I also like that it reminds me of this:


(There's supposed to be an audio player, by the way, which might not show up if you're reading this blog on a subscriber feed. The yodeling is the best part.)