Breaking up is hard to do...especially w/ your couch.

Do you ever find yourself feeling like this before you are supposed to go out and run/bike/swim/hula hoop, etc?

Tonight, both Coach and I did. My mysterious illness is getting better, but my ribs still hurt and tonight my head was POUNDING! Not a single bone of mine really wanted to go running. Then I looked over at my comfy couch and it started beckoning to me. As soon as it started plumping itself,  the ice cream in the freezer began calling my name, and the Stevie the TV reminded me of all the Losing it w/ Jillians I had recorded (nothing like watching others work out when you don't feel like it.) I could tell by the way Coach was rubbing his eyes, he was off his game and sinking further into couchland, and visions of a night off for both of us were looking very realistic. But I knew my sister was coming to run with me. Dang sister! No, not really. She was the push I needed to go change. I informed Coach that we had to go run, Erica was here.

In my head, I told myself that the important thing was to get out there and move. Speed did not matter. If I had to walk the whole thing, who cared? Whatever my body could handle is what I would do. With a last longing glance at my beige comfort zone, I told it this was nothing personal, that in fact this was for both of us. Didn't he want a break? A lighter companion? He whimpered one last time, then I was out the door.

I made sure to take my time warming up (meaning I walked the first .2 of the loop) before I took off running. Luckily, the mp3 player had some new tunes, so I used that as both a distraction and motivation for the first bit. Almost immediately my ribs seized up and my head started to pulsate from all the bouncing, but I kept going. It seems to happen that way a lot, you totally don't feel like running, but then your run goes great or at least better than expected. This run was not my great, but I made it the first 1+ before I turned around to get my sister. Hey, it wasn't that long ago that I couldn't run a mile without stopping so this is still big for me! While we walked, my body froze up and I never could get it back in gear. My options were to sprint or walk. Jogging was too bouncy. We finished the run out, got passed by coach, and I dragged myself inside to stretch and drink some choc. milk. Though my head is still hurtin, I am glad I ran. Partly so I don't have to do it another night, but also because it feels good when you push through the pain and laziness and do more than you thought you could.    

As for the rest of my training, last night I did the always fun plyos and abs. Actually, to be exact I did flippers and reverse flippers, and yes I was pretty sore today! The night before I did intervals to work on my speed  for 1.8 miles. So that is 3 nights in a row! Yay, 3 nights in a row of training. Hopefully, I am back for good because I need to make some real strides if I am going to keep up with all the other runners and my own personal goals.

What gets you to separate butt from couch/bed when it feels like you can't? Do you have a running buddy you want to give a shout out to?