Extra Holiday Motivation

One of the blogs that I follow is RunToTheFinish. Author, Amanda is hosting the 2nd annual Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge and I decided to enter. So far it has been very motivating. The rules are pretty simple; the challenge runs from Nov 23 to Jan 8, we get points for exercising, 1 point for every mile run or walked, 1 point per 3 miles biked and points for other types of exercising, like elliptical, Yoga, Pilates etc. and 1 point for eating 7 servings of fruit and vegies per day. So far . . . so good. It is wonderful to have a little extra motivation during the holidays.

I have been very good about icing and stretching my plantar fascia ligament daily. I also did a lot of Google searches about plantar fasciitis and remembered that I have a pair of orthotics. Searched in my closet and what do you know – I found them, and have been wearing them in my work shoes and running shoes. Although I still feel it – it does feel better. I am also taking the many suggestions that say you should make sure that you stretch it before getting out of bed in the morning. So I have a stretch band next to the bed and make sure that I do that for a couple of minutes before rising.

So far this week, I took Sophie for a walk on Monday morning and evening and ran 3.2 miles at lunch. On Tuesday I walked Sophie in the morning and rode the Elliptical at work yesterday evening after work. I ran this morning and will take Sophie for a walk tonight. And I have been eating 7 servings of fruits and veggies each day. Yea for me. -J Looking forward to a long week end and getting some longer runs / walks in to boost my points. I had thought about running the Berbee Derby, a 5 or 10 k run on Thanksgiving Day – but decided against it since my foot is still bothering me . . . the competitive side of me would find it hard to run an easy race. So I will continue with my comfy 2-3 mile runs and try to extend it this weekend to 5-6 milers.

My son Joe, 21 and a senior in college, is coming home tonight. It will be nice to spend some time with him – maybe he will run a couple of times with me. He runs way faster than me – he ran the ½ marathon with me in August, he ran it in 1:28, while I ran it in 2:12 – oh well. He has talked about running a marathon and would love to qualify for Boston – which at that pace – I think he would be able to pretty easily. While I would love to try and run another marathon – the training time commitment is just too much for me. My one and only marathon was in 2000. It was as a result of my year 2000 New Year’s Resolution. I ran the Madison Marathon in 4:15. Anyway – it would be more fun to cheer for my son than train for another marathon. My younger son, Charlie is a senior in high school and finally submitted 4 college applications last night. I had been reminding him and reminding him that we had set a goal of getting them submitted BEFORE Thanksgiving and he did. Way to go Charlie!!!

Have a great day and enjoy family and friends over the long weekend.

Enjoy the day
Happy Thanksgiving