Sunday, March 15, 2009

Where did the time go?

Somehow, four and a half months have flown by since my last post. More disturbingly, in about 10 hours I will officially be 27. Yeesh. The birthday challenge thing has been on my mind for months, or really ever since I successfully completed last year's. I have no idea what to do. A few things have come to mind but they're so boring that I'm ashamed to mention them. Beyond that, the ideas I've come up with aren't challenging enough to warrant an entire year dedicated to them. Furthermore, the ideas aren't related to a physical challenge. The physicality of the marathon challenge served (for the most part) to 1. make me proud to divulge my challenge to anyone who was interested enough to listen (or read) 2. get my ass moving, which is no small feat because unfortunately I am, in nature, an extremely lazy person (thanks Mom and Dad...just kidding) 3. carry me through the most incredible experience of my life to my proudest moment. The marathon was BY FAR the coolest thing I have ever done. The entire run went frighteningly well and part of me wants to pull a George Costanza and just quit while I'm ahead "Alright, I'm out. You've been great, thanks." But of course another part of me wants to do it all over again; maybe choose one in an exotic location or convince a few friends to run with me. As much as I wanted to do the Shamrock Run in VA Beach (it's next weekend), that isn't happening. I pretty much stopped running altogether. Ok, not "pretty much". I did. I just stopped. It sucks but oh well. A couple of weeks ago I joined the gym at work with a coworker and we've been going about 3x week. I'd like to get into a consistent routine and get healthy and fit and drop a few lbs before the wedding in May. I am hesitant to say "I want to lose weight for the wedding" because I want to institute a lifestyle change, not a temporary one designed to make me look good for a few days and a weekend of pictures.

So back to the challenge. It seems that a lot of people transition from marathons to triathlons but those don't appeal to me at this point. Maybe one day but not right now. I feel like whatever I choose to do it's got to be very physical and very tough. Unfortunately, I set the bar kinda high with the marathon challenge. How do I top that? Maybe I'm just not thinking hard enough. Maybe the 6 pack of Coronas from last night are impeding my thought process. A few people I've talked to about the challenge have tried to let me off easy this year: "Why don't you make the wedding your challenge?" Well, probably because that isn't a challenge, but a natural progression of a wonderful relationship over 4 years in the making. No bigs. I got that shit in the bag. Seriously though, does anyone have any ideas? Part of the problem is choosing something that isn't going to break the bank. It wasn't too difficult to buy running shoes, socks and sports bras. I also feel like the challenge must have a clear end point or win/lose decision. My 2005 "piano lesson" challenge left me able to tap out a few intros on the keyboard but I never got the feeling that I actually accomplished anything. Perhaps it was the nature of the challenge. It isn't feasible to think that I was going to master the friggin piano in less than a year, especially when I was not apt to put in the practice. I need some sort of finish line to cross or some other indicator that yes, I have achieved what I set out to do. It must be measurable. So there we go. It's got to be cheap and measurable. Hmm. Not quite sure what I can do with that. If anyone has ideas please send them my way. Until then maybe I'll just make this a fitness log (yawn). Must keep thinking...

7 comments:

Irish Cream said...

Ooh, Ooh, Ooh! I totally have an idea! So a while back, I started (but never finished) Jillian Michaels's 30-Day "Making the Cut" program (it's a book--can find it on Amazon or wherever). It is HARD CORE. And? I actually said I thought it might be the perfect program to tackle leading up to one's wedding . . . just because it totally tones you up. So yeah . . . the exercises are INTENSE, it has a "finish line" so to speak (30 days after you start) and it teaches you exercises and diet stuff that can help you even after the program has concluded. If you just joined a gym, you should have access to everything you need for it. Just a thought . . .

But anyway, it's great to hear from you again! I was wondering how you were doing! Welcome back!! :)

Aron said...

YAY you are back!!! I am lacking on the ideas right now but YAY! Sounds like the wedding planning is going well... May what?? its coming up soon!!!!

ana said...

i think you should crochet an afghan. :)

i think it's fine if you do something less physical or without a definite finish line...
maybe there is a cool class you've always wanted to take...
or you can save money for a year to go to an exotic place? hm.

Rachel said...

So good to see you post again!!! Hmm...I'm not very good at coming up with ideas. I want to learn to knit someday...but that isn't all that exciting. Perhaps you could do a long bike ride or something?

Hope your wedding planning is going swell!

EmLit said...

Welcome back! And happy birthday :) I'd been wondering where you went!!

You mentioned wanting to make a lifestyle change--why not make that your challenge? Find a way to make it concrete, define what you want "lifestyle change" to entail, and then go for it! Maybe it involves incorporating small changes one at a time (concentrating on one thing per month or week, or something), or just focusing on a bigger picture in a different way, or maybe it starts with getting fit for the wedding (congratulations!) and then maintaining/building on what you've accomplished there.

*jen* said...

So many good ideas. Em - I love yours about having different mini challenges each month...And Irish, I bought that book and it's INSANE! I will write more about that later. Just wanted to thank you girls for the ideas and support. Ana, I think crocheting is on my life list somewhere...that or knitting. What is even the difference? Hmm.

Emily said...

Is it too late to comment? I thought that if I had a charity that I was really behind this might be a good one. Simply, have people donate money to your cause for every mile you run in a race setting for a period of time; year, summer, weeks whatever. You could even get individuals to pay your entry fee, or this could be part of your donation. But it would be cheap, you would want to sign up for long races to get the most $$, it would keep you running and most important it would be for a good cause.

PS - Nice to hear from you!

"If you think you can, or think you can't, you're right."

~Henry Ford