I’m trying to get motivated. I’ve gotten a lot done today but I’ve been on the couch, watching TV and eating food for quite some time. I’m reading the blogs and the tips & tricks and the Q&A’s on how to motivate myself to go run but in the end, there are two things that are going to get me out of my bed and get me dressed to run; it’s the thought of how good I’ll feel after my run and the fact that I just dropped 145$ on these ugly, ugly shoes and need to make the most of them:

I’ll have to admit it, everyone was right, my ankle problems were due to my shoes. I went for a short 2km run the other night and it felt like I was running on air. Breathing came easier, my back hurt less and my ankles gave me little problems. Two days later and my ankles feel 100%
My advice to anyone who wants to start running is to bite the bullet and spend the 100$ and get a good pair of shoes. Running in bad sneakers was the biggest mistake I made and delayed my growth as a runner by a very long time.
Tonight my goal is to hit 4.5km which would be the longest I’ve run yet and I feel confident that I can do it. I’ve been thinking about running and the the idea’s behind it as a sport and lifestyle choice lately and have a lot to say but I’ll have to save it for another entry as I really do need to get out and run.

On a related and final note, the Canadian Dollar is doing so well right now compared to the American, yet these shoes were 130$ CND but only 79$ US. 40$ difference!!! Ridiculous.

Running Day ???:
So I haven’t run in a week. I put myself of injury leave and I’ve tried my best to rest my ankle. After a week(I think even a bit longer) my left ankle is still swollen and still stiff.
Since I stopped running I’ve put on a bit of weight and I feel very sluggish and unmotivated. Wonderful. This is a real shame because I was doing so well. I was running 4km under 25 minutes and doing it with ease. Now I know that coming back I’m going to suffer the same issue’s with my lungs and I’ll be starting fresh.

My other issue right now has to do with running shoes. I cannot afford a pair of 100$ running shoes and from the research I’ve been doing, I don’t know how much good running shoes will do. I’ve had ankle problems for almost my entire life and considering that a metal pin currently holds my left ankle together, I don’t think they’ll be going away anytime soon. So if I spend 100$ on a pair of good running shoes, what happens if they do nothing for me? At the same time, my pair of year old sneakers and lousy insoles must not be doing me too much good.
So what to do? I want to run really badly right now and I don’t know when I’ll get the chance to make it to any stores to find shoes. So Do I spend the evening warming up my ankles and then run tonight or do I tough it out a few more days and only run once I’ve got an OK pair of shoes? Or maybe I’ll suck it up and make a late night trip downtown. 4 hours worth of commuting for 10 minutes in a store doesn’t seem worth it.

So thanks to tree planting and herbicide spray this summer, I’m in the best shape I’ve ever been in. I must have lost at least 30 pounds this summer(although the terrible cooking from our terrible camp cook didn’t help) I’m not trying to talk myself up but this is all to say, I feel really good and I don’t want to let this go to waste like I do every year. So there are a few things I’m trying to stick with this year.
I love food, I love eating food and I love eating food that is bad for me. This is the biggest hurdle. So I’m trying to eat smaller portions more often and I’m trying my best to cut out any processed foods and white bread. On top of that I am drinking at least two smoothies a day instead of having a meal with soy milk, tofu, banana’s and a ton of fruit. I can’t afford a gym membership and I cannot get motivated to go to the gym so I am just doing as many pushup’s as humanly possible whenever I can.
I bike a lot, which is great but I don’t feel like I’m getting a good all around workout when I bike. So I’ve decided to start running.
I hate running. I hate running more than I hate small spiders, peanut butter and close talkers. Whenever I run I lose my breath in seconds, I feel like I’m going to puke and I’m almost instantly dry heaving.
So for motivations sake I’ve decided to document my experiment in running, the changes in my lungs and hopefully my body.

Running blog Day 1:
On a whim and after spending the entire day sitting at home watching movies, I went for a late night run. I started by going up a giant hill, making it to the top and deciding to give up. My lungs were hurting so badly and I slowly walked back to my house to get my bike. When I got to the bottom of the hill I felt a twinge as I pictured myself back in a clear cut jumping over logs and running from tree to tree. So I started running again, although this time away from the hill.
All together I ran about a mile and I felt like I was having a heart attack and a nose bleed at the same time. It felt awful and when I returned home my body was aching everywhere.

Running Day 2:
I was actually excited to run tonight. I know from experience that the deal with doing hard physical labor is that it’s always terrible the first week and as time goes by, it gets much easier. With this in mind, I ran tonight. I ran about a mile, and avoided the hill once again. The first 5 minutes were hell. My lungs hurt and my legs hurt but it quickly went away. After stopping for a minute or two I continued on and although breathing did not come easy, I forced myself to keep going. On day one I must have stopped and walked at least 6 or 7 times and tonight I only stopped 3 times.
I have high hopes for myself and I really hope that as time goes by this will get easier and i’ll actually start enjoying this sport. Or at the very least…I want to stop throwing up my lungs every time I run.