Reboot

Wow.  I really don’t know what to say for myself.  I have totally dropped the ball on this blog, which is supposed to be a journal of my running work-outs and other fitness endeavors.  How could I not have posted anything since June 10?

I know why.  I can make a list: full-on Texas summer and a terrible meltdown about work that required a lot of my attention.  It took a while for me to calm down and get things back under control, but I think it’s safe to say that I’m feeling much better.  I’m ready to resume Feels Like Flying.  Also, as an added incentive to update this blog, I’m monetizing it.  I don’t expect to generate enough cash to pay for the shoe rubber I lose during a run, but I figure it can’t hurt.

This Texas summer is turning out to be more challenging than I anticipated.  Much of my motivation to exercise is the need to get outside, to feel small underneath the big blue sky, to feel the wind on my skin, to feel my feet fly over the ground.  But now, in the grips of high summer, it is very hard for me to spend much time outside.  I can handle a few minutes here and there, but for the most part, I’m an indoor cat now.  As a result, my running program has taken a hit.  The treadmill fails to inspire me, and I feel like I can only do yoga so many nights before I wonder if my legs remember how to run.

So I’ve declared a reboot on my running program and this blog.  My goal is now to make sure I can run a solid 20 minutes on the treadmill by the time September rolls around.  Since it’s only 20 minutes, it would be nice if I could keep up a good pace, such as an 8:30 mile.  That’s not too ambitious, I think, and it won’t require obscene amounts of time on the treadmill to do it.  The 20-minute-run goal fits into my larger half-marathon goal for 2011, which I will write about here…some day.  I hope.

The goal for this weekend: a 20-minute treadmill run, 9:00 mile pace.  I can do this.  I can do this.  I will do this.