Good enough for half?

It’s never a good sign when I don’t have time for blog updates. The good news is that I’m finding time to run. The bad news? I’m not finding MUCH time, and no time to write this blog.

But all that is about to change. After a year of taking on too much work, one of my major contracts is finally over. I have cut my workload almost in half, which is a fantastic relief. If I have learned one thing this past year, it is that too much work is just that – to much work. It was hard striking a balance, and I think a lot of things suffered. Time with the family really suffered (and the kids were in daycare far more than I would have liked), as did the order in my household. I don’t think I’ve ever been quite this messy or disorganized in my life.

Similarly, our eating habits suffered. With no time to cook, we grabbed far to many meals on the go, especially in the months from August to October, when I was on back-to-back-to-back deadlines. I had to complete three issues of the manufacturing magazine and three issues of the warehouse magazine in three months. Plus, I started working part-time again at the college in September, and September is the busiest month for the nursery school. (And THAT hasn’t gotten any easier. Last year, when everyone wanted me to be president again, they said, “It can’t be worse than this past year!” They were wrong… it is!)

But there is good news too. One is that I found out what happened to my favourite instructor at my old gym. (The one I belonged to before we joined the Y as a family.) It turns out, she has started a new fitness program called “Tread Powerfully” (more on that later), and as part of that, offers an “Intense Strength” class, which is an hour-long muscle class. I signed up, and have been faithfully doing the strength class once a week (and the Tread Powerfully classes when I have time… the class times often conflict with my schedule). It’s very exciting, and I’m going to spend more time blogging about the concept soon.

And as for the running? I’m still running, but was so busy, I abandoned my plan of running a 10K race at the end of October. I’d say I get out to run anywhere from three to four times a week. I try to do one “long” run a week (about 10K), and a few 5K, 6K, or 7K in between. Add to that the weight training and the occasional Tread Powerfully class, and I think I’ve managed to maintain my fitness level.

But this level isn’t going to enable me to run a marathon – not even close. It’s time to move on, and take my training to the next level. I start my half-marathon clinic this week (although I can’t go to the classes on Thursday night, I’m still taking advantage of the instructors & training program), and I am signed up to run the Chilly Half Marathon here in Burlington on March 1st. My plan is to run two half-marathons in 2009, and start training for the Mississauga Marathon after completing my second half. So far, this is a good start.

That’s about it for this update, but part of the reason I cut back on my workload is to have more time to write about subjects that actually interest me. That includes this blog. I won’t go this long again without an update.

Happy trails…