The Rad Rabbit Run

We're only two weeks into the new year, and already I'm struggling with all the goals I set out to do. After having such a tough time in 2022, I was excited for 2023 to be a new beginning. Well, as it turns out, not a single thing changes between 11:59:59 PM on December 31 and 12:00:00 AM on January 1.

I knew this, of course. It's like my birthday; when I turned 40, I hadn't suddenly aged enormously between January 24 and January 25 last year. But I have always loved new beginnings--and new years are my favorite!

This year didn't start out so well. The biggest factor has been the change in my insurance (which Jerry and I discovered why all the changes--we'd switched plans, thinking that we were doing the right thing, but it turned out to be very, very wrong). Jerry filled out some paperwork to hopefully allow us to switch back to our previous insurance plan, but there are no promises, and we won't find out for 5-6 weeks.

My medication change has been a bit trying, for lack of a better word. The side effects have been noticeable: I'm more tired, I feel sad/depressed, very irritable, lack motivation, and want to eat pretty much everything. If it continues for a another week or so, I'll talk to my doctor about either changing the dose or switching meds again. I'm so bummed that I've had to deal with this when my previous medication was working so well.

I didn't have abnormally huge goals for the new year: 1) Get my weight back down to maintenance range and stay there; 2) Run 500 miles total for the year; 3) Completely one project per month; and 4) Expand my vocabulary. Because I used the S.M.A.R.T. method to plan my goals, I felt like I had a solid plan for success.

It's not too late--I know that--but I just feel like getting off to such a slow start is disheartening. My weight isn't going down and I'm worried I'm just going to keep gaining. I've only run six miles so far this year--I have reasons, but I know that they are only excuses. I did complete a project this month (my cross stitch, among a couple of other things). And I did select a vocabulary word to learn, but I was supposed to have done one per week--so I'm behind a week.

I realize that these aren't that big of a deal and that I can get back on track quickly, before it gets too out of hand. The hardest one is my weight! Especially if this medication has something to do with it.

To get away from the Debbie Downer stuff, I got a phone call from my younger brother, Nathan, yesterday. He asked me, "Hey, are you still running?" I laughed and told him yes--every morning, in my head, I am ready to head out for a run. Then I just don't. He said he's been trying to get back into it too, but he's only doing a couple of miles every other day.

Leap Year 4-Miler, 2016 (How lucky I was I to get number 44 for this race?!)

He was wondering if I'd be interested in doing a race with him in the near future. Normally, I would have said no immediately. But Nathan never asks me to do anything! I wish I had a better relationship with him (it's not that we aren't on good terms--we just don't have much in common and we never really talk). The only thing we've ever really had in common was running.

The Santa Hustle at Cedar Point in 2014

I thought just because we do a race together doesn't mean I have to run it fast or try for a PR or anything. I can just run it like I would any other easy run; it would just be something to do with my brother. He said he'd like to do a 10K, so it would give him something to work toward (we could both run a 5K right now if we wanted--certainly not FAST, but we could finish it). A 10K requires some training to build up endurance.

So, I said sure--I'd do a 10K race with him. I looked some up and we decided to do one called the Rad Rabbit Run and it's in one of the Metroparks in Michigan. It's up north of Detroit--about an hour and 15 minutes away--but it looks like a nice course and neither of us has done it before.

This is perfect timing for me to work on the mileage I need in order to hit my goal of 500 miles this year. Knowing that I'll be running this race with Nathan (and that I won't want to let him down), I'll be forced to train for it.

Cheering on Nathan at his first marathon in Detroit in 2014

To train, I decided to use my own 10K Plan for Beginners. It has four runs per week: one day being speed work (relatively simple stuff, alternating between sprints and tempo runs each week); two days of short, easy runs; and one day is a long run (which starts at just 2.5 miles and gets progressively longer each week). I'm not going to be focused on heart rate or speed. I'm just going to run my easy runs so that they feel easy and I'll push myself during my speed work. I want to keep it as simple as possible!

There are just under 12 weeks until the race and the training plan is only 8 weeks long, so I'm going to add some extra weeks in there to build a better base. I haven't been running consistently for a while! I'm sure I'll use the treadmill as well as running outside--just whatever I feel like doing that day.

Maybe the running will help me to want to eat better and I'll be able to be more focused on that goal as well. Working on a project each month is easy, and the vocabulary word each week should be easy if I would just remember to do it!

Actually, I'll pick a vocabulary word right now: AUSPICIOUS. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary: Auspicious- showing or suggesting that future success is likely.

So, while the beginning of 2023 hasn't exactly been auspicious, maybe training for this race will help turn things around ;)

If anyone is interested in signing up for this race (I’d love to meet you!) if you use this link I might get a partial refund or something: https://runsignup.com/Race/MI/Utica/BadRabbit5k10kFamilyMile?raceRefCode=MoubJkhK

Well, here goes nothing…!

The Glass City Relay in Toledo in 2014