At the end of May I decided to stop running. I knew it was a temporary. I was in a rut. My left ankle was hurting me. It wouldn’t hurt during runs but as soon as I stopped. OUCH. I needed a change. As much as I love running it was time for a break. Over the summer I turned to going on hikes and walks which is considerably less impact and workout than running is. What was the result? I ended up burning less calories. And without a significant change in nutrition I easily put on 10-15 lbs.

At the start of 2014 I did a few challenges. 30 days is a good number. Its enough to get a habit started or determine that this change is not for you. Go to the KLLRWLLKRW links and read about some of my other challenges. The key is to make it something easy to remember. Too many details and you will just forget about it and scrap it before it even gets started. They goal is not necessarily to be successful but to walk away having learned something about you from the experience.

So how am I going to jumpstart myself into running again? the 115 challenge. I wanted to do more but then pared it back as to not set myself up for failure. I weighed my self on the first of the month. 251.6 lbs. The number doesn’t bother me. What does get under my skin is going to workout and not having my body behave like I remember it does.  115 challenge isn’t going to be a save all but it will hopefully get the ball rolling.  It consists of three components

1.  Drink 100 ounces of water every day [Hydrate]
2. Get into the bed by 10 pm [Rest/Repair]
3. Run 5 days a week [minimum 1 mile]

Number 1 is easy. So many things that are wrong with our bodies stem from being dehydrated. We drink caffenated beverages which are diaretics that flush out our systems and we often don’t put that back into our body with just plain old water. I drink water every day. I know that I could be drinking more. This will give me a goal. You don’t want to be guzzling all that right before bed. Its best if its spread out through the day. When you are putting in the miles your joints really need that fluid. No need to make it harder on yourself.

Number 2 is probably where I will struggle the most. I have no problem with sleeping. Often times I’m alseep in less than 10 minutes once my head touches the pillow. My difficulty is that discipline of getting myself to bed at a decent time. I know with the added excercise this will get easier as the month goes by. Your body does most of its repairing in your deepest levels of sleep. The better the sleep that you get, the more prepared you will be for that next workout.

Number 3 is where I’m most confident. 1 mile is easy when you aren’t tired. When your body is feeling beat up or you’ve had a bad day is when it gets more difficult to lace up those shoes. In my experience a good run can be an attitude changer. Its a great way to clear your mind. At least for me. I’ve had my fair share of epiphanies while running. Empty your mind and start thinking only of your breathing, your form, and putting one foot in front of the other.  Then if you run long enough you stop thinking and it feels like you could do it forever.

I’ll document my runs with Nike+ Running app and update to this page with the progress.

Have you challenged yourself physically? Tell me about in the comments or @SongandCrest