Stuck In A Rut

I'm in a writing kind of mood this morning due to a last-minute project at work, so I figured I would switch on over from Word to Blogger and write a quick post.

I've been stuck in a rut lately with my running. I have a 5k coming up on the 31st, the Jessamine County Skelter for the Shelter 5k, and I have some high hopes for it. The overall female winner won last year with a time of 24:00 flat. My fastest 5k has been 26:06 - an 8:25 pace. I know that I can run a 24 minute 5k on a treadmill, and I hope that it can translate out on the road. I am going to try and get some 4 mile runs in over the holiday weekend to test my speed.

The field was pretty small last year - it was the first time for the event - and I'm secretly hoping that it will be a small race again this year. The less people that I am competing with - the greater the chance of me doing well in my age group, or dare I say, overall.

I am motivated in my mind and in my heart to do well, but I just can't seem to get my body to want to do the work. It has been really nice running without a set distance or plan laid before me. I'm loosely following a 5k plan from the Runner's World SmartCoach application, but I'm trying to have fun with it and not get burnt out before beginning marathon training in June.

I've also been pretty tired lately, and I know my husband and friends will probably make fun of me for saying this, but I think it is because I have been staying up later over the past few weeks. "How late?" you may ask. 10:00pm. Yes, I know it is sad. But I've realized that I really need about 8 hours of sleep each night. 9:00pm-4:45am seemed to work perfectly for me. When I go to bed at 10:00, I can't seem to drag myself out of bed until 6:00. At that point, I am faced with only enough time to either go to the gym, or walk Emma before getting ready for work. When I get up at 4:45, I can do both. Being a responsible pet owner, I feel that my only choice is to take Emma for her walk. Anyway, all that to say - it has become increasingly easier to talk myself out of working out these past few weeks.

On an exciting note, I might be joining another gym (if I can get out of my current contract) that has an Olympic-size pool. I would love to incorporate swimming into my training.

On another exciting note, my husband will wrap up his second year at Asbury Seminary tomorrow morning when he takes his Greek final - yay! I am so proud of him and I know he is looking forward to a summer break.

Back to non-exciting things...is anyone else having trouble staying motivated? With running, training, or life in general?

PS: Stay tuned - I've got a food related post in the works that I hope to post soon.