Missing mojo and such...

So the other day I went back to strength training. The same training that Eric and I were doing in Alaska. In the beginning of the year it took a while for us to improve and even start to enjoy it. Well needless to say the past few months have taken a toll on my strength. I really didn't accomplish much, let alone close to what I was at. To make things worse, the squats had me walking funny for two days after! I am not sure if I should try to approach different methods of training now that I am in Seattle (ie. I now have access to things like gyms, fitness groups, crossfit ($$$$), and the such) or just get back into the swing of things.

What I dream about the most during the day....

The problem with getting back into the swing of things is I have lost my motivation. It is way more fun after a long day of work to make a half-assed dinner, then lay on the couch with my wife and dog than train. The cool thing is we have been avoiding the half-assed dinners and are actually making some good food, but the laying on the couch has become my kryptonite.

Yet another picture of what I like to do best...

Soo...I have two options

1) Get my ass in gear before it gets huge

2) Get up in the mornings and train before work....

Option 1) is way more realistic than option 2), but only time will tell. I always feel wore out after work, so I may have to change my webisode to Before Work Workouts with Ed. Either way we will see. For the time being I have to start getting motivated and get my mojo back.  

Any suggestions on how I can accomplish such a feat?

A shlushy slump...

It has been about 5 months of winter here. The snow and bad weather started about November and it really hasn't stopped. Needless to say, we are starting to feel the effects of it. And when I say it, I mean everything that comes with running in the winter. The slushy roads, the cold feet, the icy wind, snowed in trails, and so on.

Now it is not all negative. We do try to make the best of a situation. When the weather is bad we try to just get out there and go, when the weather is good we take advantage of it and go for the long runs, and everything in between (well there really is not in between...)

So how do we make the best of our situation?

For starters there is the random knocking over of big chunks of ice as demonstrated in this video...

Then there is playing catch with the random orange you found on the beach....

And Eric's favorite, jumping off anything you can climb on!

I personally am not as optimistic as Eric, so most of my time is spent frustrated and expressing that concern as seen in this photo:

 

With that said, I never come home after a run and not feel energized, happy, and accomplished. I can not wait for the first spring run post this season, and I can not wait for it to happen...but for now, we will stay stuck in our slushy slump.

What gets you into a slump? What do you do to make the best of a bad situation? 

The first white trail of the season...

So Eric and I set out on our first run together in about three weeks. 

 

The air was crisp, and so was the newly fallen snow as we set out on a brand new trail. Well, it was a brand new trail for me anyways. Eric discovered this while I was gone, and I am very glad he did. It is hard to find new paths on our little chunk of land here in the middle of the ocean. But nonetheless yesterday was a first for me, and an exciting one at that. 

It has been a while since I had ran, due to work. Everything felt great until our first “hill”...more like a long gradual ascent along a access road. I was huffing and puffing right out the gates and reminiscing about that time two months ago that I could run uphill like a champ.

 

 All the effort paid off though, because once we hit the trail at the end of the road, the view was amazing.

Eric and I took in the view for a little while then set off back towards home. On our way back we decided to adventure from a previously trail a little and see what we could find. About ten minutes later we discovered this....

  

 Today I asked Eric if he thought that the sign meant landmines as well...his response was simply “Hmmm...possibly”. After running through the abandoned explosives cache (I may be slightly exaggerating this point), we made it home in one piece. It was great to get out again and explore some new territory. After a summer of running, I forgot how much I enjoy running in cold weather and the snow...it was cool to get back to it. I think it is going to be a great winter season! Happy trails....

Sun, rain and a little bit of pain...

As work was coming to an end the other day, Eric and I noticed that it was raining on the west side of the building and sunny on the south...the debate about whether or not to run started. After 4 days of bad weather and doing little to no exercise the conversation went as such...

Eric → It's sunny out and it looks like a nice day for a run...

Ed → I'm pretty sure it is raining on the other side of the building.

Eric → Ohhhh.....

Well it may not be those exact words but that is how I remember it. So we got ready anyways and started heading out at a nice and easy pace. That is when we realized

Bad Decision #1 → We wore shorts instead of tights.

Everything seemed okay for about 1/8^th of a mile, then we made our first turn which lead to a road completely exposed to the elements. We got sprayed with ice cold rain and winds of about 30 mph...give or take a couple mph. I said to Eric at that moment that wearing shorts in this weather for a run is like drinking milk on a hot day when your dry...just a bad choice.

Bad Decision #2 → Running along the beach.

Whoever invented the air freshener scent “Ocean Spray” got it completely wrong. It doesn't smell like that at all. The swell was so big along the beach (not really a beach as in a beach with sand, sun and surf...more like a beach with big akward rocks, intense wind and rain, with surf that would be a hell of a ride but surely would kill you) that you could hear all the rocks being dragged out to sea and slammed back to shore each time the swell would meet land. It was intense....

Bad Decision #3 → High-stepping the tall grass...along the “beach”

Well that lead to my first injury, twisted my ankle and had to walk it off. Still hurts today but I think it was just bruised a little, would have been fine if it wasn't for my second injury...more on that later.

Bad Decision #4 → Running a foot wide strip of land between a busy road and the ocean.

Oh and I forgot to mention the cliff...when you miss step like I do your foot slides quickly down said cliff and you have to grab on to the roads metal guard protecting cars from going over said cliff. Again it was intense...

Bad Decision #5 → Running behind an abandoned cannery.

Lots of slippery, wet, jagged rocks with debris and not much space. This led to my second injury when I jumped off an abandoned oil tank and landed my already injured foot on a rock very awkwardly. Eric was wearing Vibrums the entire time and was enjoying the adventure...well he did say it was a bad idea in the first place, but he will attempt it again....

At this point our run turned into a wet and cold, but relaxing jaunt home. It was prolly another couple miles but we took it easy. We ran past a few land marks like the abandoned knife, the truck with a snow plow someone randomly ditched off the road, our office, and the airport.

All in all it was a great run. Our bad decisions actually turned out to be little adventures that gave us something to talk about the next day. So they ended up being good choices (well except for anything that ended up in an injury...I did not actually know I would be injured so I am still saying it was a good idea). It was not a day that most would go running, in fact I wouldn't of went a year or two ago. I am slowing starting to discover there is a beauty in inclement weather that not many people get to see, so I am going to try to branch out and not stay inside just because it is not “nice”. I am sure Eric will make sure of that as well since he seems to thrive in crappy weather.

Does anyone else actually end up enjoying the days that it wasn't the best idea to go outside?