Doing well but no exercise yet (170.0)

I'm continuing to do well, esp. with food and mental health, which are huge.

I've been talking to my mom more, just about life in general, and that is going well.  I think when I dropped my defenses and opened up, it made a big difference. 

My parenting skills seem to be improving, as I use my listening skills more and more, especially with Sophie but also with Luke.  Listening more is also is helping my relationship with Mark.

I am a bit behind on laundry, but nothing a busy weekend can't fix.  The house is clean and orderly, even the kids' rooms.

The biggest hole in the process is that I'm still struggling to fit exercise into my routine.  I'm going to take a serious look at my daily schedule and make myself find the time to workout.  It's not just the workout time that's an issue.  It's the time it takes to prep for it.

There are basically 3 different times of day I could feasibly fit exercise into my life. 

1) At 5:30 or 6 am.  This would require "prep" time of going to bed at 9:30 or 10 pm.  Most nights I am still doing laundry or dishes or reading or watching one of the few TV shows I DVR until 10 or 10:30, and I don't fall asleep until 10:30 or 11.  An earlier bedtime is possible (esp. if I'd do a better job of getting kids to bed before 8:30), but there is a time cost there.  Plus, I am soooo not a morning person. It would be a sacrifice on that front, too.

2) Right after the kids leave for school, which is 7:30.  This makes the most sense.  There are classes every day at the gym at 8 am, and I can get ready for work there and be in the office by or before 10 am.  Or I could go running when the weather gets nice and be at work by 9:30 am.  The "prep" time here is getting up early to eat breakfast and getting my gear packed for the gym (when I get ready there anyway).  I would also have to have an earlier bedtime of 10 pm so I could get up at 6 am to eat.  Also, I often clean the kitchen or do a load of laundry before I go to work, so I would be giving up that cleaning time and would have to do those things after work (which would be a very worthwhile tradeoff, but it is a factor).

3) At home, after work/school.  This is what I've been shooting for, and it's just not happening.  Twice a week we have after school activities and I don't have any time to workout.  So that leaves twice a week (not counting Fridays) where I could workout at home after work/school, which would be around 4:30 or 5.  This has worked a couple of times, when I've done yoga at home.  The kids can unwind after school and for the most part keep themselves busy for an hour (Luke did the yoga DVD with me the last time, which was a hoot) while I either do a DVD or hit the treadmill.  There's not much "prep" time with this, and theoretically makes the most sense, but I'm also often wiped out by the time I get home and I just don't wanna.

I'd like to think a combination of these things might work, depending on what each day holds.  I can plan ahead and put WORKOUT on my calendar, and then stick to it.  I just need to make up my mind to Just Do It. 

I can also workout on Saturdays.  The draw back there is that I like to sleep in on Saturdays, since it's my only real day off.  I just need to make myself realize the pay off for working out is much bigger than getting an extra hour or two of sleep. When the weather cools down, Saturday afternoon runs are a definite possibility.

I wanted to run the half marathon on October 9th this year.  I'm 50% sure that isn't going to happen. I could still train for it.  I've got 5 weeks, and I did it last year with only about that much training time.  I just have to get moving NOW, or my training window will close in about a week's time. 

The biggest motivator to do the race is that I've run it the past three years in a row.  It's a great course, it's in town, and logistically it's an easy race to get to and away from (small field, about 2,500, and it's very walker/slow jogger friendly).  It's also the one year anniversary of my Dad's funeral--last year I ran the race the day of his visitation--so there is that to consider. 

The obvious drawback is, of course, I've not been running much at all this year.  So I don't know if it's even possible for my body to get up to speed that quickly.  I guess I would find out if I'd just start running.