Hibernation is setting in!

I think I have recently used every excuse in the book not to leave the house once I am home from work.

I'm tired, I have laundry to do, I need to clean, I need to catch up on the three books I'm currently trying to finish, I'm tired, there's a great movie on tonight that I want to watch, It's cold outside, It's raining, I'm tired, I'm going to bake for the kids instead, The cats need to be brushed, I don't feel like getting changed, I'm tired......

You get the idea!!

The fact is though that I've been lazy and unmotivated. Once the time change came in early November and darkness fell before I even got home, all I wanted to do was eat large pasta dishes, munch on anything sweet, and walk around in warm fleece - I was a bear stuffing her face and getting ready hunker down in a nest of blankets for the winter. Needless to say, this would be the time that the amazing man in my life decided that it was time to train, train, train for his upcoming goals in 2012 (http://www.12in12.ca/).  Watching him get his running groove on and battling the elements regardless of the time or day or need to do other things wasn't helping me. He is committed and ready to meet his goals. I, on the other hand, would watch him go and eat another 6 cookies. So what to do?

Well, I had to go back to the beginning of sorts. I actually read through my posts from the past year and scanned my profile again. And that's when it hit me like a pound of ground meat - I needed to set some goals. A good reason why I run is because I have been able to set goals, work towards them, and achieve them. I hadn't set any running goals after my last race in Haliburton. Just going outside to run isn't the best motivator for me. I need a really, really big CARROT!

I had already thought about my running goals for 2012 but I hadn't set them in "stone".  And for me that meant two things: going beyond my goals from last year and parting with my money - I had to step up to the plate (or starting line, if you will) and register for 2012 races even though it is still 2011.

By this afternoon, I had registered and paid for the races whose registration had already opened. It was an amazing feeling! All of a sudden there was a reason to run again! There are new goals set, new reasons to run! Within an hour of registering I had put together what I believe to be a rather solid and doable training program that will get me through the entire year, starting in January.

After all, I still have gifts to wrap, some shopping to do, baking is still being completed, the holidays are almost upon us.....but maybe I can find the time to squeeze a few runs in before the New Year!