Brrrrrrr

Right now weather.com reports that it is 7 degrees but feels like -1. I whole heartedly agree! Getting out for the run today was actually easy. Barry and I came home from church, changed directly into our running clothes, and left for the run together. It is so much easier to get things done when you have a partner there with you.

So, the run...we didn't make it to two miles today. It was cold and the air felt like it was freezing as I breathed it in and out. But, we did get the ususual 1.6 in so I feel proud of that.

I hope it warms up soon!!

I Wish

I wish that I could post today saying that I was changed by yesterday's revelation and I no longer dreaded my run. That is not the case. I don't think it will be anytime soon. I still tried to push off running and thought about all the different reasons why I should skip today. But I got out there and after two blocks started feeling good. So, that was my run today. I know that this is something that I am going to have to face day after day. I hope that there will be a day when I am excited by the prospect of running. But in case that day never comes I am prepared to go through today's process day after day to reach my goal.

Good luck on your run for those of you in training also! I wish you much energy for the process.

Tomorrow I am taking the day off and then moving up to 2 full miles on Sunday. WooHoo Week 1 is done!

Just Do It

This has been my theme this week. Ignoring Nike’s overuse of the phrase it has been very helpful to me. I have found life to be much easier if I "just do it" rather than think and overplan and psych myself out. I recently used this idea when working on my practicum for next year. I have three counseling centers to call and inquire about their application process for accepting practicum students. I know I need to do this. There are about 50 other people from my school and numerous others from the 7 other MFT programs in the state who are currently going through this process as well. What that means is I need to get on it in order to find a site that hasn’t already accepted another student. Yet, when I think about calling I make myself sick worrying about all the "bad" things that could happen during the process. Yesterday I decided to just do it...and I am still alive. Nobody was mean to me, nobody yelled at me, nobody laughed at me. It was actually pretty easy to make this initial call. This is the same story with housecleaning and homework as well. I think about and dread doing it but once I get started it’s really not all that bad and I feel so accomplished after it’s complete.

My first thought when I woke up this morning was "I don’t want to run today". I then stopped thinking went downstairs, put on my running clothes (I leave them sitting out the evening before in case of events like this), and walked out the door. I continued to not want to be running for most of the run and cut a few blocks out (after all I am only supposed to be running a mile this week and I have been doing more, right?). Then an amazing thing happened, as soon as I saw the block with my house on it. Maybe it was the Foo Fighters song that came on my ipod, maybe it was the fact that I could stop if I wanted to but I had a burst of energy. I made up those few blocks that I had cut out and came back home satisfied with my progress for the day. Now, I just need to remember this for the future...

I've Been Running HOW FAR?

So, this may not seem like a big deal on paper but to me it's everything. I was concerned with how long it was taking me to run this 1 mile route. With the time I was clocking in at I figured "oh well, I can just finish my half marathon in the time it takes to run the full thing!!". Turns out I have been running 1.6 miles instead of just 1. On the plus side, I can already run over a mile and a half!! On the negative side...well there really isn't one except maybe that's why I am a little more sore than I thought I would be. So, day 4 (run #3) was completed this morning and I even had a running partner today. Which brings me to my next topic...

Body types. I have posted before that I am not a runner, along with that is my non-runner body type. I have short legs and if I am honest with myself am rather round. My running partner today does not suffer from my afflictions, he has long legs and is rather lean. He can eat chips for dinner and have no consequences because his fabulous metabolism will turn those chips into rocket fuel. I thought I may have a chance since it's my third day running and I have found some sort of stride at this point. But no, Barry looked painful trying to stay slow enough to let me keep up. His knees were coming up to his chin so he could take small enough strides to not lose me just on that aspect. So, I shooed him ahead and by the time I huffed and puffed my way home he was in the shower already. To further exemplify this point I will write about a 5K we ran one year. We had all the good intentions of running regularly before this 5K but without the accountability of a blog journaling our progress ended up barely running at all. But, we were registered and thought we should run anyways. I ended up walking most of it. Barry ran a 7 minute mile. ugh. All this said, my husband is very encouraging to me and always makes sure that I feel good about myself. I will need this encouragement as the journey continues. So run fast Barry, maybe one day I will catch up!

Addendum

So...today ended up not being a total break day. I am currently working as a behavioral aide with children. Today the 12 year old boy that I work with suggested playing a little hockey. Mind you, I have never (with the exception of 5th grade gym class when we had the red and blue plastic hockey sticks) played hockey, at all. It was actually pretty fun but hockey and sledding for an hour and half ended up being quite a workout! Not exactly textbook training, but I am sure I used some different muscles trying to keep standing on the ice and running up the hill repeatedly for sledding. So, in the end I feel good and will be running tomorrow.

Ouch!

Here is a listing of my body parts that are in pain right now: the tops of my thighs (I have to use my arms to help me sit and stand), the insides of my thighs, the sides of my calfs when I rotate my ankles in or out, and my lower back (that actually has been hurting before running but I thought I would add it anyways). I know that this process will hurt and I am not scared of that...I just wish it didn't hurt yet! I decided to take today off partly because of the pain and partly because Tuesdays are just busy for me. I have class right away in the morning a break around lunch and then I work until about 6 or 7. It probably would have been better to break tomorrow or Thursday but those are really good days timewise so...today is the day. I also want to make sure that I prepare myself slowly enough that there is no injury to prevent me from running the 1/2M. Ok enough excuses to make myself feel better for taking the day off.

Circa 1996

I have found that all of my winter running attire is dated back about 10 years. Not that there is much I can do about that seeing as my husband and I are living on one income since my return to graduate school last fall. But I am quite amused by myself as I jog along in my teal green Columbia shell, teal green Columbia earband, and those vinyl-esque tear away warm-up pants. Do not fear, I have a picture to post...I just have to figure out how to do that. Apparently over the last 10 years it never occurred to me to exercise in the winter. I have a bunch of cute spring/summer running attire collecting dust in a drawer somewhere...

So, I ran mile 2 today (note: mile 2 not 2 miles). Nothing much to note, it's done and I am glad.

Dedicated to my brother, Bill(y)

One of the reasons this post is dedicated to my brother Billy is...well...I stole the idea of blogging about running from him. Billy has decided that he, too, would run the half marathon and I probably wouldn't actually be training if it wasn't for him. What prompted me to get the process started was reading his blog for a week and realizing "if he can do it, I can do it too". And only partially in the mean little sister way, mostly in the Thanks for inspiring me! way. This 'thanks for inspiring me' is the other reason the post is dedicated to him. You see, left to my own devices I would rationalize away the training period, "oh I can start tomorrow" "it's too snowy/icy/cold/nice out to run today". But Billy sets his sights on something and then gets going, there is no over-planning or over-analyzing, just jumping in and going for it. To read about Billy's adventures in the journey to the half marathon please see the link under the "blogs I frequent" heading.

It started with a conversation

It all started one fateful day in Winona, MN. We were visiting with family when my brother-in-law-in-law (I add the extra in-law because he is my husband's sister's husband) mentioned that he had started training to run a marathon. I don't remember exactly how the rest of the conversation went but it ended with a declaration from Barry (my husband), Vicki (husband's sister), and myself that we would train for the half-marathon. The Med City Marathon was decided on as the race, it's close, it's relatively cheap, and there isn't a lottery so if you want to run you run.

At this point it must be noted that I am NOT a runner. I have, in the past, dabbled with a 5K here or there. I believe the only resemblence that a 5K has to a half marathon is the number 3. This being the case, I don't believe my past experiences have prepared me for what is to come. So, I start slowly. I will train to train for the race. My first 1 mile adventure was today.