Really???

Things are really getting worse not better. Between my hubby being gone, friends in town, the dreadful heat, and work I am accomplishing nothing in the workout department. It is too hot to run after about 9am so my window has been very small lately. I think I am deciding that the gym may be where it's at for now.
Let's see if I can make it happen. I have two days off in a row and my hubby is back, thankfully safe and sound from his river trip.

Too Busy...

It seems like life is too busy lately to exercise but actually it is just one excuse that I use to get out of it. I need to do it because I really do feel better after I exercise. I just went an entire week with only two runs and absolutely zero gym time. Unless you count a leisurely 5 mile bike ride to a bbq.

The goal for next week....START OVER.

Plan B

Wow how time flies by.

I have not been blogging because I have been busy camping and working. Well and avoiding working out. I have had a few run days in there and an awesome little hike on our camping trip. I am questioning my plan to train for the marathon. Things just aren't working out the way I had planned. Instead of running more I am running less. So I am thinking of delaying marathon plans and moving on to another item on my bucket list that actually seems like a feasible goal for my life.

I want to hike to the top of Mount Borah. I have made some plans though my hubby is not 100% on board. I want to go the the Braun Brother's reunion in Challis, ID. Then bag Borah the next day. He thinks my plan is flawed because he thinks that we should flip flop and hit Borah the day before the concert. That means a day off work.....

I am definitely thinking about sidelining plan A for now.

Update

Yesterday I did switch it up but not with my running. I ended up getting up for a 6am strength class. I had made plans to meet Ashley so I couldn't bag out. I had planned to run in the evening but we decided to ride our bikes downtown to Alive After 5. It was a good time and I still got some exercise in.

I have to admit I am pretty sore today. I was suppose to get up and workout at 7am then my hubby was going to take his turn. Well, I slept in and he slept in. We headed to the greenbelt baby and dog in tow and ran 3 miles together. I have to say switching it up has made things more enjoyable.

The question is: "Will I be too sore for the 6am strength class tomorrow?"

Love vrs Hate

I am seriously entering the hate phase of my love/hate relationship with running. I am not sure what it is that has made it less enjoyable for me. I don't know if it is because I feel like I have to run. Or that I have to get up so early to run. Or that I am running pretty much the same turf everytime I go.

I used to say to myself, "I get to run today." Now it seems so much more like a chore.

I did get up this morning to run and I felt good that I went but I can't say that I loved it. I think that I will try to switch up my route and maybe go tomorrow late evening instead.

Happy 4th of July! (one day late)

Since my husband thinks that 4th of July is the best holiday we were out late last night. My daughter stayed up through the whole fireworks display in Boise. I must say I was impressed. Since it was a very late night I opted for starting my redo tomorrow. According to my schedule today is a rest day anyway :)

I am really going to try this week because last week seemed like a failure. My hubby has been taking a class everyday so it has been harder to squeeze in workout time. I do have a date to go to a 6am strength class with Ashley this week. It seems easier to get out of bed when you worry about letting someone else down.

Send positive thoughts my way because I am going to need it!

So weird

It is so weird to me that my running can vary SO much. I can push myself one day 9 miles and the next time I run I am dragging myself along 2 miles and it is taking everything in me to make it that far.

I did get up at 6:30 this morning and run. Was it easy? No. I did my short loop this morning 2.85 miles (2.85 is that ridiculous? I refuse to round up but I definitely don't want to round down) because I hit my snooze a few too many times. I am actually not sure that I could have made it farther. Why, oh, why?

We will have to see what tomorrow brings. I had high hopes for my week even after breaking my training schedule. I am hoping for 4.5 mile Sat and then an 8 or 9 mile long run Sun. Oh' man wish me luck.

Redo

I think that I am going to need a redo on my training for this week. So far I am up to 2 dreadful miles (for some reason they were painful).

I took Monday off because I rocked it on Sunday with my 9 miler. I worked till midnight Monday so I figured I wouldn't be able to get my butt out of bed to run on Tuesday. But I did have great hopes for Wednesday and......

Well I got called into work at 1:45 am and it was 2 hours + some change before I was back home in bed. Needless to say I didn't get up early to run and by the time I could go it was super warm and I would have to push pumpkin in the stroller. I decided, no.

Now it's Thursday and I should be proud because I did run. Did I get up early? No, for some reason I could not rise to the 6 am blare of my alarm clock. After breakfast kiddo and I packed up our stuff and headed to the greenbelt. I struggled to run 2 miles while pushing the stroller then we spent an hour playing in the park.

If I tried to get back on track for the week I would have 23 miles to run in 3 days. Impossible? Probably not. Ridiculous? Absolutely. So I am just going to do my best to put in some miles in the next 3 days and start again next week.

I was close!

I came up a little short on my training schedule. My total mileage was suppose to be 25 this week but I only made it 21.75. Over all though I am not feeling too bad about it. Saturday ended up being a jam packed day-o-fun, no time to run. I did get up this morning for my long run and guess what? I have a new longest run, I made it 9 miles today. I have to say that I was pretty excited about it.

I did learn a little something about chaffing today. I haven't had problems until today but I came home with some spots that were rubbed raw. I think I will actually develop scabs on my lower back. Ouch!

Here I go...

I have offically started my training. I am trying to follow a training schedule so we will see how I do. I did get up at 6:15 am to run. Day one (yesterday) Rest Day- check. Day two run 4 miles- check. So far, so good but I am only into it 2 days out of 112 days. Though my days may be off a bit since I haven't picked out a race yet.

My weekly goal hit an early demise. Man if I could eat healthier and run I would be doing good. I guess all I can do is try and try again. Maybe I should just aim for moderation.

Everyone has bad days....

Right?

Well today is mine, or at least this morning was.

I headed out to do a long run this morning. I wasn't sure how far to push it since I am still sore and recovering. I decided I would make 7 miles my goal. I didn't feel great from the start, tired, tight muscles, and a slight side ache. At mile 2 I took a couple sips of water and then my side ache went from bad to worse. I ran another 1/4 mile then turned up the street to head home. I was beating myself up so I turned around and kept going. At mile 3 I gave up completely. I headed back home.

It was not a good walk home to say the least. I was disappointed with myself. I am afraid I am sabotaging myself before I even get started with my training. I know I did this morning , I walked out the door with it already in my head that I wasn't going to do well. So there I am walking home, now bawling and definitely having a pity party. I started going through all the why me's.....

Ok, I had planned to come home and list them all for you to get you in on my pity party. Maybe scrounge up some sympathy from all of you but my mind was changed.

I walked in the door and my hubby and baby girl were waiting for me (blessing number one and two). He asked me how my run went. Then came the water works again. He encouraged me and told me how proud he was (blessing number three). Then of course baby girl was being cute and made me laugh (blessing number 4). So instead of thinking of all the reasons why I should be depressed I am counting blessings. It should keep me busy because I think there are about a million of them (including all of you).

Tomorrow is another day. For today I am going to enjoy some family time. It is Father's Day weekend and my daughter's half birthday so we are going to celebrate. And I am going to keep focused on the positive.

Down for the count.

I had returned to running on Tuesday and had two good days but I had a workout snafu. I got a new magazine that had what I thought would be a great pre-run warm-up. My hubby is always telling me that warm-ups are important. I decided I was going to give it a try.

Wednesday before my run I was lunging, doing squats, hopping around on one leg, etc. Once I was finished my left hamstring and right quad didn't feel real great but because I am smart I went out and ran 4.5 miles anyway. Well I have been very sore for the past two days. This morning it was my excuse to stay in bed, that and the fact that I had to get up at 6am to run and it was super cold in the house this morning making it impossible to get out of bed and I have to work tonight until midnight and I am on call after that and......the excuses just kept coming.

I better muster up some will power because starting Monday I am going to start my Marathon training program. I have decided that since I know it is plausible I might as well try. The worst thing that will happen is that I will get into better shape trying and the best thing would be me running 26.2 miles. I have an additional goal, I want to also beat Oprah's time. I should probably goggle what it was before I set it in stone. Mostly I have decided that I want to complete one before I turn 35. I have a little over a year and a half. I can do this!

I am also going to get back to my weekly goals. They are probably going to be more focused on nutrition and possibly weight training because running is going to happen regardless.

Starting today I am going to try to eliminate sweets. There is a reason that this is the goal and that I am choosing to start on a Friday. Yesterday I am pretty sure that I ate at least 700 calories of garbage and although I am admitting that, I am not admitting what I ate. It is certainly too embarrassing. That doesn't include the pizza, mac-n-cheese, and the glass of wine I had at lunch. (Ash I wish you would've called for a hike, I needed it) Do you ever have those days? Wish me luck because sweets are my downfall.

Why I like to run....

I have decided there are very good reasons for why I like to run. I think mostly it is because it is only about me. I am alone and I have time to think. I also love that I am only competing with myself. Since I started timing myself I am enjoying my ability to push myself a little harder to improve my time. The only advantage I have today is that I am one day stronger then yesterday. Don't get me wrong, when I run in races I do enjoy passing people but in the end those people are only motivation for me to push myself a little harder and my only goal is to be better then I was.

Now that I have completed the relay I am searching for my next race.

I am contemplating a 5k in July, a 12k in August, an obstacle course 5k in September, the 8 or 18 mile around Payette Lake in September, Portland Marathon in October, or the Las Vegas Rock-n-Roll Marathon in December.

Hum....What to choose, all of them???? Definitely not. Most of them???? I would like to but I am not sure how far to push it. I am very tempted to put one of the Marathons on my training schedule but I do have a fear of failure. I used to think that just the idea was crazy but now it actually seems plausible if not even possible. Even though it is just about me I am definitely afraid of disappointing myself. Can I drum up the courage to even start training for one?

We Survived The Sawtooth Relay!

We survived our first Sawtooth Relay. I have to say my team rocked. We wanted our finish time to be less than 12 hours and our finish time ended up being 10 hours and 40 minutes. Pretty sweet if you ask me.

My hubby ran the first leg and our start time was 2:15 am. He said that it was a little crazy running alone in the dark in the wilderness. He was so much faster than the other 4 people with our start time. He was out there on his own.

This our friend Craig. Man, doesn't he look chipper? And it is just after 3 am.

He is actually the reason I started running. A friend and I wanted to get in shape so we decided to train for a 5k that took place on Craig's birthday. A group of us ran then went to breakfast. It was awesome that we incorporated exercise into our celebration. I have been running off and on since.

Cold and a little anxious (this was her first race) my stepmomma Kelley set off on her first leg. This whole experience came together because of her. She asked me quite a while back if I would be on the relay team with her. Hesitantly I said I would. It was great motivation for me to get back into running and I am very thankful I got the opportunity to run the race with her.

This our sweet volunteer, my stepbrother Taylor. He got his butt out of bed and to his designated spot by 2:30 am. It was a cold morning and he had to put in a 5 hour shift or we would get disqualified. He survived his shift, though he was certainly cold and tired!

This is my hubby Mark handing off to Craig at Galena Summit 8,701 feet. Mark ran 5.35 miles with an elevation gain of 1,331 feet. He did awesome passing people all the way up.

This is Craig running down the Ketchum side of Galena Summit. He was smoking. He mentioned that he was counting all the people that he past but quit counting at 8. He ran over 6 miles and had an elevation loss of 1,411 feet.

This is my beautiful stepsister Hannah at her first exchange point. I don't think that she knew what to expect when she signed up for the relay. That said, she rocked it! She put it all out there. She did look at me during her first leg and say,

"never again." I hope that before next year rolls around we will all have forgotten how painful it was.

This is me running away from the team as they were standing along side of the road giving me water and much needed support. The second leg was much more difficult then the first even though it was shorter, warmer, and supposedly down hill. I must have been tired from my first leg. All in all I did better then I thought I would, and I did love it. What a beautiful place to run!

This is Seren our last minute substitute running her last leg. She did amazing. This is the last picture that I took at the relay but I know everyone else has some so maybe I will post more once I get them.

Thank you, thank you to my whole team and to Kelley (the person who came up with this awesome idea in the first place). I really loved the experience and I am absolutely planning on running it again in 2011! Also thanks to our volunteer Taylor. And our support crew: Dad for driving the van, my sister and her family for coming to support us and also for watching my baby, and Jeff for providing entertainment for the kids and Riley dog and of course for driving our bed from Stanley to Ketchum without hitting a runner in the process. Go team!

I am a runner....

My hubby and I use to always get into an argument when he called me a runner. I always corrected him/ reminded him that I was a jogger. Finally one day I said, "let's goggle it." (It is where I find all my important information)

Wikipedia (another place I get all my information) said this:
The definition of jogging as compared with running is not standard. Dr. George Sheehan, a running expert, is quoted to have said "the difference between a jogger and a runner is an entry blank".[1] Others are usually more specific, defining jogging as running slower than 6 mph (10 minute per mile pace, 9.7 km/h, 6.2 min/km)

So I definitely was a jogger. 10 min per mile pace was right about where I was at. My most recent race I ran I was at around a 9 min 30 sec per mile pace, which was awesome. I don't often time myself but usually I am right around 10 min miles. I haven't been wearing a watch recently but my hubby thought I should because it might help me push myself. Well, as he always thinks he is....he was right.
Tuesday I wore my watch. At mile 1 I checked and was a little over a 9 min mile. Checked again at mile 2, I had slowed down a little bit. So the last mile I left it all out there. I ran around 8 min 55 sec/ mile pace which I was stoked about. I busted through the 9 min mile wall.
Today my hubby and I decided to go for a family run. We loaded up baby and the dog and headed to the greenbelt by the river. We set out for our 3 miler: hubby pushing the baby stroller and myself (thankfully) being pulled by the dog. So even after chasing sippy cups and shoes that flew out of the stroller we made it our 3 miles at 8 min 35 sec/ mile pace. I am super jacked. (even though I had a little help from my furry, four-legged friend) I think my hubby was impressed because now he wants me to set new goals like a 5K in 24 minutes and to run the 18 mile Payette Lake Run (all the way around the lake) in Sept (I usually do the 5K).

OH YEAH!!!

Today has been an awesome day!
Before I tell you about my awesome day I must tell you that I did great this week. I had a training schedule this week and I actually ended up running more!
On to my awesome day....
Our substitute relay racer was in town this weekend and she offered to go for my long run with me. Note- she was begged to join us and she agreed even though she hasn't been running since our St Patty race (that's her in the picture with me and baby girl). It was super fantastic to have someone to run with and I was able to chat without sucking wind. And....I ran 8 miles. Now have a new longest run distance. This week I am going to take it a little easy and rest up for the big day, or morning actually. I am super excited that I am up to 8 miles. Maybe a half-marathon isn't so far fetched for me.
Also part of my awesome day was a float on the Main Payette. It was super big water and lot's fun!

Happy National Running Day!

This evening I was feeling blue. I had just purchased some running pants and a top and really wanted to take them for a spin. Plus it is National Running Day. And my goal is to run, run, run this week. Oh but the rain. I kept watching outside hoping that it would let up. My hubby walked in the house and I was on the couch pouting. I really did not want to drive to the gym to run on the treadmill. I probably complained for 15 minutes until he finally told me to put on my stuff and head out the door. What's a little rain?
It was the best run that I have had for quite sometime. Running in the warm rain was way better then running in the warm bright sun. If it hadn't been for the fact that I wore a bright yellow "rain" jacket I got for running the Payette Lake Run last Sept it would've been perfect. The jacket is more like a shamwow then a rain jacket. (Now I know, I was wondering what I should do with it.)I only went 2.5 miles but it was perfect. After my run I took off my hat, lifted my chin toward the sky and walked around the block (literally) soaking in the rain.
Needless to say I walked into the house minus the pout. Thank you sweet cheeks for sending me out the door and into the rain.

Less then two weeks...

The relay is in less then 2 weeks so my weekly goal is going to be to keep running.
I am getting more and more nervous. I know that I can make it the distance (5.83 miles the first leg and 6.13 miles the second leg) but can I do it at a higher elevation and uphill the first leg? I had been planning on training like I was going to run a 1/2 marathon but somehow, as always, time got away from me. So if I had I would be running 10 miles on my long day this week. Not happening. I am guessing if I tried it would spell disaster. My goal is to stay mentally and physically healthy and uninjured at least until the race is over.
Today I ran 4.5 miles, my legs were a bit tired but I made it.

Braggin' rights

Yesterday morning I set out for my long run. I knew I could run 6 miles but I was determined to run 7.

7 miles is the farthest that I have ever run and the last time I did it was over 3 years ago. We were headed to Mexico and of course as always I wanted to lose weight and be fit so I would look good in a swimsuit. So my plan was to eat insane amounts of veggies and protein and run. I made a goal to run 7 miles before our departure. My hubby and I headed to the greenbelt for a long run. He went ahead with the dog because we most definitely do not run the same pace. I had decided to run 4 miles out and then see how far back I could run. The furthest I had gone before then was 5 miles. After I made it 5 I asked myself, "what's one more?" Toward the end of 6 I convinced myself that I never wanted to run that far again so if I continued on I would meet my goal and be finished (FOREVER). I made it 7 and walked the last mile. I was exhausted! I made it to the car and my dog ran up to meet me, jumping on me and smacking me in the chin. My hubby scolded me for allowing the dog to jump on me. I collapsed into a heap along side the greenbelt and started bawling. My hubby looked around to see if there were any spectators. He was embarrassed and so was I but I didn't have the energy to fight it. It was a very long time before I ran again. And until yesterday I had never attempted to go that far.

I have to say that I did make it 7 miles and I walked into the house yesterday with a gigantic smile on my face. No tears and a lot less pain this time around. Now I have to just keep on, keepin on. No quiting this time.

So far, fairly good.

I am doing splendid on my goals: I have been taking vitamins everyday and wearing sunscreen. I am walking during my lunch breaks. I was eating pretty good (until a quick stop at a fast food drive up window- it's nice they have things on the menu like grilled chicken and fruit cups but how can you choose that when the buffalo chicken sandwich is staring you in the face). I am not complaining though....ok really I am.
My goal should have been to not be crabby this week. I love hormones. Do you know who else loves them? My hubby ;)
Went to another spin class today, seemed harder then the last. I thought it would get easier.

We got our start time for our relay.... 2:15am, ouch!

Weekly Goals

I have decided this week my goal is to be aware.
Aware of the type of food I put in my mouth, my activity level, my H20 intake, my daily vitamins and sunscreen usage....
I pledge to be aware. I sometimes feel like I am not present in my own life. That I just float on doing the minimum to get by. Not this week. Today I did pretty good. Ate pretty well, drank quite a bit of water, put on my sunscreen, went for a walk at lunch. Not a bad start. Let's just hope that I can keep it up.

How's it going out there? Ash & Mom? Your the only ones that ever comment so.....

I did it!

I did it. After I blogged I went out and ran 4.5 miles and it felt good. So let's see if it works again today. I am trying to go a little further so wish me some luck.

I love how it seems so easy for some people. They just love to workout. I have to admit that I love it once I get going and get my heart pumping but for some reason I love being lazy even more.

19 days and counting. Wednesday we get to find out our relay start time. Oh how I hope that it isn't 3am. 3am in Stanley, Idaho is going to be very cold!

Not very successful...

Really I have been not at all successful. The tummy bug has hit our house and we have been down for the count since last Saturday. My biggest problem now that I am feeling better is getting back on the horse. I do this all the time....something comes in between myself and working out and it may hold me up for a day or two but then I sabotage myself and it turns into two weeks or more. I was suppose to workout with Ash (team member) this am and go for a run with one of the Relay Teammates this evening. I pretty much talked Ash out of it and then the teammate canceled on me (now she is feeling ill). Now the real question is, will I go for a run this evening or will I come up with some excuse why I should stay home? I am hoping because I am posting this that I will choose the first of the two options.....stay tuned!
Need some motivation, need some inspiration.

Weekend Update

Well the cookies won. But I have been drinking more water so at least I have that going for me.
I have to celebrate my day! I tried again to run 6 miles and today I succeeded my knees cooperated. I am feeling a little better about the relay, 27 days and counting!
I think that my weekly goal for next week will be to eat 3 servings of veggies each day. To some that may sound easy but recently I have been lacking in the vegetable department.
How have you been doing with your weekly goals?

Thanks Ash!

I am encouraged today...team member Ashley got me to the gym today (in spite of her being very sore from a workout the day before). And she gave me a push on switching up my eating habits this week. I have been eating poorly, ok worse then poorly this week. Thanks in part to my lack of will power and Nurse's Week, though I am not a nurse, snacks at the hospital this week have been very plentiful. Today I have no excuses, at home I had 2 cookies and a glass of milk for breakfast. Really? I am pretty sure that some food with some nutritional value may have provided better fuel for my workout. To my defense there was oatmeal in those cookies. I am also still failing miserably at my carry over water goal. At the gym this morning Ashley mentioned she was on her 3rd water bottle. At 10:30 she was already through 2/3rds of my daily goal.
Thanks Ash for some much needed motivation. The rest of those cookies are just going to keep staring at me because I am not biting.

Tomorrow I rest. And drink water :)

Lucky!

Lucky for me my hubbies trip was postponed by 1 day so I took advantage of my chance to head out for a 4 mile job without a jog stroller. I have officially completed my goal for this week but since I have only 30 days left before the relay I am taking advantage of the AT LEAST part of the goal. I have to admit I am amazed that I can jog 4 miles but I cannot drink 8 glasses of water in one day. Really? I am baffled.

Continuing on my bout of luckiness I was thinking today how awesome it was that when I am thinking about quiting God is there to give me a nudge. Yesterday when I was running against the wind I was getting tired and struggling a bit I looked up and the amazing sunset caught my attention and carried me through to my turn around spot. On the way back I was thinking how ironic it was that I felt a terrible gusty head wind when I was headed west and also when I was headed east. Suddenly the wind switched directions causing all the tall grass along the ditch bank ahead of me to swirl and dance. I made it all 4 miles. Today my distractions were a pair of mallard ducks and a very cute little girl walking a very cute little dog. I must say that I am more then lucky I am very blessed!

Keep on, keepin on!

Beg, Borrow, and Steal

That is how I am feeling about me time this week. The hubby is leaving town so I am frantically trying to fit in some workouts before he leaves. Plus my schedule at work has changed around a bit throwing a wrench in my routine. I thought hauling my butt out of bed was hard but hauling it out the door after a 12 hour work day, plus dinner and bath time for baby is ridiculously difficult. But because of you I am 2 for 2.

28 minutes on the treadmill yesterday and a 4 mile jog today. I am getting excited that the days are getting longer and the weather is getting nicer. It was a beautiful evening jog wind gusts and all. I was very grateful for the me time.

How are you doing with your goals team of 4?

The carry over water goal? No bueno!

Goal of goals...

So first off Happy Mother's Day everyone. Had a great weekend in the hills with the family. We did a little bouldering and rode the ATVs, it was a fun time and the weather was fairly cooperative. My grandma and I chose to walk to the bouldering spot instead of riding so score one for the walking club. Also my water drinking goal, um, well didn't go so well this weekend.

The goal of my goals are to be healthy and to stay active. I would love it if you would participate along with me and I am trying to keep them focused on everyone. Another goal I have for my goals is that I will build on them trying to turn them into habits. This week drinking more water should still be on my mind. Also I want to keep my goals away from things like... "My goal is to drop a dress size" or "My goal is to lose 10 lbs" or "I want to get rid of my love handles". Lot's of young girls have bad body images because of society, my goal is to teach my daughter how to be healthy and active without worrying about how she looks in a bathing suit. So I am trying really hard to stop saying, "man I am looking fat" or "look at my cottage cheese butt". It is going to be really hard for me but maybe if I start now by the time she is old enough to notice I will have turned over a new leaf. If you have suggestions for goals I am all ears.

This week the goal is to: walk or run AT LEAST 3 days this week and to go AT LEAST 60 minutes. Not too bad right? What's 12 minutes of a lunch break? Or 10 minutes in the morning or after work? Take some you time.

And then there were 3.....

Water goal? Well yesterday I drank around 36oz. Today I am at approximately 20oz. This is actually good for me. I know you are suppose to drink 8 glasses which at 8oz a glass means I should be drinking 64 but really is that even possible?

I did go to the gym today and did some weight lifting and walked on the treadmill for 22 min. My goal was 20 min but at 20 min I was so close to walking 1.5 miles that I just kept going. I know it isn't much but it is something.

I know this is random but in the gym parking lot today there was a pile of spaghetti. Looks like someone lost their lunch today.

OK girls how did you do today? I know one of you is nursing a sore butt muscle but what about the other one? Mommy?

So tomorrow on my to-do list is run 6 miles. I am nervous about this and have been dreading it for 2 weeks now. I am registered to run the Sawtooth Relay and it is rapidly approaching. So I have to do it. Now that you all know maybe it will motivate me out the door in the morning instead of me crawling deeper under the covers. The weather is not helping motivate me at all.

I can do it, I can do it, I can do it.

Race for the Cure

Did I accomplish my goal? Yes and no....
I went 6 miles but at mile 4 my knee started to bug me and almost to mile 5 it really started to hurt. So I finished by walking to a mailbox then running to a tree until I made it back home.
Am I disappointed? A little.
Am I proud? Heck yes. For one I got my bootie out of bed this morning (even after some serious snooze button usage. Then I actually convinced myself to walk out the door. If I don't think I can do something then I usually don't even try. I had a 4 mile block, I didn't think I could go past that. It has been my longest run for weeks now. Silly part? I have run farther in the past. But I did it...more then 4.

Side note: Really people when your windows are frosty it takes an additional 2 minutes to scrape all of your windows. I ran out in front of a car at an intersection and wondered why the person was rolling down his window. Why? So he could see. Suddenly it dawned on me what was happening and I started to sprint out of his way in case he didn't see me. My lesson: pay more attention.

So tomorrow I should be participating in the Race for the Cure. It is actually the first race I ever participated in. I did it with the Tina's Titans in support of my aunt who was battling breast cancer. I told myself I would do it every year and I haven't done it since. I am not sure I can tell you why I haven't but I just haven't. Tina lost her battle with breast cancer November 4th, 2007. I miss her very much. I can honestly tell you that she is one of my biggest inspirations for trying to stay healthy and active. She was always on the go and loved sports. During her cancer treatments she still often went to the gym though her doctor wanted her to keep it low key (no kick boxing classes). I am a little disappointed in myself that I have made an excuse every year. I am however going to spend Mother's Day weekend camping with my family and hopefully hers as well. That was also a great love of hers. She was the glue that held us all together. So as another year goes by I want to send good wishes to all of those who are participating tomorrow.

(Good luck Aunt Cheryl!)
One of my secret goals or an item on my bucket list is to run the 26.2 with Donna another breast cancer fundraiser in Florida. I guess maybe in my head 26.2 will make up for all the 3.1's I am letting pass me by locally.

Squeeze those you hold dear.

Whew!

Day one.

Members one. (though I may have recruited one)

Walking/ Running zero.

My friend Ashley invited me to a 60 min spin class today and hesitantly I accepted.

Around 10 min into class I looked at the clock. Huge mistake! Really only 10 min had passed.

15 min in I looked over at her brow furrowed, sweat pouring, panting....Really?

Luckily at min 30 we had a little break.

The last 30 min were a blur of sweating, groaning, and grunting.

After? Somewhat lightheaded but I felt great.

Cross training is good right?

So I am breaking away from my freakishness, I am setting a midweek goal: Drink more water!

I hope tomorrow I am able to walk or run but I am pretty sure after that spin class I will be unable to sit.

I am learning that I am stronger then I think I am. I know that you are too!

Let's get going.

I started this blog over a year ago after a run in with melanoma. I wanted to voice my fears and maybe come into contact with some people out there that share them. Well a year has past and this is my very first post. I still have some fears but my focus has changed....

I have decided to start an online walking/running club. My friend Ashley and I attempted to start one last fall but it went like this:

First there was just two of us, then another joined. Finally our club made it to four. Then suddenly we were back to two, and all of that took about two weeks.

Recently I was a "running" buddy for my niece who is participating in the club Girls on the Run. (running is in quotes because I was more of a walking buddy) Anyway the Hornet Run was my inspiration. My hubby ran, and although they weren't entered, my sister, brother-in-law, and nephew walked the course. We had a blast together! I loved it and I think that they did too.

So here we go. Most everyone checks facebook daily, I figure if I am entertaining enough people will check this out too. I am going to set a weekly goal for our club. I am hoping that all of you will participate. I am expecting comments and updates on your progress. As I am the only member so far I will have to do some recruiting. Because I am a freak about things I have to post the goal on a Sunday.......stay tuned, our goal is coming.