Day 153 of Training: "Turn the hearts of the children to their fathers."

Well... amazingly enough, when I went to Moab to run my first 10K with my friends, I did it!! The weather was freezing, my friends got sick from something they ate but all in all... it was fun!!

The race was actually harder than when I had ran the 6 miles before, I think because I hadn't ran in such a long time. It seemed like it lasted forever! I got to mile 3 and thought. "Wow! Only 3!?!" Around mile 4 I caught up to my friend & asked her if she knew how far we had gone. She excitedly said "We're almost to mile 4!" as if this was SO easy & where had the time gone! I was thinking... "Almost 4!! We're not even to FOUR yet!! I'm gonna freakin' die!!" Every corner we turned I thought... "This has to be the end. Where's the finish line?" It was hard to keep all the negative thoughts away. I don't know how many times I thought "Why am I doing this? I can't breathe right and I hate running! This sucks!" then I would have to stop myself & tell myself that I'm just getting over a cold & that it was easy before... it's just because I had to take that break. Just one foot in front of the other until I was at the finish line." I made it! It took about half way through that day to finally realize... "Hey! I just ran my first 10K and that rocks!!"

I think the 10k was the perfect boost after being sick & down for a couple of weeks. I've been going right back on track. I was supposed to run 7 miles this last Saturday and Zach was swamped all day and I couldn't leave my 4 kids home alone to go run for over an hour. We went to a show that night and when I finally got back at 11:30pm I decided it was now or never! It was a warm 37 degrees outside so I got dressed and started to run! I got to mile 4 and started to slip all over the roads that had turned to ice. I had to call Zach to come & get me. I'll try 7 miles again this weekend.

I've been asked a lot recently why I decided to start running. I think it's kind of a hard answer. I usually say that my friends all did it, so it got me interested. There's other reasons that until now I haven't talked about.

I wanted to lose weight. Not really for vain reasons, I was fine with my body the way it was although it would have been alright with me if I looked slimmer... hotter. I didn't care enough though to really do anything about it. I'd had 4 kids & my hubby still thought I was hot. That's all I really cared about. : ) What I really wanted to change were my family genes.

I'm usually pretty good at watching and learning from what other people do. A few years ago my Grandpa had a quadruple heart bypass. Not exactly fun. My Dad also found out he is border-line Diabetic. (Type 2 Diabetes) I went & had a physical thinking I was in excellent shape. I felt great, didn't think anything was wrong & they told me my "cholesterol was a little elevated for my age". What? "It was still good enough but I would need to watch it." OKAY!! So I LOVE to cook!! Not only do I love to cook but things just taste better with butter & cream!

The first thing I changed was my diet. I guess you could say that over time my whole outlook on food has totally changed. I still have my indulgence food every once in a while as a treat but it's not my everyday eating any more.

Then I started exercising everyday. After a while with my diet & exercise I hit a plateau & didn't lose anymore inches or weight. That's when my running friends cued in... "The fat just melts right off!", "It's exhilarating!", "It totally tones your whole body!".

Now that I've been doing this I feel so much better than I ever have before. It's funny to think that I was just fine with me before. I'm not talking about how I looked but how I felt! I didn't realize how much better I could feel. I thought everything was great! I had no idea!

My Mom has been walking a ton while I've been running. I'm so proud of her. She's trying to be healthier too. Her shoulder hurts constantly & she's in physical therapy for that, her foot hurts & she feels like she's falling apart. She's had to stop walking for now & it's driving her crazy. I can't help but hear my Mom, watch my Dad, see my Grandpa & think... "Well... that's how it will be if I change nothing. Now let's see how it turns out if I change everything." That's why I run.

Day 136 of Training: Sick and Tired.

I'm pretty sure that nobody really reads my blogs except my Mom & Sister. So I don't feel too bad about not writing last week but there was nothing really to write about. I mean it... NOTHING. That's why there was no post last week. On the 17th of November I woke up feeling like my head was going to fall off. It wasn't a running day but I had signed up to be with my trainer on that day so I called her at 5am and canceled.

Through this whole thing I'm so afraid that if I stop running, or miss a training day that I'll just stop altogether. Wednesday I didn't feel much better. My head was spinning and felt about 20lbs heavier than normal. My nose was running, my head hurt and my equilibrium was a little off but I decided to run. I figured I could walk the 4 miles if I needed to and I thought that the cold air and running might actually clear up my head. I ran 3/4 of a mile, sat on a curb and called Zach to come & get me. I couldn't breathe, my lungs were burning and I had zero energy. I was supposed to run 3 miles on Thursday. I didn't go. Saturday I had felt worse than ever and I spent a good portion of the day in bed.

Monday, November 23. My head still kills and I do feel better than I did on the weekend but I know I'm not going to be able to run. Tuesday, canceled with my Trainer. Wednesday I got dressed in my warm running clothes, laced up and went outside. The same thing happened. I got about 3/4 mile, turned around and walked home. At least I wasn't sitting on the curb, gasping for air and waiting for my husband to come pick me up this time.

Thanksgiving there was a race in Farmington I wanted to run. I made rolls and pies instead. Today is the Saturday after Thanksgiving and I still can't get all the gunk out of my head. I'm doing things and moving around more now but I'm sitting here writing this and feeling real loser like. I know I can't control if I get sick or not but I'm frustrated that I'm not making progress. I'm worried that I might actually be going backwards and I might have to back track a little. I'm worried because I signed up to run a 10K with some friends this next Saturday in Moab. The most I've ran is 6 miles and I haven't ran in 2 weeks. I hope I feel well enough to go. Hopefully this doesn't linger much longer. If anything I've learned that you can't take good health for granted. I miss... breathing. Breathing was nice

I'm not worried about the marathon in May. I gave myself plenty of time for... just in case something like this happened. I don't HAVE to be training until January to be able to run the marathon.

I was starting to get frustrated over the last month because I haven't really lost any weight while I've been doing this. I have a cheat every once in a while but not often enough to totally sabotage my whole plan. I'm eating well, I'm trying to drink my water and I'm working really hard, harder than I ever have in my whole life with trying to get my body in shape. It's been very discouraging to step on the scale and not see one pound of weight loss. I have about 35lbs left that I'd like to get off my body. It was really starting to bug me that I had made no progress with this.

Then in my training for a marathon book I read the next chapter and one of the things it talked about was attaching another goal to my goal of running a marathon. That's what I've done. I need to concentrate on one goal right now. My goal is to run the marathon. That's what I'm training my body to do. I'm not going to worry about losing weight, looking hot in my swimming suit in the Spring or anything else. I'm going to worry about putting one foot ahead of the other until I've ran 26.2.

I noticed that my clothes were getting lose even though I hadn't lost any weight. I finally decided to measure myself and I've lost more than an inch around my ribs, waist and hips. So I HAVE been losing inches! Maybe I've been gaining muscle instead? It doesn't matter though. I'm fully concentrating now on running, feeding my body to run and hydrating my body to run. If I happen to lose weight while I do it than that would be great. If not, who cares anyway! Another goal for another time.

Day 122 of Training.

Yesterday I decided that I should probably go and get me some new running shoes. My knees started hurting a little bit over the last couple of weeks so I thought maybe it was because my shoes were wearing out. While I was at Strider's I decided to get some running clothes to wear in the cold. The long pants and shirts are supposed to be breathable but still keep my heat in somehow.

Today when I woke up and everything was covered in snow I wasn't exactly excited to go out and run in the icey cold but I was curious to see how the clothes would work out. It took me longer to get dressed than usual. The black pants and shirt that I put on were tight to my body and I felt like cat woman after I sucked myself into them... only my body doesn't look anything close to Halle Berry and the sports bra makes it so my chest doesn't look anything like the pointy chested women from the 60's that played the part so well. By the time I got the running shoes, hat and jacket on I felt a lot better about running outside where people could actually see me.

I ran down my street and just like before I could feel my cheeks and nose begin to freeze. I was wondering how people do this! My nose might fall off or get frost bitten with the way I'm feeling right now. Remind me again why I don't live in Hawaii? Cold and I do not agree! After about my first mile I suddenly realized that nothing on my face was cold anymore. I guess when I started to warm up my face did too! Cool!

I took a different route than normal and today was the first day I was running 6 miles. SIX miles sounded like SO MANY MILES today. I was really nervous about it and wasn't sure I could do it. The farthest I've gone so far is 5 and I didn't feel ready to add another mile on but according to the running program I add another mile every week on my long run and supposedly people are able to do this without a problem.

My new route took me past a lot more farms and fields than normal. I discovered that... although I think my scenery is beautiful I get discouraged easily when it's wide spaces like that. You see... when I'm running past houses I can visually tell that I'm going somewhere, I constantly feel how fast (or slow) I'm going and I can SEE the progress I'm making. When I'm running past fields and farms all I can see is how long the road is and there's nothing besides... wheat and hay. There's nothing to visually mark my milestones, nothing to let me know how well I'm doing. The good thing about my route today was that there were a lot more hills that I had to climb, which... although I hated them at the time, it's really great to know that I'm getting a better, more... well-rounded type of run.

About half way I actually started to get hot which meant that the clothes were working. I slipped off the jacket and tied it around my waste to get it out of the way... and also to hide my behind in these skin tight pants.

I came up on the last quarter mile and started to sprint. I don't know why but I started to do that the last couple couple of times. I just start running as fast as I can. The first time I did it I think it was because I still felt like I had so much energy but then... I realized that it was something I wasn't able to do just a little while ago and I think that made it more fun. Now it's just... see how fast I can go on that last little part. The cool part is that I don't get really tired or very easily out of breathe while I do it. If you read my very first blog entry, I talk about how my lungs were burning and I could barely make it to the end of the street and I wasn't even running that fast and I felt like I was gonna die. I sprint as fast as I can through that exact same part that I had trouble with on my first run. I know it doesn't make sense but I do it because I CAN run it now and I can run it FAST. If anything... that right there shows how much stronger and healthier my body is. That's why I'm going to keep doing this and why I think that even though SIX miles sounds like a lot right now... when I look back at where I've been... and what I've accomplished... if I've done this much in 4 months than I have no doubt that I can run 26.2 by May.

Day 117 of Training: Emotions of Food and Motion

Many of you know what a bad running week I had last week. Well I am proud to say that this week was so much better.

I'm still amazed that what I eat & put in my body makes such a difference on how I feel while I run. It also makes a difference on how I feel emotionally through the day, it makes a difference on how much energy I have, it directly affects my self worth level & also how I view myself. I find that if I eat pizza, chocolate & soda I immediately feel like I'm fat, lazy & ugly. I know it doesn't make sense but it's true. If I eat vegetables, fruit, whole grains & good protein I feel energetic & beautiful. I feel like I've already taken the time to take care of myself in one way so I usually wear nicer clothes on those days & my hair & makeup will be done too! You can tell I feel better overall.

I also get more done during the day on the days that I eat right & run. I guess it's because I feel like I already had time to myself and now I can work on my family or the house or take care of whatever else needs attention, I already took care of me. Taking care of me is important... not just to me but to my family. They get a lot better quality mom and wife when I'm in a good mood and more energetic.

I remember about a year ago there were days when I felt like locking myself in the bathroom just so I could have a minute to myself. I was so tired all the time and constantly didn't feel good. I was lucky if I got to take a shower, let alone put on makeup, nice clothes or do my hair. I always felt like I needed more sleep, so the idea of waking up early to exercise sounded awful!

I still have those days once in a while but I'm happy to say that they're the exception now rather than the rule. I know that no matter how tired I am in the morning I will feel more tired through the day if I choose to stay in bed rather than go move my body. It's amazing what has happened over the last year when I finally decided to love myself, take care of myself and make ME a priority. I know that might sound... self absorbed? As a Mom of 4 kids though, I was never thinking about myself. I would get everyone ready for church and my kids would walk out looking like beauty queens and my hair was still half wet. I was the last one to sit down at the table, I was exhausted from taking care of everyone and I felt guilty if I took time out for myself for ANY reason.

I was hoping that all of this would change me on the outside and make me a healthier person but I never knew the changes that would come emotionally or the positive changes it would have on my whole family. It doesn't make sense but it's true. I take care of me first and then everyone else gets taken care of, there's suddenly enough of me to go around!

I've read the book "In Defense of Food". It's a little wordy but very enlightening and will change the way you think about food. It basically says to not eat all that processed stuff. Try to choose REAL food. (Butter instead of Margarine, Whole Grains, etc...) It also says to try to choose foods that have 5 or less ingredients and that has ingredients that you can pronounce and that you know what they are. I've also gone organic and no horomones or pesticides in my food. On the front of the book it says... "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." Does this sound familiar to anyone? It's what I've been told my whole life in the Word of Wisdom only it never seemed that simple before. So I'm standing in the shower the other day and thinking.... "DUH! When did we decide that our scientists knew more about food and what was healthy for us than Heavenly Father does? When did we become SO clever that we could MAKE food be more nutritious for our bodies and less fattening than the vegetables, fruits, grains & animals that Heavenly Father gave to us. When exactly was it that we became smarter than God?" The answer to me is that we're not smarter so I've put away my Cap'N Crunch and candy and although I do have my treats every once in a while my diet does not consist mainly of 100 calorie snacks, breakfast cereal and fake, "No Fat" yogurt made with fake sugars and chemicals used to preserve it. Wow, what a difference I can feel! Amazing.

So I re-did "Week ONE" of my training schedule and it was a night and day difference. I tried really hard last week to eat well and when I ran the 5 miles on Saturday I felt like I could breathe easy, my body didn't get tired and I felt like I could have kept going. Today I started the "Week TWO" of the 16 week training and I have to run 6 miles on Saturday. I hope I can do it... I've never ran more than 5 before. We'll see how it goes.

Day 109 of Training: You are what you eat.

Last week was my "Week One" of the marathon training. The training is 16 weeks, the Marathon is on Saturday, May 15th. I know I'm starting ahead of schedule but I heard people say that sometimes they felt like they were barely able to get through some of the last weeks. I figure that this way I can repeat any of the weeks I feel like I didn't go well. I have 27 weeks so I could do almost all of the weeks twice.

This week I was supposed to run 3 miles Monday, 4 miles Wednesday, 3 miles Thursday & 5 miles Saturday. I did 3 on Monday. Wednesday came around and I couldn't make it over to the gym and it was storming outside so I stayed at home and decided to do 4 miles on my elliptical. OK, so the elliptical is way harder. I was slower at it. Running usually would have taken me 40 minutes to run but the elliptical took 80 minutes to do 4 miles! It seemed like I was on it forever!! I better have been burning a lot more calories. Although the hour & 20 minutes seems bad I should feel pretty good about this. When I first got the elliptical about a year ago I couldn't be on it for longer than 5 minutes. I remember when I hit 15 minutes and I thought that was awesome!

Thursday came around and I got in warm clothes to go outside and run. I warmed up, headed out the door and started running down the street. My nose and cheeks got so cold they were numb, I couldn't feel them. I ran right back in my house... I hadn't gone quite a mile. I decided to do the rest of it on my elliptical. Although I was trying to be faster than yesterday I really wasn't. I was so bored and frustrated I gave up after 1 mile. Only 2 miles today. Discouraging. I opened the Halloween candy I bought and before I knew what was happening I had eaten 4 of those little yummy snickers bars. I think that's like a whole candy bar... so much for working anything off for the day.

Friday was worse. I was up late with Hailey doing homework on Thursday night so I had canceled the session I had scheduled with my trainer at the gym on Friday morning. I was on the run all day helping with Halloween parties at schools, picking up and dropping off kids. We ate Chick-Fil-A for lunch and I got a kids meal with the greasy goodness of the chicken nuggets and waffle fries. Zach took me on a Halloween date. We ate Mexican food and I chose something that came beautifully wrapped in a flour tortilla that had been excellently fried. I drank around 5 large Cokes, my excuse was that I had to stay up late tonight for all the scary ghost stories. I brought with me a bag of Milky Way candies to share with our friends. Through the night I ate 5 of those "fun size snacks".

Saturday started out great. I was ready to eat better and to treat myself better. My kids had let us sleep in. (I know... miracle.) I left at about 9:00am to go run my 5 miles. It started off really rough. Why am I running again? I was hating every step, I felt like I couldn't breathe. My body couldn't handle it today. I pushed myself to keep going, I slowed down my pace to try and catch my breathe. Why can't I breathe? About half way through I felt like I finally had my rhythm but still couldn't get my breathing to be right. It's like I had half the lungs I had before. At about mile 3 I stopped running and had to walk the rest.

That's what happens when I put garbage in my body. When I feed myself crap my body feels it and acts like crap. The great part about running is that you can eat pretty much anything and be OK... pretty much... what I've learned you can't eat if you still want to perform are large amounts of sugar, any kind of soda pop... not even diet and nothing that's been deep fried. The good part though is that when I have a "bad eating day" I'm usually pretty good at turning it all around the next day and just say to myself... well that was nice, now back to real life. That's what I have to do this next week. Just say... well Halloween was nice, now back to real life. I'm re-doing "week one" starting tomorrow. If I want to ever get to do the marathon though I've really got to stop having so many "bad eating" days.

BTW... If I eat fruit, vegetables, whole grains & lean meat I can definitely tell a difference in the way I perform. Hhmmm... maybe because that's what my body really needs! Try it for 30 days and you'll for sure notice the difference when you have a "bad eating" day. Crazy to think I ate all that crap all the time before.

Day 98 of Training: Treadmills & the Gym

It's October. It's pitch dark when I leave to go run at 6:00am, not to mention bitterly cold. Each rushing breathe of frosty air stings my lungs. I decided it was time for a change. I thought maybe it was time to invest in a treadmill. We looked all over the internet, researched like crazy and for the ones that you could run on... not just walk or jog... the price tag was unbearable. Way more than I wanted to spend on a piece of equipment that I would only use 3-4 months of the year. Even with my pool I get a good 6-7 months out of!

I decided to go with a gym membership. After searching around I found a gym that I could go to for only $10/mo. Not bad... I have to have a 1 year contract but I can freeze my account for a few months too.

I show up the first day to the gym. There's ONE treadmill available, I stand there and realize there's way too many buttons. I decide rather than standing there pushing buttons and looking like a fool I'll go and grab someone that works there and ask them to help me... and look like a fool. I run to find someone and when I come back the treadmill is taken... I had left my drink and a towel on it but... I politely grab it, let it go and I see someone else getting off. They get off the treadmill and leave... WITHOUT WIPING IT DOWN! Gross! I clean off the machine and get ready to start. The guy comes over and shows me the important buttons and I start. I'll admit that my first day was the worst day. None of those things happened again.

The more I go, the more I hate it! I'm not... like... going anywhere! OK, so I know that's what happens but I didn't think I'd miss it that much. I love being outside, feeling the sun on my skin, breathing in gulps of fresh air having the variations in the way my feet step on the ground. Each step is different and unique. I'm going to the beat of my music, I have time to reflect on my upcoming day and my life, I create goals and best of all... if I get tired for a minute I can't just stop and say... good enough. I have to get home.

In the gym there are stupid LOUD boys trying to get the attention of everyone around them while they're lifting weights. I feel like I'm breathing in everyone's sweat. The air is thick, it smells, and worst of all I feel like I have an audience. There's also the difference of my running performance. When I run outside I feel like I'm propelling myself forward, if anything I have to keep reminding myself to slow down and take it easy. I have the natural hills and the different types of surfaces that make it so I run a little differently through parts of my run. The treadmill is always the same, I can create artificial hills but it's not nearly the same feeling. I also feel like I'm just going at this machine like pace. It doesn't feel natural at all.

So, I have a problem. How do I get outside to run in my day when it's not black as night and 30 below zero? I have 4 kids, 2 of which aren't in school yet. I've tried to run with them in a stroller and it's just awful. I hate it that I can't swing my arms and even through my ear phones I can hear the constant bickering and whining. I've decided that I do this for me and that I NEED the alone time in the morning. It's the only time of the day that it's me, alone, with my own thoughts, without someone needing me or calling "Mom!", it's the only time I'm taking care of myself and not someone else. It's my way of telling myself that I'm important and that I need to love my body. I can't do this while pushing my kids in a stroller in front of me whining that they want to get out, or they want a drink, or that "Dylan touched my arm!".

Well, I'm still working on the answer. My husband and I are trying to work it out so that I can run outside during daylight hours. It's progressing. What I can tell you is that the treadmill is not for me. I'm glad that I didn't buy one. It's so much better outside!

OH! I also started running 5 miles this week! I'm pretty excited about that. Monday I'm officially starting the marathon training program. I'm nervous, excited and scared kind of all at once. More excited than anything though... here we go! Wish me luck!

Day 82 of Training: My Music

I got online yesterday morning and figured out a route that was 4.5 miles. I plugged my earphones into my ears and headed out the door. I felt like I was dragging and uncoordinated. I had a hard time breathing and I had to concentrate way too much on my breaths, which is distracting. In no time though I felt like I was in sync. My feet were hitting to the time of the music I was listening to and I was feeling pretty good.

I just finished my 3rd mile and my iPhone rang. My iPhone is tied around my waste so I couldn't see who was calling but I was worried that something happened at home while I was gone. My earphones allow me to talk so I squeezed the button and said "hello". Nobody answered, I could hear breathing besides my own and busy sounds going on. I thought maybe they didn't hear me answer so I repeated. Nothing. Then I realized it was probably one of my sister's kids that got a hold of her phone and she didn't know they had called me. I keep running... the problem is... I don't know how to hang up with the earphones. Getting my iPhone out would take way too much coordination... I can run and talk at the same time but not run and try to work electronics at the same time. Besides... I'd have to lift up my shirt to access the phone which would show off my belly a bit... something the general public does NOT want to see. In the meantime I'm stuck listening to breathing, car doors clanking and people talking through my earphones. Aarrggghhh!

Each step seems like eternity! I frantically keep squeezing the button for my headphones trying to figure out how to hang up. There has to be a way to hang up! I have about a mile left and finally decide I'm going to squeeze it for 5 seconds and see what happens. I hold and count and... still noise.. oh wait... my music!!! YAY!! I have my music! My steps quickly fall into the rythm of the music.

By now my legs are hurting and I feel weak. I still have about 1/2 a mile left. I have a song that's coming to the end and I decide that I would just run through the next song and then walk the rest. The song starts, it's a good beat for the way I'm feeling. My feet are hitting the pavement with the drumbeat. Wow! This song is long! I'm pretty sure that I would have quit by now if I wouldn't have made that little deal with myself and if I wasn't do darned determined to finish my goals! I'm about to turn my last corner. I keep thinking the song should end any moment. I finally reach my house and the song ends at the same time. I look at the running application on my phone.... 4.54 miles 10 1/2 minute mile. 10 1/2 minute mile... well... I'm not going to win any awards but not so bad!! I keep listening to the music while I walk off the stiffness I'm starting to feel in my legs. Wait though! 4.5 miles! That's pretty awesome! The longest distance I've run so far! I'm excited about that and stretch out all my muscles really well to prevent soreness.

4.5 miles, only... I wouldn't have made it without my music. It's funny how that can keep you going. It reminds me of something a friend said to me a while ago. She said that she was in the middle of a long race and her iPod broke in the middle of the race. She felt like sitting on the ground and throwing in the towel. She said the rest of the race was miserable and she kept thinking... what's the point? She felt like she couldn't run without the music. I guess that's how I feel too! I can push myself a little harder just to stay on beat. I can go a little longer, longer than I thought I could because the song hasn't ended. I can breathe a little easier because I'm breathing in between the words of the songs. I don't think I could run (or do much of anything else) without my music playing as I go, pushing me along.

Day 76 of Training: 3.5 Miles

Saturday came around and it was the start of a new training week. I was supposed to run for 20 minutes, walk 5, then run for another 20. I did pretty well at first and made it through my first 20, I started to walk, slowed down to catch my breathe and then started running again.

I don't know why I didn't think this through but I was going the same route I do everyday which is about 3.7 miles. Well, I realize I'm going to run out of my route before I run out of time so I'm trying to decide where to go. After considering some longer routes I finally decide that I'm just going to pass my house, keep going to the end of the street, take a left (which is a dead end) and then come back. In my head I'm thinking this should be about right. So I pass my house, wave to a neighbor that's working in his yard, run my new route and start heading back towards my house. I wave at my neighbor again and look at my watch... I still have 5 minutes left!! I pass my house again and run to the end of the street which took considerably less time than I had anticipated. I come back toward my house wave at my neighbor again and look at my watch. I still have 2 more minutes! I decided to just bag it. My neighbor was starting to give me odd looks, my legs felt like jello, my sides were hurting and I think there's only so many times you can pass your own house and not just want to collapse onto your porch. My second time around was only 18 minutes. Close but didn't make it.

I started to think about it and I wondered if I hadn't have stopped for the 5 minute walk how long I could have ran? I also probably would have been able to keep my same route without the slow down in the middle if I would have just kept running.

Today I decided to take no breaks, take it easy and slow and see how long I could run. I was pretty excited as I came up on my 20 minutes, then 25, then 30 and I finally decided to stop and cool down at 35. I felt like my legs were getting tired and I was coming up to my house. 35 MINUTES!! I was pretty excited.

I was getting really nervous about the 5K that I signed up for on October 10th. I was worried I wouldn't be able to run the whole thing but now I feel like a weight has been lifted. I did 3.5 miles in 35 minutes... I know, only a 10 minutes mile. I'm going to keep it here and try to get a little faster before the 5k.

I'm so excited to be jogging for more than 30 minutes! That means I can officially start my marathon training program in a couple weeks! Yay for 35 minutes!! I thought I'd never get here!!

Day 67 of Training

Saturday. I love Saturdays!! I get to sleep in a little. Zach doesn't have to rush off to work so I get to take my time trying to do good things for my body. I woke up around 8am which is about 2 hours later than normal. I'm not sure why, maybe it was all that extra sleep, but I felt like trying to run for 15 minutes today.

I danced out of my bed and slipped on my running clothes. I'm excited that it's sunny outside and I can wear my shorts & t-shirt instead of my long pants, jacket and hat that I've had to wear lately to keep warm. I get warmed up, turn on my music and do a quick walk for 5 minutes. I don't get far when it's time for my 15 minutes of jogging to start. I'm taking it slow and I'm still amazed at how easy it is for me to do this now. I remember the first couple of times that I ran and how I felt like I was gonna die and I had only ran for like... 30 seconds. It's amazing how when you get it right it's so much easier.

I'm on the rail trail and the sun is streaming through the trees making a picturesque seen in front of me. There's also all these tiny little bugs floating in the air. I keep trying to breathe without actually inhaling the bugs. It makes me wonder if they're always there and I just don't see them because there's no light at 6am or if they show up when the sun comes out. I don't want to think too much about it. The idea that I continuously swallow bugs without realizing it is kind of making my stomach turn.

About 8 minutes have passed. I get to the part of the trail where I would normally turn around and head back. I realize that I'm going to need more mileage if I'm going to run the 15 minutes twice. I decide to cross the street and go an extra mile. There aren't any trees on this part of the trail and the sun is getting hotter. I can see the end of the trail ahead and it felt like forever but I finally made it. I turn around and start walking for 5 minutes. Wow! Not so bad!! I did it!! I ran for 15 minutes. I was a little tired but by the time my 5 minutes of walking was up I felt good enough to do it over again.

I made it about 10 minutes and then I started to feel really tired. My legs started to feel a little more like jello than muscles and my breathing wasn't as easy as it was before. I thought about stopping, calling it good. I did try to do the 15 minutes 1 day ahead of schedule. Technically, I shouldn't have started until Monday. Maybe I should just give myself a break and call it good. Then I decided... I probably wasn't going to hurt more or feel more tired in 5 minutes than I do right now. BUT... I knew that emotionally, I would feel totally different if I went through and finished or if I stopped and called it good. It became the difference of winning or losing. The difference was knowing I did it or quiting. I decided to do it. As the timer ticked down to zero I was practically on my front porch. I did it!! Then I thought... I ran for 30 minutes today. With a 5 minutes walking break but still... I ran almost all of 3.7 miles!! That's pretty awesome for me!!

It's good to feel like I'm progressing and it's fun to look back at where I've been. It makes it mean so much more to see how hard I've worked to get here. Oh!! PS. I signed up for the 2010 Disneyland Half Marathon this week. I heard it's awesome and I'm pretty excited!! I also signed up for the 1st 5K that I will be RUNNING... or actually jogging. : ) It's the firehouse run at HAFB. I'm more nervous than excited about it. I really want to be able to run the whole 3 miles without a walking break in the middle. It's 20 days away... wish me luck, cross your fingers and pray for me! I need all the help I can get!!

Day 62 of Training: 10 Minutes!!

Today I got up, didn't feel like moving so I kind of sat in my closet for about 20 minutes deciding if I really wanted to try to squeeze into that sports bra today. I finally did and just as I was on my way out the door my 2 year old, Anneliese, woke up. Considering how happy she was I knew there was no way she was going to go back to sleep.

I bundled her up and walked her out to the garage. I have one of those really awesome bike trailers that converts into a running stroller that costs more than my mountain bike did because it's so easy to use, so easy to convert, safe, etc... Well, I couldn't figure out how to detach it from my bike "with one easy to remove latch". So I ended up taking our regular, cheap, bought in an emergency at the WalMart by Disneyland stroller.

We finally get going. I decided I was going to walk 5 minutes & run/jog 10 minutes today & repeat it once. I start walking around my corner and up the street out of my neighborhood. I can't quite figure out exactly how to hold the stroller. I still wanted to move my arms so I tried to one hand it. It didn't last long. I couldn't control the stroller very well and Anneliese was heading to the middle of the street and then to the gutter, depending on which arm I was holding the stroller with. There was no way around it, I needed to use both hands.

My 5 minutes of walking is up and I'm jogging. It's a little bit harder because I have the extra weight of pushing the stroller. I'm going slightly uphill and I check my watch, only 2 minutes have passed. Hhhmmm... I think I'm doing pretty good. I don't think things could get much worse than the way I feel right now if I keep my pace. I start to take larger strides. I'm feeling pretty good until I take a step onto the back of the stroller and try to kill myself with this super stunt. I kind of do a... um... very graceful... spin to the ground. OUCH!! That's gonna leave a mark! I get up and scrape myself off. I remember my iPhone in my pouch and I'm grateful that I have it. It's just my normal clumsy self that will end me up in the hospital or stuck on one of these trails with no way to get home except to call for help. I smile as I take note of my smarts of always bringing my phone. Luckily, I'm just fine, no ambulance needed today. : )

I decide to keep my steps short to avoid tumbling over the top of my 2 year old. I've also slowed down a bit. I'm not going to win any races at the pace I'm going but I'm OK with that. I'm still moving toward my goal. I ran 10 minutes TWICE today. I'm pretty darn excited about that! On my way home I ran past a neighbor that was just starting her run. She's lean, she runs marathons, she WINS marathons or is always at least at the top of the list. She has a smile on her face. I remember that she just won the women's division of the Bair Gutsman. She's gorgeous and pretty amazing. We don't say anything but "Hi" as we pass. Neither of us wants to stop. I know I'll never be like her, I know I'll never be winning races. I'll probably always be in the middle (or more at the end). I'm fine with that. I'm more than fine with that. I'm just pretty ecstatic that I'm doing it!

Day 57 of Training (Epiphany: Go Slow)

I've had an epiphany today. For all these weeks, any number of my friends that have given advice have said "just take it easy at first" or "go slow". Well I thought that meant... don't try to do all 3 miles of running right off the bat... build it up slowly. So I've been trying to sprint for five minutes & walk for five minutes. Until today.

Let me back up... About two weeks ago I had to take some antibiotics. I don't do very well with any kind of medication and I was SO TIRED all the time. We went on a little vacation around the same time to Cedar City to watch the Shakespearean Festival. While there my Husband and I were like "Hey! We're on vacation!! Let's eat anything and everything that we would never eat at home" My diet was mostly carbs, grease and sugar while there. I came home feeling like crap. I felt physically ill. I think my body just couldn't function with all the drugs & the awful food. Lesson learned... I'm not garbage so I shouldn't put garbage in my body. Of course, I HAD to take the antibiotics but the food? Not necessary, I need to be kinder to myself.

Well, when I came back I couldn't even run for 3 minutes. I had really gone backwards. I was so frustrated so I just kept pushing harder. I was trying to power through the run. I read an article that said I should just try to relax while running. I tried really hard to relax my upper body while I was running. Relax my arms and my neck, shoulders, etc... It did seem to help a little. I wasn't as tense and I seemed to use less energy.

Then yesterday I went walking with my Mom and she said that she had read that it's easier on your body and you go faster by taking smaller strides. Hhhhmmm... I'll have to give that a try.

I also read an article that was about the biggest mistakes that beginning runners make. One of the things that stuck out to me is that I should be running slower, jogging. Well I thought I was jogging. I didn't really know the difference between a jog and a run other than one is slower. I'm running slow. I assumed I was jogging. Then the article explained how I should feel. It said I should feel relaxed, my breathe should be easy and not strained, I should be able to talk while I run. I thought about how I feel when I run and I wouldn't use any of those words to describe my feelings while I run. In fact... kind of the opposite.

I decided to give "slowing my run down" a chance. So this morning I warmed up in front of my house and started running... slowly... I guess this is what jogging is... Side note: I feel pretty cute this morning because I just bought some new exercise clothes yesterday. My old ones were to big and to my delighted surprise I was 2 sizes smaller than I thought I was. OK, back to this morning: I came around my corner and I mentally tried to make my strides small, I relaxed and went slow. Hhhmmm... I wasn't losing my breathe yet. I wondered how long I could go? I jogged nearly a third of my route before I thought that maybe I should go into my walk. The part that I ran usually takes me about 15 minutes to walk so I think that I might have been jogging for TEN MINUTES!! I was pretty excited. I think I could have kept going but I wanted to make sure I wasn't over doing it with my new found comfort of running.

I started walking. Now, usually by the time I start walking after a run I'm gasping for air and I feel like grasping hold of something to try and catch my breathe. Not today! Going in and out of walking was easy and such a smooth transition. I walked for just a couple of minutes and started my jog again. I'm sure people could visually see the little cartoon light bulb click on over my head. "OH!! Go Slow!!" Everyone was telling me the whole time but I somehow misunderstood! I thought I was such a smart girl! Maybe I was over analyzing what everyone said, who knows why it didn't make sense until just now.

I'm confident that I could run/jog my whole course. It almost seems easy to me now. Of course I can't sprint the whole thing, what was I thinking? Running doesn't have to be sprinting. I enjoyed it so much today, it was so awesome to be able to run and breathe all at the same time. hahaha I'm laughing because you wouldn't think you would have to explain how to "run" to someone. Like I said at the beginning though... I've never done this before. I'd bet that I'm the most un-athletic person you'll ever meet... but THAT is changing.

Day 41 of Training: Five Minutes

I RAN FIVE MINUTES TODAY!! I know that sounds lame. Many of you might be thinking... 5 minutes of running... um... ok... cool? It's a big deal for me! I've been trying to run for five minutes straight for over a month now!! The good news is that I didn't just do it once but three times today! Walked five, ran five & repeated three times. I'll admit that on my last five of running I was looking at my watch more than at the road. I had to really concentrate on my breathing. I knew that I could run half of it but the length of time I could run was 3-4 minutes last week so I was pretty excited today!! I just couldn't help the huge smile on my face (while trying to catch my breathe) as I finished with the first five minutes today. I'm sticking with this for a week and then I'll be working on running for ten minutes then walking for five minutes.

I was in my first 5K on Saturday. When I signed up for it I was hoping to be able to run the whole thing but... as everyone knows from my above comments... that just didn't happen. It didn't matter to me though. This was the first race I've ever been in. I manipulated my Mom into doing it with me and we walked the whole thing together. It was so fun and I was glad to kind of see how the whole race thing works. The race was for women only and was all about loving your body. I felt like it was the perfect race to start out with considering that's exactly what I'm trying to do. After... I heard that it was terribly unorganized & not as great as others that people had been in. I didn't know any different but it's kind of fun to know that they just get better than that. I loved the whole theme of it though & I was pretty proud of us for doing as well as we did.

I know that I still have a long ways to go to be able to run my marathon in May but I feel like I'm chugging right along. It's been really hard so far but it's also been very exhilarating to know that I can do something that I couldn't do 6 weeks ago and that I did something this weekend that I've never done before. It's all pretty cool!

Good Thinking.

As I've been training I've had a lot of people give advice, tips & ideas. Most people are encouraging, they know I can do it. They get excited with me and want to help. I've had a couple of people think I'm pushing it too hard & trying to do too much, too fast. I listen to everyone. There's something to learn from every piece of advice, positive or negative. I would like to say a few words today about the few who have said... "Your body can't handle training to run 26 miles by May." "This is something that takes years to build up to. There's no way you can do this." "Are you crazy? You're going to get hurt." Don't try for the full marathon, you're just building up your hopes. How are you going to feel when you just can't do it? Try for something easier first."

I know that I think differently than most people... at least... I think I do. To be honest... the thought that I couldn't do this never actually entered my mind. I know that I'm overly optimistic about things but that has always helped not hurt in my life. I have many examples in my life of how this has worked to my advantage. I can't think of a time where it hasn't. I'm always the first to jump, I take high risks, I like the thrill of the unknown possibility of how things could be. I know that the only thing standing between what I want and having it is just a little hard work. I'm realistic, that is... I do think of the bad things that could happen but the good things usually by far outweigh any negative things that could happen and I concentrate on the positive things and I guess you could say I make those things happen.

On my personal blog I wrote about this subject...
http://juliespilledthebeans.blogspot.com/2009/07/close-your-eyes-and-jump.html

Well... I don't see the difference in running. I know that I'm not athletic, never have been. I know that I have a lot of hard work ahead of me if I'm going to be able to finish the marathon. I know that I have to be careful and listen to my body. I also know that thousands of people have done this having less time to train than I have. Once I can jog for 30 minutes I can start my training schedule. The schedule is 16 weeks and then the marathon. I have about 35 weeks left. That gives me around 19 weeks to get up to running 30 minutes. I'm not close yet but I've only been working on this for just over 4 weeks. I know that a lot of people that have done this exact program were older than me or weighed more than me, had health problems of some sort or combination of these things. If they can do it than surely I can.

I don't start things to do it halfway. I've always had high goals that some might think... unattainable. I think if you set your goals high enough you might be surprised at what you can accomplish. You just need to go forward thinking about your goal, believing you can do it and continuing to work toward it. It will happen, I will run a marathon in May. I will be ready and for those of you that think there's no way I can... you wanna make a bet? : )

Day 29 of Training

I'm on a good schedule that works for me right now. Monday, Wednesday, Thursday & Saturday I "run". Tuesday & Friday I walk and Sundays I don't do anything. That's working out well for me. Everytime I run I try to push it a little more.

The timer thing wasn't working out so I switched to distance. "I'm just going to make it to this tree" or "to the end of the field" or "to this mailbox". I think that's motivating me a little more than trying to run for a certain amount of time. Maybe it's because I'm a visual person, not sure. I can see where I have to be and I see me getting closer to my goal. I feel like I have a reason to run or a place to run to, rather than just running to try & make it to a time. Going with this... I've done really well!! I'm pretty excited.

I don't know how long I'm running but I can say that I am running MOST of the the 3 miles now. When I say "most" I mean... more than half of the 3 miles I'm running. The stretches that I run are longer & longer each time. Pretty good for being me & all!

I have a friend that I went to Junior High with that's been emailing me. She's helped me a lot to create a good diet that can accomodate all of my needs. (I found out I wasn't getting enough carbs & protein. I'm eating more "whole foods" like oats, cooked wheat kernels, nuts, veggies, etc....) I'm also trying to tone everything up & build up my strength a bit and she's been super helpful. I don't have all of the right equipment yet but for the level I'm at right now, I think I'm OK. I've added weight training to my schedule and I'm enjoying that. I don't want to be superwoman but in the future I would like to be toned. I don't want to be flabby anywhere. After 4 kids... I'm done with the "I'm still trying to lose my baby weight from the last 3 kids" look that I've got goin' on.

Saturday while I was running I thought I was doing SO good. I had just ran my longest, I started to go into my walk and an old lady breezes right past me. She's listening to her iPod, smiles huge at me... I may have glared at her, not sure. I felt awful all of a sudden. I felt pretty pathetic that an old lady can run like that & I can't. How sad. I was contemplating this and my neighbor that I'll be running with on the Wasatch Back smiles & waves at me as I walk by. I'm not sure why but it just made my morning. All of a sudden I was fine again. I just thought... that's what I'm trying to do. I'll be like that lady when I'm old.

I do get side tracked sometimes but then I look back and I see where I'm at now and it's nice to feel like everyday I do a little bit better. I get impatient sometimes and I have to remind myself that it's just going to take a while to train my body to do something that it's NEVER done before. I've never done any kind of sports, I used to skip Gym class in school, I've never WANTED to do anything like this before. It's exhilirating to know how just last week I couldn't go as far as I can this week. It relieving when I feel like my lungs are working more efficiently. I can feel them building strength and they can go longer and longer before I start to feel the burn.

I found out that one of my neighbors is also going to run the Ogden Marathon so we've made plans to go down together. She's a lot faster than me so I know she'll be running ahead of me but it's nice to feel like I'll know someone there. Makes it not so scary for my first time.

I'm doing my first 5K on August 22nd. I might be walking a lot of it but that's OK. This particular run is supposed to be all about women & loving your body. I figure... that's what I'm trying to do so it sounded like a good fit for my first race. My Mom started walking 3 miles and I've talked her into doing it with me. It's going to be a lot of fun.

Day 20 of Training

Over the last couple of weeks a few things happened. I finally got to the point where I could finally start running for little bits at a time. Then... I hurt my knee. I think that it got overdone because I was trying to increase my distance and my speed all at once. I made a visit to my chiropractor and he said that the arch in my foot had fallen and that was making me step weird. He fixed it. I also went back to Striders and got different supports for my shoes.

It's been frustrating, I don't like it when I feel like I'm not making progress. I've been trying to heal the knee so I decided to keep the distance but slow things down to a walk. The first few days were a speedy walk and then after a few days and after my knee was feeling a little better I decided to walk as fast as I could without jogging. I've done that until today.

I found out that if I drink 1 cup of V8 before I run and 1 after I run I don't get nauseated. Since I started doing that I haven't felt the nausea come on at all. I'm glad I figured that out! What a relief!

I decided to take a different route over the last few days. They've just finished the "Rail Trail" by my house and it's awesome! The trail was the old west tracks that stopped being used sometime in the 1980's. The rails had all been taken out a while ago and they have paved over it to make this really nice walking area. The trail goes from West Bountiful to Roy. (23.69 miles) It makes a great path for running because it's so level. Streets are always slanted off to the sides which makes it harder on my body to run on. From my house and back again I'm doing just over 3 miles a day.


So, today was finally the day that I was adding spurts of running again. I'm recovering from a cold but that's not stopping me and I feel confident that it's time to start moving ahead with running. My goal was to run 5 minutes then walk 5 minutes. I head slightly up hill toward the rail trail. I have my kitchen timer in my hand and it's time to start my five minutes of running. I push the button and start going. My body is working hard and I start to feel like I'm not getting enough air. There comes a point when I think that I might die so I decide to forget about the timer and walk again. I look at the timer and only 1 minute had passed. 1 minute? Yikes! Well... I tell myself that it is slightly uphill and that I am recovering from a cold so maybe... that's why I couldn't breathe? I decide to wait 5 minutes out and go again. This time I should be on the rail trail so it should all be pretty flat, easier.

There's nobody on the rail trail right now and that makes me feel better that I have no witnessing neighbors for my sorry attempts at running. My 5 minutes of walking is up and I run... no... I jog...(I decided to take it easier). My lungs start burning again, I feel like I need to gasp for air. I stop and walk. I look at the timer and only 1 minute 30 seconds had passed! Whatever!

I walk for 5 more minutes and people have come from the other direction and are walking toward me. I hit a busy road and it's my place to turn around and head back. My timer goes off... time for me to run. I start going, I'm coming up quick to the people in front of me. They're walking pretty fast. I move over to the left to pass, I pass!! OK... This might seem like a silly thing to some people but I was pretty excited about that. I passed 3 people on the trail! To me that's pretty exciting! I've never done that before, well... except in a car! Not with walking or running or anything like that. It felt great! (Although one of them was probably just doing their warm up.) The fire starts again in my lungs and I slow down to a walk. I take a peek behind me and they're pretty far back there! I look at the time and again... 1 1/2 minutes. 5 minutes just wasn't happening today.

That's my goal. I'm not thinking about the marathon in May. I have lots of time for that. I'm not thinking about how according to my "training schedule" I should be running 30 minutes at a time right now. My goal for right now is to run 5 minutes without feeling like I might need an oxygen mask after and to be able to repeat that 4 times during my morning walk. I'm not setting up a time frame that I need to finish it by... I'm just going to work hard to reach my goal. I feel pretty good about what I did today.

Day 9

I created my running playlist on my iPhone. It rocks! The ONLY problem is that, well... lets do a little history....

Growing up my family was very musical. We were always singing in the car at the top of our lungs, we were in the ward choir, we were always in the school choirs, we were in community theatre, My Mom, Sister & I sang together often in church and at other things. Singing seems like something natural that you do. Everyone should, right!?

K- SO... today I'm walking and one of my favorite songs comes on the playlist. I started mouthing the words but then the best part came on and I couldn't help it! I just started singing along while I'm walking. It was a whispered kind of singing... just note that I'm not fully belting out notes or anything... yet.

I'm walking down, in and around a dead end and there was no one there. The chorus of the song came on again and I know I was singing a little bit louder and what's worse... I kind of had my own little...um... choreography... going along with it. Just a little hip shaking and hand movement going on. Yeah... I felt pretty cool until I turned around and started walking back up the dead end and noticed that one of my neighbors had stepped outside. Yeah, I'm pretty sure he saw me. I just smiled huge and waved and kept walking. Hhhmmm.... I may be known as the "special girl" in our neighborhood from now on. Yep, I'm a dork. :)

New subject. I've been quickly walking 3 miles over the last week and today I decided to go ahead and try to run parts of it. Next week I'm supposed to do 5 minutes running, 5 minutes walking. Well... I started out walking and decided to give it a try. My original goal was to make it through one song on my playlist. About halfway through the song I thought I might die. I decided to do what my Facebook friend said and run as long as I can until I feel like I might die then walk until I catch my breathe. I'm going to do that until I can do five minutes and build up from there.

When I run, my body doesn't get tired, my muscles don't hurt but when I breathe... that's the part that I don't have control over, that's the part that burns, my lungs feel like they can't handle the amount of air that needs to come in and out. I don't know if that's normal or not. My body feels tense, which it probably should. My muscles are working hard but aren't super painful or anything. It's the breathing. Not sure how to help that get better.

The last 2 days I come home, cool down, stretch out and then a few minutes later I feel nauseated. I'm not sure why. I thought I needed more fluid but I'm drinking water before and a lot slowly after. I'm drinking between 60-90 ounces a day. I'm eating a little bit of protein when I get done too. I don't usually eat breakfast though until after I take a swim (to help stretch the muscles better). I thought maybe it was my blood sugar level or maybe I needed electrolytes so today I had a Gatorade after but I still got sick. If anyone has ideas I would really like to know them.

I know I'm naturally over-optimistic about things. I signed up for a 5K Race that takes place on August 22nd. I was pretty excited and was thinking that I might be able to run the whole thing by then, but, reality is starting to set in and I know I might end up walking a lot of it. That's OK though. It's my first race and I'm pretty excited about it. They allow people to walk the whole thing so I know I'll probably be in the middle somewhere. I've got walking down pat! hahaha

Day 6 (My 2nd week)

I started walking 3 miles today. It takes me about 45 minutes, but still, at least I'm working on it. I'm getting pretty impatient with my "training schedule" and want it to go faster but I know this part is important. I'm trying very hard to not rush it.

All together it was a pretty normal day today. I didn't get almost ran over by a car or attacked by killer insects or crazy ducks so that was good. I'm pretty excited about going the 3 miles. I can't remember that I've ever walked that far before. The first words out of my mouth to my Husband this morning were "I just walked three miles today!". He could tell I was excited and he's trying really hard to be supportive.

I went to Striders and bought some saucony running shoes and a belt thingy to put my iPhone into. It will be nice to listen to music while I run. I just need to find the time to create the right playlist now. I'm a Mom of 4 kids so it might be a while until I get my playlist done.

In my training schedule it says that I should be training 4 days a week. I want to do it everyday at least for sure while I'm just working up to running 30 minutes at a time. Is that bad to do it everyday? My muscles don't hurt anymore so that's not an issue and I thought it could just help while I'm building up my endurance and cardio stuff. Is there a reason during this part of it for resting inbetween?

Day 4 of Training Part 2

OK. I've had people ask about the grasshopper, duck & car. I thought I'd elaborate on the day I had yesterday.

Yesterday was Saturday so I slept in until 8:30am and didn't actually get out the door until around 9:00am. I started out with my normal stretching and warm up and eventually ended up walking very fast (for me) up the road. I turned a corner and started walking against traffic off to the side. I'm doing pretty good, there's a car coming, she starts to edge closer and closer and more off to my side. Then I can finally see her and she's texting or dialing or something on her cell. She doesn't even see me! I noticed this as her car is swerving my way and I kind of do this (extremely graceful) leap/run/dive off the side of the road. She looked up at the last second, corrected and just missed me. Whew!

Usually the mornings are very quiet. Things usually seem clean as if the dirt, heat and exhaust were somehow washed away by the night. Today is different, probably because of the time I started. I feel the heat from the sun now and it's much different. I'm sweating a bit more, there's a lot more noise outside, we live in a neighborhood that still has a few houses being built so there's a lot of noise as construction crews go about their work. I feel like I'm breathing too much of the dirt that's been mixed up into the air from all of cars and construction.

I turn onto the last street and I pass a lot of land that has overgrown weeds. The weeds are almost like bushes they're so huge and I think I hear something weird coming from them. Just as I look over this huge, vicious, tiger like... grasshopper attacks! It comes right at my face and my arms are flailing all over while I try to swat away my attacker! I almost trip and fall and I kind of do a couple of circles while my hands are frantically swishing anything in front of me. The mutated grasshopper disappears. I back carefully away from the weed bushes and start walking again.

I'm now by my friends house and she has a pet duck. ( I think his name is Crackers or Quackers... not sure.) Anyway... the duck crosses their fence and starts waddling along the side of me as I walk. It is SO cute and I kind of laugh a little to myself because he's so adorable. I remember my friend just recently telling me how he has started biting & nipping at people and can't really imagine that this cute little thing would bite anyone. Then it waddles (it's waddling faster than I'm waddling now) right behind me and starts making these really loud squawking noises while ruffling it's wings at me. The duck goes into a full waddling sprint and is right on my heels! It's kind of goin' all freaky on me now! I panicked and picked up my pace. I keep glancing over my shoulder as I try to skip a couple steps ahead of the duck and it's gaining on me! Just then a dog barks and catches the ducks attention and it immediately turns and runs/waddles towards that noise.

I'm so glad nobody follows me around with a camera. Just walking, breathing & not falling are hard enough without all the spastic diving away from cars, swatting away mutant insects and ninja ducks. I think I'll try to stick with the earlier times. There's a lot less commotion at 6:00am.

Day 4 of Training

I hate it when I try to do something and then someone says... "No, no, no... You're doing it all wrong!". The upside to it though is that you always learn something and you can either follow it or do whatever the heck you want to anyway!

That's what happened to me last night. My Mom let me borrow a book called "Non-Runners Guide to Running a Marathon" and I was excited about it, I skimmed through the first few pages of it and noticed a chart. The chart started out at running 3 miles your first day. Well... I closed the book and thought... I guess I need to build up to running 3 miles a day. Hhhmmm... I had ideas, suggestions and I started.

Well, I decided to actually read the book last night (the first few chapters anyway) and it's almost as if a voice came down from the Heavens striking me with knowledge and inspiration! Holy Crow! It tells me how to build up to 3 miles a day! I'm counting this week (although there were some meager attempts at running) as walking fast for one week for 30 minutes. Next week I'll do walking fast for 45 minutes and the week after that I start alternating running for 5 minutes then walking for 5 minutes.

There are definitely some things I've learned over the last few days.

1. I need new shoes and the general consensus is that Strider's in Layton is the best place for them.

2. Never skim through a book. Always read at least the first 3 chapters before closing it up.

3. Stay a safe distance away from wild looking bushes, especially when you hear odd noises coming from it. (I got attacked by some fierce, flying grasshopper! I almost tripped and fell trying to swat it away.)

4. It's better to be able to see the traffic coming at you. I almost got hit today by a lady that was texting or dialing while driving. I thought it was good that I could jump out of her way. Whew!

5. You can't do this while sucking in your stomach, trying to breathe and smiling all at the same time. It just doesn't work.

6. Ducks can waddle pretty darn fast! No lie! My neighbor across the street has a pet duck and while I was walking past today it flew over her fence and started chasing me down the street! I had all these images of her recent tales of how the duck must be in heat or something and how it has started attacking people by nipping at their legs and feet! I thought I was walking pretty fast but Crackers (that's the ducks name) was right at my heels. That duck can waddle as fast as my "fast walk". Now that's just sad.

My main goal for next week... I'm going to be faster than the duck!

Day 3 of Training

OUCH!

OK.. so the pain finally hit at about 5:00pm last night. I was doing dishes when it suddenly occurred to me that I couldn't lift my legs properly without pain. I'm not invincible after all! I was starting to think this would be a piece of cake. I took 2 Epsom salt baths & kept rubbing down my legs trying to make it feel better. I could just imagine if I felt like this today... what would I feel like in the morning?

I was venting my frustration to my Husband. The dilemma was that I knew that I should take a day of rest but.. I know from past experience that if I take one day it could very likely turn into 2 days or 3 and then I just stop. I didn't think I could just run through with the pain and stiffness in my legs though. He finally came up with the alternative of walking the whole thing today. I'm still doing the miles but still taking a rest. That seemed like a good compromise to me.

I have a few friends on Facebook that are planning on running the Wasatch Back Relay Race with me and everyone is being so supportive with comments and encouragement. I feel like I have my own little cheer squad off to the side trying to push me along.

Day 3:
I stretch out and start walking. I feel my muscles aching with each step I take. This will be good, right!? Maybe it will stretch them out and relieve some of the stiffness. I turn my 2nd corner and decide to start walking faster. I get about half way through with my "course" and run into one of my neighbors and Facebook friends that's running the whole time and asks if she can walk with me for her cool down. She calls this a cool down? I thought I was walking fast! She offers great support and encouragement. She's talking, I'm breathing. She asks a question and I'm trying really hard not to sound winded when I answer. How can she do this and talk at the same time? Amazing! It's taking almost all of my brain power to 1. Breathe, 2. Lift my painful legs with each step & 3. Not trip and fall which is the most likely to happen out of all three. She's very cheerful & practically skips away to her house when we come up to it. Impressive.

I pass another runner with headphones on. She's very fit, skinny, toned & running like this is as easy as a casual walk through the park. I can't help but stare in disbelief and make a little pledge to myself that I will be her in one year. That makes me smile a little bit as I come up to the corner where my house is. I walk slower, cool down and stretch out. My legs still feel just as sore and stiff as when I started. I really want to go back to running every 3 houses tomorrow so hopefully I helped and didn't make things worse for myself. I hate the days where I feel like I moved backwards instead of forward.

Day 2 of Training

No, I'm not going to write EVERYDAY!

Day 2: I expected to wake up sore, I expected to wake up tired, I expected to want to bag the whole thing. I was prepared for all that but I didn't really feel any of that. I am a little bit sore where my legs connect into my hips but hey... not so bad! I wasn't as perky this morning... I'll admit that. I put some exercise clothes on and set out the door with a new determination to master this.

I stretched out, not caring what I looked like to my neighbor today. Although... I'll admit I did try to keep my behind faced towards my house. I set a stopwatch on my iPhone and headed out walking on my street.

I had a new goal today. An idea that my Mom got somewhere. I will walk past 2 houses then run past the 3rd and repeat. It felt a lot easier to me today than what I was trying to do yesterday. I'm going to continue this until Saturday, take Sunday off and then on Monday I'll "up it" to run past 2, walk past 2. I'm going to keep adding a house to run past every week until I'm finally running the whole thing.

I did my walking warm up a little longer today and I think that helped. About 1/4 of the way I got this really bad pain between my shoulder blades. I think I just slept on it weird or something last night though because when I stretched it out it subsided and by the time I was done with my 1.8 miles it was gone.

I have a lot of my neighbors out walking or running at the same time I am and I felt weird because I would be walking and just as I would come up to them it would be the house that I was supposed to run past. I hope they don't think I was just trying to run past them or something. Kind of weird.

My time today was a 14 1/2 minute mile. Better than yesterday! I think I'll only time myself at the end of each week though. I think it can be a good way for me to monitor my improvement but if I do it everyday I might get impatient with myself.

Small and simple steps. Slowly but surely I'm getting there!

Day 1 of Training

I have never been the athletic type. I was in ballet as a girl and unless you count tap dancing in the high school musical as athletic... I would say that I'm pretty much as non-athletic as they come.

I've always kind of been fascinated with running. I've never really done it myself, as close as it came was walking a couple of miles a day with my Mom on one of her "let's all get healthy" sprees as a teenager. In elementary school when we would run I would get a stitch in my side that I've since found out came from breathing wrong. So I guess you could say that I've had zero real experience with running.

For the last year and a half or so I've been on my own little "let's get healthy" spree, hopefully one that will last my lifetime. I've heard many people talk about their running experiences and words such as "freeing", "stress relieving" and "exhilarating" have come from the mouths of my friends as well as "totally tones your body" or "the fat just melts right off". These are all things that appeal to me and for some crazy reason... I've decided to do it.

I heard about the Ogden Marathon and that's what I decided to train for. 26 miles might seem like a big jump but I've always been one that... well... if I'm going to do something than I'm going to REALLY do it. I want to say that I really accomplished something. My Mom also told me about the Disneyland Half Marathon and I figure... what a better excuse to take the family to Disneyland! While all of this is going through my mind I had a friend on Facebook talk about putting together a team for a wasatch back relay race. I told her to sign me up! I'm going to do this! After all, I have almost a YEAR to train! No problem!

I borrowed a book from my Mom called "The Non-Runner's Marathon Trainer". That's me! The non-runner! This would be perfect. I also "chatted" with an old friend on Facebook that said to sprint until you think you might die then walk until you catch your breathe, then do it over. Hmpf! Sounds easy enough!

Day 1 of training:
I started out by getting my cute little exercise outfit and shoes on. Wow! I feel so athletic already! I do some little punches into the air at the mirror. Yep, I'm a strong, independent, beautiful, fit woman. I can do this! I nearly trip on my way down the stairs to the front door and step outside. I take a deep breathe and feel the cool air fill my lungs. What a beautiful day! Not a cloud in the sky, the sun is out and there's a nice breeze. Normal people aren't awake yet and that makes me feel a little bit better that I won't have an audience for my first attempt. Just in case though, I suck in my stomach so I look a little thinner than I am, and I start to stretch out. The stretches I'm doing are amazing! Only a true ballerina could be this flexible. I hope my neighbor across the street is seeing this right now. I'm sure she'll be talking about it to me later. I have a huge grin on my face as I start walking down my driveway, head held high, stomach sucked in and standing pretty tall.

I get to the end of my street and think that I might as well just get started on my sprint already. This is great! So exhilarating! I see why people love this! It's almost like being on a Harley. I feel a rush of adrenaline, I feel the wind blowing my hair back off my neck, I feel the pounding of my heart almost in time with my feet moving across the pavement, I feel... I feel... burning... in my lungs, I feel like I can't breathe. I have a strong determination to make it to the end of the street. Just make it to the corner. When did this street get so long?! The cool air is stinging as I breathe it in. "Breathe through a straw, breathe through a straw" I keep reminding myself. I don't want to feel that stitch in my side like when I was a kid. I need to breathe correctly. After what seemed like an eternity I reached the corner and started walking.

The walking is actually more like a gasping for air, barely shuffling my feet forward, hunched over kind of a walk. Oh! Here comes a car! It takes all my strength to pull myself up straight and smile! OK, Maybe I need to start off a little slower. I'll try to fast-walk it.

I just realized that I had no idea where I was going. Maybe if I went around our huge block it would be about a mile. I think so. I'm coming up on a dead end street and I decide to walk in, around and out of every little dead end or cul-de-sac I come up to. For sure with all that I'll reach a mile. I know my face is red, I'm still trying to catch my breathe from my first attempt to run and now I'm heading uphill on a long road. I feel different muscles working now. Surprisingly the only part that's feeling over-used (besides my lungs) is where my legs hook into my hips. I must not get that part stretched out as much on my elliptical.

I round the corner onto a busier street and I make a mental note to go the opposite way next time so I can see the cars that are coming at me. I think this block is actually more like 3 miles or something. Will this ever end? I think I may have been out here for... at least an hour already! More neighbors walking by. Stomach is NOT sucked in, I'm trying to keep a steady breathe and I don't even attempt a smile but I do lift my hand for a half wave.

I'm almost to the corner to turn to my house. Four houses left, three... I don't want to end it like this! I start to run, just to the end of the corner. At least then if my neighbor across the street was watching me then she would have seen me start off and ending by running. The burn immediately comes back with my breathing. I walk up my driveway, to my porch trying to cool down. It takes all of my will power to not collapse on my porch. I envision myself laying face down kissing the pavement.

I start to stretch everything out. My stretches now resemble something more like a really worn out, old and fat ballerina. I bend over trying to stretch the back of my legs. I wonder if my butt looks smaller? Probably not, I better put the behind towards my house so my neighbors don't see.

I walk in the house and immediately find a clock. Thirty minutes had passed. Thirty minutes? That's all? Well... with three miles or whatever though.... hhhmmm. I get in my car and reset the "trip mileage" to zero. I drive the course that I just did and finally get back to my house. 1.8 miles. 1.8 miles? What? Only 1.8 miles in thirty minutes? I quickly do the math and realize that's not even a fifteen minute mile!

I sit on my steps and recap in my mind what I had just been through. Ever the optimistic one I tell myself that I will not quit. I haven't ran in years, I've never been good at this but this is something that I will master. I will keep doing this. I will accomplish what I have set out to do. If I can do this, I can do anything. I am in control of my own body and it's just going to take time to train my body to do what I want it to.

I walk back up the stairs. My legs are wobbling like jello. Time for a shower. I'm worn out, tired and thirsty. That's good right? Doing it all again tomorrow... maybe minus the overly giddy attitude while starting though.