Trick or Treat..Smell my Feet

On second thought I probably wouldn't do that. Not to go too far into the "too much information" department but, all this running is doing something not so pleasant to my feet!

Hope you had a Happy Halloween!

Here are scenes from our night:

My Crazy Ole Miss Fan

Jenny as a candy corn and me as Elphaba from Wicked

My sweet candy corn

Shane dressed up as a Daddy with a really bad cold watching the Ole Miss game. He stayed behind to hand out candy. It was the first time he hasn't trick or treated but he really wasn't feeling good.

It's back to the training grind now. And it's a good thing because....

I really like candy!

Note to Self

DON'T BE A SHOWOFF!!!

When a new route is proposed don't go ahead and run it the day before just to prove you can. When you do it again the next morning it won't be near as much fun.

The company was great. The weather was cool. The distance was 3 miles. The leg hurt BAD!!!

Have a great Friday!

I have to go get Advil!

My Own Personal Tinkerbell

The other day I referred to my friend Jill as the angel on my shoulder encouraging me to run on! I have decided to amend that. I think she is my own personal Tinkerbell!

At 6:57 this morning my cell phone buzzed with a new text. Who was it you ask: Tinkerbell herself!

I wanted to give you time to mentally prep. We are adding the Madison HILLS loop tomorrow. We can walk some. Be Ready. 5:30!!!

Did you see that? Madison HILLS! It's called that for a reason. Because its full of HILLS !

Well there is no use arguing so I decided to prepare by going ahead and seeing how bad it is. And it was not quite so bad. It really is so encouraging to be able to see myself improve and be able to add distance. I really am finding that I can go longer and I feel better. I'm finding a groove when I'm running and am finally getting to the point of being able to think about things other than survival. It was 2.8 miles. By far the farthest I've gone. I did walk a few times but not for long. It was a beautiful fall morning with a cool breeze. I really enjoyed it.

I can't wait to show Jill what I can do tomorrow - at 5:30!

On a side note: My IPOD with its great running songs playlist was dead so I grabbed the 12 years old IPOD. How much is too much Toby Mac?

2.8 MILES!

Oh My Word!

No running today-my body and my schedule just wouldn't allow it. I did make one horrifying discovery today though.

It takes roughly 20 minutes for me to drive to church. I leave the neighborhood, drive to Main street and merge onto the interstate. I spend several minutes on the interstate. Once I take my exit I travel down a very long road for more than a couple of minutes. It's an easy drive just not necessarily a particularly short one.

I discovered today that that drive is just over 2 miles shorter than the run I will have to make in February.

This was not a happy thought!

Theme Week: Run in the Dark

Yesterday I mentioned that I would run when I felt like it today. Well~I waited all day and the feeling never came! I'm not sure what it was today. I was sore from yesterdays run- Jill doesn't follow my avoid all hills rule so I took a few for the team and boy my calves hurt today! I think it's also the weather. You look outside and it's kind of dark and cloudy and the leaves are changing and it looks all cold and you feel all cozy and then you go outside. It's like 90 degrees out there. Whatever it was - I didn't want to run. I wanted to nap. I'm a much better napper.

But then I remember that I already paid for the race and that I better get out there so off I went. In the dark. Although 7:30 dark is better than 5:45 dark. I decided to add a little 1/2 mile loop through a section of the neighborhood and planned to do a lot of walking. Well, what do you know! It was one of the best runs yet. I did walk some but I ran way more and I really felt good. I'm so glad I fought the lazy urge. I felt like the cartoon with an angel and a devil on my shoulder. On one shoulder is me pressing for a nap and on the other shoulder is Jill and everyone else telling me to "Just Do It" (and I even have NIKE shoes!) I'm so glad that I listened to the angel! I feel better than I have all day with plenty of energy and it's a good thing because its 9:30 and.....

I haven't done the dishes yet!

The Best Kind of Mail!!!

I love to go to the mail box. I don't know why, but I think it's because as a kid I always wanted mail and it was never for me. I couldn't wait to be a grown up and have the mail be for me! It's not as much fun as I thought it would be but I still enjoy seeing what the mail box holds!

So what did it hold today?

The gas bill (yuck!)

Church offering envelopes (This adds bulk to the mail pile, but it's not really "mail")

Something from the Social Security Administration (double YUCK!)

A magazine (not a good one)

A little junk

And.........

WOOOHOOO! The best mail I've had in awhile. Reservation Confirmation!

No Turning Back Now!

And the clock said....

I promise not to whine each time I get up at the crack of dawn. Technically it was before the crack of dawn, but it's all right. I'm getting slightly used to it. It was shaping up to be a busy Monday so I asked Jill if she would go with me Monday morning early. This is what my clock said when I got in the car. I realize people go to work at this time every single day of the week. I am fully aware of the childish and selfish nature with which I whine. I can't help it. I'm a night owl!

I am however learning to appreciate seeing the stars first thing in the morning-that makes no sense by the way! I am enjoying a visit with a friend first thing and being able to jump right into the days tasks is certainly an advantage.

Not tomorrow though! I will run when I feel like it tomorrow, but I will run! Tomorrow hold good things for me! Just wait and see!

I have discovered one huge disadvantage to getting up so early.....

I'm starving!!!

A Day of Rest

As long as I'm stuck on Annie songs, let me just say that "Yesterday was plain awful!" (Name that Annie song!) Two long, slow, painful miles and I was pooped! It really was plain awful. My time was still good despite the fact that I crawled about 1/3 of the way. I think I shot out of the gate way too fast and man it was hard. But I got the miles in!

Today is Sunday. Over the last several years out family has really tried to implement a real day of rest on Sundays. It really makes a difference in our week. So no running today. Only worshipping at church, visiting with friends at lunch and napping. Everyone is in bed now and I am readying things for the week.

And the week comes early as I am once again meeting my personal trainer, Jill, in the middle of the night. But this time it was my idea.

Oh the shame of it!

What the heck?!?!

My husband was looking at my super cute new shoes and he made this statement last night

"Oh these are Nike Plus shoes. They will sync with your ipod."

HUH??? Was my eloquent response. I don't even know what that means. I mean I know what sync with your ipod means but I'm not sure how you do that with shoes. Thats just odd. He looked it up though and here's the link.

I still say that's one of the strangest things I've heard him say.

But's it's the middle of the night!

My son is in the middle schools production of Annie this weekend. This prompted a family viewing of the movie Annie (my favorite movie as a kid). Do you remember when Ms. Hannigan comes in and tells the orphans to start cleaning (Till this place shines like the top of the Crysler building!) and little Molly says.. "But it's in the middle of the night!" and Ms. Hannigan mocks her in a snarky voice.."But it's in the middle of the night!"

This is the scene that played out in my driveway this morning.... at 5:45. Again using her evil mind bending powers my friend Jill convinced me to meet her at 5:45 to run. The fact that I just wrote that sentence shows a fundamental shift in my life and perhaps the universe as a whole. But there I stood at the end of my driveway waiting for Jill at 5:45 this morning. When she got out of the car I pointed to the still black sky and said.... "But it's in the middle of the night!"

We had a great run though and did 2 miles. Thats twice now that I've done two miles and this time I didn't park my rear on the sidewalk for 10 minutes after 1.4 of those miles. As much as I whined about it I really enjoyed starting my day with a friend and getting a jump on the day. This was a pretty big step!

So I thought I deserved another pair of pants and a new sports bra.

This is getting to be fun!

uh..NO!

I have been standing by my avoid hills at all cost rule. I went out of way to avoid a fairly small hill the other day and Jill called me a wuss! Ok so she didn't really. She politely encouraged me to take the hills for training purposes. Uh...NO!

Also- the race in Disney starts at 6:00 in the morning. Nasty! I don't actually do morning well. I'd rather run after the kids get off to school or even at night. During the same hill conversation Jill politely suggested that I get some morning runs in. I'm planning on it... February 27 at 6:00.

She suggested we do it sooner than that.

UH.....NO!!!

Booked!

Well- It's official. Jill Webb, the master mind behind this plan, could negotiate any peace treaty in the world! She not only talked me into this, she has successfully gotten 6 women on the same page for all the arrangements and all systems are go!

Registered for race....$130.00

Flight booked.............$215.00

Room, tickets, food....$410.00

The challenge of the race and the company of good friends.....

PRICELESS!!!!

Two miles..sort of

Well I had a terrible run yesterday. It was the first time I had run since my mile break through and I was pumped! But I took a left out of the driveway straight up the hill. Big mistake! It was terrible. I couldn't do the mile. So discouraging!

So I tried again today and guess what! I did two miles..sort of. I did a solid 1.4! No stopping! Then I sat down on the sidewalk and rested. Just plopped my hiney down and sat there. Then I ran the .6 mile home. Huge boost! Can't believe I could do that so soon!

Lesson here: Always take a right out of the driveway and avoid the hills at all cost!

One Mile and New Pants!

I ran a mile! I ran a mile! I ran a mile!!! A whole mile without stopping at all! A WHOLE MILE!!! I can't believe it. The only other time I have ever run a mile was 20 years ago in college when we had to run a mile in PE. I thought I was gonna die then too.

Shane ran with me yesterday and I made it the whole mile! I really almost cried when we hit the one mile mark. I couldn't believe it.

It has taken me two weeks to reach one mile. At this rate I'll be ready to run 13 miles in 26 weeks. Not good considering the race is in 18 weeks! Jill assures me I will improve exponentially. She better be right! I'm really proud of myself though!

I always have to have some reward system for myself. So I had told myself when I ran a mile I could get new running pants. So.. I did..and a shirt...and a jacket. I was really proud of myself!

I can't wait to see what I get at 2 miles!

NEW SHOES!!!!

Remember when you were a kid and new shoes made you run faster? Well, I am hoping the same proves true for grown ups! My feet have been killing me on my very short runs these first few days. Really hurting....like I thought I broke my foot it hurt so bad! (I may be slightly dramatic!) Anyway my husband kept telling me togo get shoes so when the man says get shoes I feel it is my wifely duty to obey- I mean how often does a husband encourage his wife to go get a pair of $90 shoes. So they are NIKE.. they are still cute! Don't you think!

Shane asked what kind they were when I called to tell him I had gotten them. Pink Nikes was about as technical as I could get. I did get some cool new socks too. At $11.00 a pair they better be good!

Well- Guess what! They do help you run faster! My feet have felt so much better and I had a great run on our trip to The Grand Hotel. The farthest I have been so far!

So maybe it is true. New shoes can make you run faster!

I QUIT MY JOB!!!

I know thats a strange way to start a blog about running, but I think thats where the journey starts. I loved my job, it was absolutely one of the most rewarding things I've ever done, but it was becoming more and more my focus instead of my family and it became more and more apparent that the time had come for me to refocus on my family. So....I quit my job! And while I am loving being at home and my family is certainly running better and everyone is feeling the calm that it has brought I was lacking some challenge. I am by nature project oriented. I began immediately thinking of what I need to do next! I felt a very strong pull though to just be still. I feel like now the Lord is saying its ok to get moving now and get moving is what I have decided to do!!!

About 2 weeks ago I pulled up behind a car with a princess sticker on it that said 13.1. I knew what that meant and I thought- if I'm ever going to do something like that- thats the one I would do!! Of course to me that meant- "No way am I ever going to do a 1/2 marathon-those people are crazy, but Disney would be fun"

Fast forward a week! I'm sitting on the porch of a family camp we went to. My good friend Jill says, "You know what we ought to do?" And there you have it. I've decided Jill ought to work for the government. In less than a week she convinced me to pay somebody to let me run 13.1 miles. Middle East peace ought to be walk in the park for her!

Let it be known that I can't run at all. All the training programs say "This assumes you can run 3 miles." HAAAHAAAHAAA. I can run to the end of the driveway-does that count? Ok Actually I have been trying for a week and I'm getting better. I can run/walk/lim/crawl 1.3 miles in 18 minutes. That ain't gonna cut it sista!

So-here starts the journey! 20 weeks till race day. Follow along. It should be interesting!