Mistake

Alright, so right off the bat I'll just get it off my chest... I made a big mistake Saturday. It's been pretty nice in the mornings here in Utah so far this year, so when I decided to wake up at 7:30 on Saturday to do my big five mile run, I figured I was going to be able to do it in the nice coolness of the morning. Um... no. I didn't get out the door until close to eight, and by the time I walked the two blocks to the track, I was already feeling the sun on my shoulders. Exactly 2.7 miles later, I felt like I was going to die. My head was pounding, I felt like I couldn't breath, and I was sweating everywhere. I got light-headed and I was moving as slow as a snail. I sat down in the shade and cooled down, then walked home. I felt horrible. This was the end of my week three, and that dang five-miler was supposed to be getting easier to do, not harder. Alright, there it is. I'm not proud, and I'm certainly down, but I'm not out yet. In fact.... now here's the upside and the reason I'm still going strong, my first 5K is this Saturday the 30th, and I picked up my race packet on Saturdayn a few hours after my run. My friend Melanie invited me onto her team with the other ladies from her boot camp class. We all met and picked up our packets and then had lunch to discuss our outfits. We are Team Mud Bunnies hahaha. This race is called "Kiss Me Dirty" and it's a 5K with all sorts of muddy obstacles at the Weber County Fairgrounds. The proceeds to go cervical and ovarian cancer research, which is pretty important to me since both my mom's (mom and step-mom) had to have hysterectomies due to cervical cancer. I am so excited to compete in a race, even if I'm not in it to win it, just to have fun and finish it. I think these fun little 5k's will keep me interested and excited until the big day on September 29th.
As for the 3 miles runs I do Monday and Wednesday, those have been really great. I can complete those now without stopping to walk, and definitly don't feel in danger of passing out when I am done. I'm still not fast, I complete them in about 32 mintues or so, but I don't care. I complete them, and I feel great when I am done. I KNOW this is working, a month ago I wouldn't have dreamed I could run about 10 miles per week. No way!!! So I'm pretty excited about that.
Next week, I don't get to run little 3-milers anymore, my "easy" run is now 4 miles on Mondays and Wednesdays, with SIX miles to do on Saturday. I'm not sure how I'll work that in on Saturday since I have the KMD 5k, but maybe I'll do another 3 miles that night. I guess it's not exactly what the training schedule had in mind, but I'm still out there, off my butt and off the couch, right?! Right. Oh, and here's a little sarcasm to lighten the day :-P

Progress

Week two of running went really well, I must say. It didn't go easy, but it went well as in I finished everything I was supposed to. Two more 3-milers on Monday and Wednesday, and a big ol' 5-miler on Saturday. Monday was pretty average, but on Wednesday I decided to push myself, so I ran the whole first 1.67 miles, then I walked for two minutes, and then I ran the rest of the way, for a total time of just over 30 minutes. I don't know how I did it, and maybe I won't do it again for awhile, but it was pretty good for me, and I'm not ashamed to say I'm proud of myself. Then came Saturday, and that 5 miles took me an hour to complete. I'm refusing the be down about it because the fact is, I did it. And that's means a lot to me. I've never even attempted something like that in my life, and although it took me awhile, I didn't feel like I was going to die when I was done, and I felt great the rest of the day. In fact, one day later, I'm really not even sore. Now that might be an indication that I'm not pushing it hard enough, but man, just starting this whole process is definitly pushing me outside my box, so I refuse to view myself as anything else but a success :)
Another thing I love is that my husband has been so supportive. When he looks at me with pride in his eyes every time I finish my run, I feel like the most beautiful woman in the world. I can't wait to run across that finish line in September with him by side, knowing we did this fabulous, challenging thing together, much like the feeling we will both have the day our first child is born. This marathon is a major step to us being ready to take up the huge challenge called "Parenthood" next year. First things first though... and week three in next!

I Was Running...

You have to say the title of this post like Forrest Gump, or else it's not funny :) As the title alludes, I have been running. I started last week, and so far the excitement of doing something good has carried me through the whole week and the weekend. There are a number of reasons that I started: (1) I am super lazy and tired of not being able to go out and do the things I want to do without getting tired or sore, or wearing the things I want to wear because I have big thighs and muffin-top, (2) I am basically not outstanding at anything, I'm pretty average at everything, and I want something in my life to be proud of doing that requires hard work to accomplish, (3) I want to spend more time with my friends, and a few them are runners, (4) something to do with my husband and dog, and (5) I want to get in really good shape before we have kids next year so I have a hope of getting my body back post-baby.
What better way to get started than to have a goal in mind? My goal is the Huntsville Half Marathon on September 29th. I love the Huntsville/Eden/Liberty area because my in-laws live in Eden and we are up there a lot, so I know this run is going to be an absolutely beatiful run. Also, one of my husband's fellow officers was just recently diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic and liver cancer, and so it was decided that anyone who was willing and able would join a team, and we would try to raise funds for his treatments. So in addition to the reasons mentioned above, I can also add 'for a good cause" to my list, and that one feels good too.
I found a training guide online for an absolute "off-the-couch" beginning runner. It basically consists of differing and every-lengthening distances to run, but with one constant: you run for 3 minutes and walk for 2. You just keep doing that over and over again until you reach that day's distance requirement. It's not about finishing in a certain amount of time, it is simply about finishing! After all..

One of the reasons I can't stick with things sometimes is I set my sights too high and I get discouraged when I can't reach them right away. This 3 minute run / 2 minute walk thing is sooo do-able. The first day I did this (last Monday) I completed my three miles in about 37 minutes. The next time I did it was last Thursday, and my time was just slightly faster by about five seconds. The point is, I actually did it, and I did it without cheating or making any excuses with myself to not do it. HOWEVER, I was supposed to do a 4 mile-er on Saturday, but we went up to my cabin and I ended doing a two mile hike with about two hours worth of trail-clearing and fence-fixing, so by the time that was all said and done, my husband allowed me skip the run :) He figured I had done enough. I promise never to skip it again though!
Today's run I decided to push myself a little, so I ran the whole first mile (took a little over 11 minutes), and then I did the run/walk thing for the remaining two miles. This took 35:57. I beat my previous two times by a minute! These little triumphs are what are going to keep me going.

I've also tried to look up a few diet / nutrition tips that don't require me to make huge drastic changes that I will have trouble doing while I am also trying to change my lifestyle by running  a few times a week. One major tip I keep seeing over and over is to drink your weight in water: one oz of water for every pound you weigh. For me, thats about 126 oz's per day. I started that last week, I don't get there every day, but it's a heck of a lot more water than I used to drink, so I count any day I try to get there as a success. Another tip is no more soda! I'm not a huge soda drinker anyway, but I do occassionaly like my Pepsi with dinner, but besides one cheat this weekend at the cabin, I have stopped the soda drinking. The no-sugar tip is going to be hard, I'll admit. It's not that I stuff my face with candy at all hours of the day, but I do like an occasional sweet or two, usually in the form of a bite-sized Reese's or chocolate-covered raisin. I'm not going to set myself up for failure and say never again. Life is too short! But I will promise to keep it to a very bare minimum. I will also try to limit my intake of white bread/rice and all junk food and ice cream.
I will try to post once a week or so on my running activities and weight and thoughts. I want to blog about this because I want to see how HARD this was for me at the beginning, and look back on my thoughts and difficulties and discouragements and triumphs so that the next time I think I can't do something, I can go back and read about my journey from beginning to end, and realize that I CAN do hard things. I can do things that have nothing to do with instant gratification and have everything to do with dedication and commitment until a larger reward is received at the end. A girl who has never run a mile at a time in her life is going to run a half marathon in 17 weeks. Yep, she sure is.  Here's a few images to keep me going:

And what I want most is to be fit, confident in my own skin, and able to conquer anything!!!

I am going to be patient with myself and allow the hard work I do every time

I run to slowly work, and not get discouraged when I don't see changes right away.

I WILL fulfill this promise to myself and keep with this.

I'm going to do the HARD stuff so that I can do more GREAT stuff.

I so wish that I could depend on running getting easier, but I think the only thing I can

hope for is that it gets easier to do understand how hard I have to work, and that in

some sense, I get used to how hard a workout really is, and so it no longer scares me.

Yes, I can, and YES I WILL!!!