Tuesday, October 28, 2008

And then after such a crappy run...nirvana!!

Week 13(or as I prefer to say "I'm starting my fourth month of running")run 6/walk 1 four times with 2 minute push run at end. So, today after such a horrible Sunday run, the memory of that still so fresh in my runner's psyche, I have one of the BEST runs of my life! Talk about your yen and yang! At one point I felt as if I were FLYING, but then I remembered a quote from John Bingham's "Running for Mortals" in which he said "I thought I was running so fast until I caught a glimpse of myself in a store window and realized I was a penguin...a penguin runner." Well, that's probably what I looked like but I FELT like I was running with the wind. It was exhilarating and I'm still not over the experience!It's a mind game, a head game and if I can just keep remembering that, I'll only get stronger and better.
This week, also, I finally made it to the two mile mark. So, in two miles time I ran 26 minutes and walked 4. Not bad for this approaching fifty single mom! YES! RUNNING ROCKS!!
HOWEVER, I am seriously lacking warm running clothes. I looked like a homeless woman running in the dark this morning. Pi-ti-ful! This weekend...shopping for running clothes, if nothing else!

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Ya just keep going, not matter what! That's the key!


Today was a brutal run! I've not had one of those since the early days. I delayed my usual early morning run until after church and Sunday dinner. Maybe that was it! Last week I did the same thing and I was fine. Hmmm..it was hotter than usual..in the 70's and the sun bore down on me the whole time. I didn't realize how physically distressed I was until I finished. It took me a while to cool down. I need to pay attention to the elements of our fickle seasonal changes and adjust my runs accordingly. Glad tomorrow is a rest day as I look forward to starting my fourth month of this!

Thursday, October 23, 2008

"I'm Running in the Rain" (sung to the tune of "I'm Singin' in the Rain")

Well, rain again during a run! A gentle rain this time, not so bad but when, pray tell, is the time going to change so that it's not pitch black at 6:30 when I start my morning run? To answer my own question, that would be November 2 when the time changes. One more week of dark runs. On a brighter note, I spotted two more runners yesterday! I want to stop them and talk to them but I know how annoyed I would be if someone stopped my run, so I will just have to be encouraged by their presence! I am getting geared up for a possible 5K sooner rather than later if I can work up the courage. Right now, it takes a solitary run for me to stay focused, not sure having lots of people running and walking around me will cause me to do the very best. It's a work in progress, for sure!

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Week 12....THREE MONTHES!! YAAY!!!

Week 12-Run 12/walk 2 for 2x with 2 minute push run at end. Today I clocked how far I ran in 12 minutes: 8/10 of a mile! I am almost running one mile! Unbelievable!So, I ran 8/10 then walked 1/10 then ran 8/10 then walked 1/10. Didn't do 2 minute push at end due to heavy school traffic, but will the rest of the week. I am scouting out 5K's in my area. By late winter, I should be able to at least run/walk a 5K! I am one thankful about to be fifty year old! Filled with gratitude!

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Week 11-Run 10/walk 2 for 2x with run 6 at end


Today I ran ten minutes straight! TWICE! I look back on my early journals and the gratitude I wrote about just to run 30 seconds! I have always maintained this is a prescription for running. If I follow the directions, I will improve. I'm out for fall break so I went to the track to "shake up" my routine. I must say the asphalt is deteriorating and I didn't enjoy it as much as my other neighborhood route. Also, it wasn't as interesting, no fields to jog by, no harvest mums and pumpkins set up along the way to distract me. It was a technical run, though, and I enjoyed mapping exactly how far I can run in ten minutes(almost three laps). I remember when a half a lap was all I could do!This endurance is sneaking up on me. Every week I think "This is the one I won't be able to do!". So far I have been VERY wrong! Thank God for that!
My son, who tends to be sedentary, has joined me for two walks this week in the evenings! One, a nature trail at a local state park and the other meandering through new neighborhoods. He's 14 and I don't want him to struggle with weight his whole life like I have. Plump or thin, I've always felt fat. It's the last thing I want for him.
When he was young I read that if you want them to love to read, they must see you read. It's probably the same with fitness. If you want them to pursue fitness, they have to watch you pursue fitness.

Sunday, October 12, 2008

My Body Begins To Crave A Good Stretch

Finishing up Week 10 of the run/walk program, I begin to notice my body needs/wants more and more stretching after a run. I am collecting different stretching exercises and am finding out that extending my run with a 15 or 20 minute stretching session really enhances the whole experience! Think of how good it feels when you have a good yawn and stretch....that's how it feels when you are putting your body through the paces of specific stretches for specific parts of your body! I get the feeling that running is just a springboard for other things, that it enhances so many areas of your life. There's a new kind of confidence that is beginning to grow deep inside of me from this quest of mine.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Week 10-Running in a Rainstorm!


Week 10-run 8/walk 2 for three times....in the POURING RAIN in a HOT PONCHO! Talk about unexpected! I knew it was going to rain, but when I got up this morning, it seemed I had time for my thirty minutes...NOT! I stepped outside and the bottom fell out. I was so determined to run that I reached inside for my poncho, threw it on and took off in the monsoon. I splashed through DEEP puddles and began critiquing our city road crew, I mean we could wash away in the water standing in the roads! My mind began to rebel, my body was fine...steady even breathing, rhythmic footsteps...but my mind, it was a battle, I tell you! It took me into my second 8 minute run to calm myself down in spite of the fact the rain had slacked off! I even had to put earphones on and listen to music, which I had weaned myself off of at that point! At the end of the run I felt physically great but mentally I still felt the struggle!Interesting, very interesting, that this former couch potato could handle the physical work of it, but that the mental work provided the challenge. Running is shaking me up in places I never dreamed. I am a penguin runner, a great proponent of the writings of John Bingham who gives this fast approaching 50 year old single mother the courage to accept herself running on the road, not resembling society's image of a runner, but equally as important, equally as legitimate!

Monday, October 6, 2008

Thursday, October 2, 2008

How I Knew When I'd Turned Another Running Corner



Tonight I took my chocolate loving self to Walgreen's to buy something for my son's school project, FULLY intending on grabbing some oreo cookies. Here's what happened instead. I ran into someone who knew me when I was young and slender and that triggered a thought to see if the new Runners World magazine was out yet. It was, and so was the new Women's Health mag. I bought both of them instead of the Oreos. That is a POWERFUL exchange of values for me, people. Thank God!