I'm not a runner. Seriously. What I am is a 37 year old mom to 4 kids (ages 5 to 14), a wife, an office manager, a taxi driver of sorts to my gaggle of kids....but not a runner. My husband is the one who likes to run. He has done a few full & half marathons, and does them with no problems at all. I have always told him that the only way you could get me to run is if someone was chasing me with a butcher knife....and even then, it's questionable if I'd hustle it or lay down and take my stabbings. ;) Well. Something has changed. Maybe I'm going through a funny, early mid-life crisis. Back in January, one of my friends mentioned that a Make-A-Wish 5K was coming up in February so I got a crazy idea that it would be "fun" to run it. Me. I had never run 1 mile, let alone 3.1 miles......so why would I think that would be fun? I asked a couple of friends if they would be willing to do it too, and they agreed. So now all I had to do, is find out if I was able to run the distance. Well, time came & went and I did it. My back hurt, my hips hurt, my legs hurt and I didn't have fun doing it, but I finished it and my time was better than I expected. My time was not great in terms of time for people who run, but it was great for me & my first run ever. So since February, I did another 5K in March (with slightly better time) and this past weekend I did a Mud Run, which I sucked at, but had fun AFTER the fact (and I mean, when it was over!).
Now here's the funny part of this whole thing....as much as I SUCK at running, I think about it all the time! Before I go to bed at night I think of ways I can force myself to enjoy the act of it as I'm doing it, I think of doing trail runs, I read any article I can about running, I use mapmyrun.com constantly.....but seriously, I just plain suck at it. My chest hurts, my legs can't seem to propel me faster or harder, my mind plays tricks on my psyche & I just hate doing it. I think. Maybe I need to find my groove. How do I do that? I don't have a clue. What I DO know is that for now, I have gotten myself into a big, giant predicament. You will not guess what I have agreed to do! In fact, not only have I agreed to do, I was the big dummy who brought it to my husband's attention, then mentioned it to a friend: I have agreed to do the Ragnar Relay with 11 other team-mates. What? A 190 mile relay race that will take place in Las Vegas in October. Of 2010. This year. What the hell? What was I thinking?! I know this may not seem like such a big deal to a lot of people, and it may seem a little ridiculous, but it's a HUGE deal to me.
Hence, my blog. Or i could call it "my running diary". My purpose (I told you I'd have one!) of this is to document my journey from start to finish...from Wimpy Runner to ______? Decent runner? Good runner? I don't know. I guess I will find out. I don't know where this road will take me, if I will reach my desire to run faster, better, stronger or if I will simply plod along, flailing around like a jackass on my relay & 5K's, but I know that I have committed to do something that is beyond my comprehension of what "normal" should be, but I will do it. Along my way, I think (I hope!) that keeping a journal (this blog, duh) of my training, feelings, my highs & lows (there will be plenty, I'm sure)I will come to understand what it will take me to break free of my mental limitations & road-blocks and get me to the next level. Or I will die trying.
This is my 1st 5K (Make A Wish), with 2 of my friends / February 2010:
Springs Preserve 5K / March 2010:
Mad Mud Run / May 2010:
