What's New?

This was one of 25 thought-provoking questions from a link posted on another blog I read (Thanks, Robin!) and although many of them spoke to me, this one seemed most fitting for this week. We all tend to be creatures of habit, some of us more than others. There are certain things about myself that I have always just identified as true. I am NOT a runner. I am NOT an athlete. I do NOT wear pink. I do NOT golf.

Then I went and caught this little running bug and for whatever reason, one of the side effects has been a bit of an awakening to how much else that is out there that I really wouldn't mind to try. You know, just to see if it's as "not me" as I think it is. So, when my husband asked if I wanted to come along to the golf course and drive the cart so we could hang out as a family today I said, "Sure, why not?" Now, we've been married almost 12 years and I'm pretty sure he's heard "I do NOT golf!" about a zillion times so you can imagine his shock when I threw in that I'd rather try to play than just sit and drive the cart. It turns out it wasn't quite as horrible as I remember. I don't plan on joining the golf league any time soon, but it was a nice to spend time together outside of our usual dinner and a movie date routine.

So what else did this anti-golf, non-pink wearing, unathletic, non-runner do today? (I'm sorry in advance to anyone offended by poor use of the English language...I have a terrible habit of typing like I speak) Well, I got up before the sun and ran in my brand new pink running tank. So maybe I'm a bit of a late bloomer. They say that the thirties lead to not caring about fitting into the old labels that have always bound you. I am really starting to agree.

In other news, my dear husband ordered p90x which arrived in the mail today. He has decided this would be another good way to spend time together. Yikes! I'm willing to give it a try though to see how it goes. However, training for the half is still my priority so I may have to make some adjustments to just how much I participate. The race is on though and there is a VERY sweet prize system set up for the major milestones at 30, 60, and 90 days. Garmin, you will be mine!

My Running Partners

These two are my pace setters. Laila is a boxer/lab mix and Rex is an Aussie Shep/lab mix. They spend most of the time we are out looking behind them making sure I didn't give up and turn around to head back home.

Lucy is a Keeshond mix. She never strays from my side. I think she's still confused every time I leave the driveway without the car. Or maybe she's worried I'm running away and not coming back when the boys are all driving me crazy. :P

Jumping In

I'm a planner. I also find that when I want to know about something, I REALLY want to know about it. Just check out the overflowing bookshelves in my house if you need any further proof. Thank goodness for Kindle which has cut down (slightly) on the amount of time I spend driving to Barnes & Noble or waiting on a shipment from Amazon. So, it's really no surprise to me that I've spent a good chunk of the last few weeks delving into any information I can find about running. One book that I finished within a day this weekend was The Non-Runner's Marathon Guide for Women by Dawn Dais. The title in itself was appealing to me, but her accounts of her own not-so-glamourous journey to race day left me laughing out loud. I could definitely see a lot of myself in her story.

The thing about being a planner though is sometimes I tend to get lost in the planning instead of moving forward into action. Or on the other side of the coin, throw myself completely into my "grand plan" for about 2 weeks until my body collapses in exhaustion. I guess that's why I've tried to really downplay this endeavor...as if to warn those I've told that they shouldn't expect to much because "remember, I'm not really a runner." At some point though the people that are runners went from being not a runner to being a runner. Which leads me to wonder when I will feel like I am part of the club? It's strange...when I'm running a 5K event, I don't feel out of place at all. Now, don't get me wrong I definitely feel slow but I don't feel like anyone is thinking "What in the heck is that girl doing here?" Yet somehow when I look at my Runkeeper stats I just feel absolutely defeated. And I have to find a way to stop that negative self talk, because it is the same road that has led me to give up before.

Today I ran 5 miles. While that is a short run for a lot of people, it's still a long run for me. I still didn't feel the "runner's high". I still sighed when I saw the 13:48 pace. But then I took a minute to just celebrate the fact that I spent over one whole hour doing something to better myself in both a physical and psychological sense. It's still leaps and bounds from where I was only a few short months ago. One day at a time, right?

New starts and other common themes of my life

I was a little hesitant to start a blog, especially one about anything fitness-related, since let's face it, I can't brag about the best performance record in this area. Now this isn't to say that I'm not into fitness. Quite the contrary, I own an extensive collection of all things fitness-related. DVDs, dumbbells, treadmill, pull-up bar (despite the fact I have never once managed an unassisted pull-up in my life), treadmill and the latest addition of my very own spinning bike that has been used maybe six whole times in the six months I've owned it. Oh, and we shouldn't forget the two gym memberships I have either. I must say, I actually do enjoy exercise I just can't seem to settle down and work towards a goal without being whisked away by the next bright and shiny new toy or class that comes my way.

So, as our family sat together on the couch eating yummy New Year's Eve appetizers, it wasn't all that surprising that the reaction was one of "Oh, really?" when I declared that this year I planned to become a runner. My youngest son even went so far as to declare, "But Mom, you aren't very fast." Did I mention he's quite the little observer? So, I set out with a goal of doing a 5K, because let's face it I was no runner and I figured that everyone has to start somewhere. And so in March, as the gun went off, something strange happened. I turned to my friend that I had come to walk with and said, "I think I'm going to try to run for a little bit." Now, I didn't set any records (or run all the way to the finish line for that matter) but something did happen. I liked it.

Later this spring, I listened to someone talking about the half-marathon she had run and I decided that I wanted to try it. Of course, it took me another couple of months to really recognize that I would have to get serious about scheduling some "me time" if this was going to work, but I'm finally getting there. I've done two more 5Ks, and while I'm not setting any speed records, I love the atmosphere of the race and have been soaking up any books and information about running I can find. A work in progress. So far the journey is really bringing some positive changes into my life. And it's only the beginning!