Thirty-plus Years Ago I Did the MS Walkathon, So I've Got This Handled (Plus Workout Update 7/2 - 7/8)

7/2 - 65 min and 5.25 miles on treadmill, weightlifting
7/3 - nada, pre-gaming for holiday, haha (actually took kids to fireworks show)
7/4 - nada, holiday
7/5 - 65 min and 5.25 miles on treadmill, 100 crunches (60 at 40 pounds, yay!)
7/6 - 30 min and 3.04 miles on treadmill - this was A MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENT! That's 10 minute miles! Plural!
7/7 - rest
7/8 - 3-ish mile local trail hike with the kiddos, this was a great way to spend the afternoon together. :)

When I started running in earnest, Kim challenged me to set a long-term goal of three miles in thirty minutes. I am delighted to say that on Friday, I did it! Wow, was I ever tired - that was REAL running. Monday and Thursdays workouts were exceptional because I ran almost the whole time! On Monday, I walked for probably the first ten minutes, then ran mostly at 12:00, but with intervals of higher speeds, and I did the last ten minutes at 10:30. On Thursday, I walked for five minutes and then ran the entire rest of the time at 12:00. I am so impressed with myself! It wasn't long ago that running for two minutes was killing me!  And last year on the track, I was so super impressed with myself for running around the track with Blake one time. Big progress!

This is what I look like after running 3 miles in 30 minutes.  Exhausted, but happy!
Plus now I understand the term "Runner's Trots."

Besides a great workout week, I have other big news! Drumroll, please...

I am doing my first half marathon on Sunday. Wow!! But let's dissect that sentence for clarification:

I am doing my first half marathon on Sunday. "I am doing," in this case, shall mean "I am completing," not "I am running." My feet will carry me 13.1 miles on Sunday - no speed commitment is expressed or implied. I am thinking of it as a long walk with friends on a sunny day. :)

I am doing my first half marathon on Sunday. "my first half marathon," in this case, does not imply that there will be future half marathons, nor shall the reader make any such inference. "My first half marathon" means simply that I will participate in a new experience for the first time. Future half marathons may or may not be "done," "completed," or "ran" at a later date.

I am doing my first half marathon on Sunday. The reader may correctly infer, in this case, that "on Sunday" means this Sunday, July 15, 2012.

How exciting!! Big, big thanks to Jen at Runner Maybe for letting me force an invitation on her blog to join her and a Pensive Pumpkin that day! I have been sooo nervous to participate in any organized running event, and Jen has been very sweet offering me encouragement and a buddy to take the big plunge with. (Argh, I hate ending sentences with a preposition.) I haven't met the Pensive Pumpkin yet, but from Jen's blog (and soon from reading her own blog, myself, as I just became a stalker follower this morning), she sounds great and I am looking forward to it!

The timing on this works really well. I've got all this running-in-public anxiety. Did you know that when I was a kid, my mom told me I ran "kinda funny looking?" This wasn't out of meanness - and I've since figured out that my mom has her own running issues, when she recently told me that my son Blake has a "funny looking run."  ("For God's sake, don't tell him that," I growled, without explaining why. I don't think she knows she gave me a running complex when I was a child, and at forty-two years old, it seems rather late to bring it up. But of course I'm bringing it up here, now, haha.)

The movie Fargo knows what I mean when I say "Kinda funny looking"

Back to my childhood scar of looking funny when I run. I was a biggish kid. Not obese, but big enough that of course I was made fun of - the standard for that is quite low, as you know. I was probably eight, nine years old. My mom signed me up for a week-long summer track program to get me out of the house, plus also made the comment about my funny looking run. (She wasn't a mean mom, by the way. Who knows why moms say the things they do??)

Fast forward to the first day of the track camp. We're in a circle, introducing ourselves. Two tasks: tell the group why you're here and match the first letter of your name with an animal (e.g. Cougar Charlie). Okay, do you know that "J" is the most common letter used to start first names? (Actually, a quick web search says it's "A," but that is contrary to my story here, so I'll stick with "J" being first, instead of second.) And there aren't all that many "J" animals. In fact, I can still only think of "Jaguar."

But that day, somebody took "Jaguar." So it's my turn to introduce myself, and I tell the group that I am here to have fun, plus I want to learn how to run right. The phrase "run right" openly perplexes the camp leader and opens the door to mockery from the peanut gallery. I'm flustered by my gaffe, and I can't think of another "J" animal, so in the silence, some bratty little boy offered up "How about Jumbo Julie?" to much hilarity in the group.

Okay - so I didn't have a great introduction to running. I actually had a great time at that camp, though! I've always loved doing new stuff, and that may be the only time in my life I threw a javelin, a shot put and jumped hurdles. I fancied myself quite the athlete by the end of the week!

None of this relates to Sunday's half marathon, except for that back around that same time when I was eight or nine, I did the MS Walk-a-Thon, which consisted of walking twenty miles in a day.

So it isn't as if I haven't been training for this day all my life. Sheesh! Updates (and pictures) to follow! Wish me luck!