Running Journal, Day 1

Today was the first day of my "training." I have wanted to do a marathon for quite some time now and finally have the motivation to begin the training. Fortunately, I have some accountability as well. My sister, Rachel, is my training partner...even though we are separated by hundreds of mile spanning several states. We have set our goal to run a marathon by October of this year, so there is no time to waste.

Yesterday, I made the commitment in my head to run this morning. When I awoke, I had to remind myself that I just couldn't break the promise I made to myself. To me, that's just like failing...and I HATE to fail. So, after getting the boys fed and myself some coffee (I was trying to delay the inevitable), I realized that my double-jogging stroller had a flat tire that I had to completely replace. I almost threw in the towel right there because I thought that was just way too much work, and besides, Christian wasn't home to do it for me. :) Logical, I know. Well, I thought I would just give it a try and if I couldn't fix it myself, well, that was a good enough excuse to say "I'll start my training tomorrow." Amazingly enough, the tire was easier to change than I imagined and all I had to do now was change the boys, put on my running gear and hit the trail. Another 20 minutes later I was off! It was a beautiful day and I was feeling good about my self-motivation, not to mention my mad tire-changing-skills.

I must be fairly out of shape, because I was beginning to really suck wind at minute 16. I don't know if I mentioned it already, but my goal was 30 minutes (I don't run on streets the whole time so I can't really gauge my miles). Well, at that point it was mind over matter and I knew I would have to deal with it. As I mentioned before, I HATE to fail...so I was not going to do it my first day out! I set my mind to other things and just kept running. Rounding back toward home I was feeling really good but knowing I was close to my limit. I was so proud of myself when I hit 33 minutes before slowing to a walk! For you experienced runners out there...33 minutes may not seem like a big deal, but I hit my goal and exceeded it!

Of course, I had to give my sister a call and send Christian a text...probably the only 2 out there who really care enough to get instant information. Either way, I plan on keeping it up and sharing my successes and hopefully no failures along the way! Marathon here I come!

p.s. I keep typing marathong...not important, but it made me chuckle :)