running in review

So as the Day for the Bellingham Bay Half marathon looms,I am looking back at the past six months and reflect. I cannot believe I am going to participate in a Half Marathon let alone run it. Those who know me well know that I have never been athletic in any many. For those of you who don't know a marathon is 26.2 miles, making a half marathon 13.1. Over the past six months I have gotten up early on Saturday mornings to train for this event. Several times I was tempted to roll over in bed and not go in, and I am proud to say I only missed 3 runs. When we first started I couldn't even run a full lap around Lake Padden (2.6miles) without walking breaks. Now when people say they are going to do a 5k, I think "no problem, I do that on my own during the week pushing a baby in a stroller".
Our coach said at about halfway through training that going from 0-6 miles was harder than 6-13 miles. I would have to agree. It seemed that once we go to the 7 mile point I had no problem with the bigger runs.
the other day I was asked what I think about while running. well I have to say i have been blessed to be able to do the long runs with my future sister-in-law Kristi or with two girls I knew from grade school. So when you have a buddy you can chat with it makes the miles fly by. But during the week or the times that I haven't had a buddy, my mind wanders to very thing and anything. from what I will write about on our Christmas card to what I will do this weekend. I truly believe the I-pod is the running gizmo of the century. Having songs that lift you up not only in a mood but spiritually has been wonderful. I tried to figure out why I have kept up with this program. whether it is having had someone to be accountable to or just having a goal to work towards. In the beginning when running for 25 minutes was a challenge and I wanted to stop and walk for a bit. I would tell myself "if you don't push yourself now, how do expect to finish the race later?" Really this has been true the whole time and I have found it to be true in other aspects of my life.

So I hope to update after the big race and tell you all how it went.


Side note:
as I have been doing this Joel has been really supportive by taking Phillip on Saturday mornings. When I first talked with Joel about doing this he said "Yeah, what it's like for six weeks?", "no" I said "six months". Joel has taken on the whole responsibility of getting Phillip up and sometimes dressed and fed, while I am off running. The funny thing that I have noticed is the clothing combinations that Phillip is wearing. sometimes it might be the extremely dirty Carhartts he wore on Friday, others it is tan camo shorts with a turquoise shirt. As I was running the other day I thought, "oh no all of Phil's clothes are in laundry baskets(clean), Joel probably doesn't know that". Sure enough Phil is wearing a thermal shirt and Really short sweat pants, like 12month size. This last week I told Joel there is a pair of Overalls on drying rack he can wear, when I came and got Phillip he had on the overall, but the shirt Joel paired with it was on Backwards. so if nothing else this training has brought a smile to my face when I see what combination of clothes Joel has picked out for him.