Double Digits Times Two!

I can’t even believe I’m actually typing this. I truly never thought it would happen. I couldn’t ever imagine that even with the right training I would ever be saying what I’m about to say. But I am…
I ran 10 miles! Wait, let me scream it from the rooftops. I RAN 10 MILES!

Better yet, I ran 10 miles TWO separate times now!

That’s right. The girl who couldn’t even run a single mile without walking back in April can now run 10 miles without walking. Last week’s long run was supposed to be 8 miles, but after 8 miles I amazingly felt so good, I didn’t want to stop, so I pushed for 10 and I did it! This weekend, my training actually called for 10 miles this weekend, so I had to do it again – and I did!

I still can’t even believe it.

And it may sound kind of silly to say, but I’m pretty darn proud of myself.

I’m proud of myself for signing up for this in the first place. Team in Training requires a HUGE commitment and I’m generally quite the commitment-phobe, so the fact that I even signed up for this is pretty crazy.

I’m proud of myself for sticking with it. I have an unfortunate history of quitting things when they’ve become too hard. This training has been HARD. Really hard. Like, for the first month and a half I asked myself daily what I was doing to myself. I second-guessed myself at every group run when I was walking while others were running; when I was left so far behind the group that I became a search and rescue mission; when I felt like I was going to die with every single step of every single run, and I couldn’t wait to stop running from the moment I started. But I never gave up. I kept fighting, kept training, and for that, I’m proud.

I’m proud that in some sort of crazy way, I’ve managed to inspire others. As I sat on my couch night after night doing absolutely nothing remotely close to exercise back in April, I could have never imagined that I would be inspiring others to run, but somehow, I have! Do you have any idea how cool that is? I still can’t wrap my head around it!

I’m proud to be a positive role model for my son. He no longer sees an overweight mom who has no energy and no interest in exercise. He sees a much more fit mom who heads out for runs in the mornings and in the evenings. He waves to me as I run down the street and tells me all the time that he wants to run with me when he gets big (he also tells me he’s going to have coffee and soda when he gets big, too, so I guess I have a few more vices to give up to further enhance that ‘good role model’ status!).

I’m proud to be a part of my Team in Training group. What an amazing group of people. It sounds cheesy, but this group has completely changed my life. Four months ago, I couldn’t run a mile, and today I ran 10. Next week I’ll run 11. And in less than a month, I’ll be running 13.1 miles in my half marathon. And better yet – I’m ready for it and feel confident that not only will I finish, but I will finish strong. I never thought I’d be at this level when I signed up for this. I just never believed I would actually be able to do this. My whole hope was to finish the race without needing an ambulance escort! Now not only do I know I’ll finish strong, but I can’t wait to do it!

Thanks to Team in Training, I’m a runner now, and I don’t ever see that ending. I have plans to continue running, continue training, run more ½ marathons, and even train for a full marathon next year. I have plans to continue being an active participant of Team in Training for as long as my legs will let me run. Thank you, Team in Training – you’ve truly changed my life.

Oh, and as a total side note, if anyone wears Brooks Adrenaline GTS 9s, and you’re concerned about switching to the new version, the Brooks Adrenaline GTS 10s, DON’T BE! They’re pure fabulousness (if that was even a word) on your feet!

Keep on running!

Hitting Goals / Trusting the Training

First, I apologize for being MIA for a while. Between work being overly insane, planning a crazy little 3 year old’s birthday party, and trying to find time to log lots of long miles, I’ve really been slacking when it comes to keeping the blog alive and moving. I’ve started about 7 different posts, but just never got around to finishing them.

But it’s just time to get back on the blogging track, so let’s get this party restarted!

OK then. So now that the formalities are out of the way, I need to just brag really quick. I need to brag because I’m hitting CRAZY goals I never imagined hitting in my lifetime right now. I’m seriously amazed at the things my body is letting me do these days.

Case in point – this past Saturday, I ran NINE miles. Seriously. Not seven, not eight, but NINE miles! Nine miles run with no ambulance escort needed – I couldn’t have DREAMED about something so far fetched just a couple short months ago. And what was even crazier than the mileage I covered was that I wasn’t even the slowest person there! Bonus!

There were two other girls that I started out running with. Not uncommon – I often start with a few other people, but then they pick up speed and leave me chugging along at the back of the pack by myself. That’s the norm, and I’m just used to it at this point. Well, this week I kept thinking they must just both be having really slow runs themselves, because they continued running with me the entire time. That never happens, but heck, I wasn’t going to question it. I quite enjoyed the company for a change. I was secretly thankful for whatever was making my running partners all sluggish because it was working out quite nicely for me. It wasn’t until I finished the run and checked my average pace that I realized they weren’t running slowly – I was actually running pretty quickly! OK, well, I wasn’t exactly winning any speed records or anything, but my pace was only a little over an 11 minute mile – and that was the average for NINE miles. That’s completely crazy for me! And the time flew by with people to talk to. Much more fun than running alone all the time. Hope I get lucky with a run like that again this coming week!

Anyway, this all brings me to the moral of my post this week – trusting the training. When I started this journey, I really didn’t think there was any way I’d be able to actually meet this crazy goal. I mean, I signed up for it and I was going to try my hardest, but I never honestly thought I’d be physically able to RUN a ½ marathon. Maybe I’d walk a lot of it and run some of it, but running the entire thing just seemed like a crazy fantasy in the “what in the world was I thinking signing up for this?” sort of way. Everyone from the coaches, to the mentors, to the others in the running group told me over and over to just “trust the training” and I’d get there.

Sure…Have you people SEEN me run?

I would nod and smile politely, then roll my eyes when they weren’t looking. I mean really – I appreciated them humoring me, but I was quite sure there was no way I was going to get there, no matter how fabulous this supposed training plan was.

But I followed the plan. I followed it closely. Except for the days I was out recently with the knee injury, I’ve never missed a single training day since I started this program. I’ve run mornings and nights, in crazy heat and in pouring rain. There were days I came short of the goal mileage for some reason, and days I went well over the goal. I just ran. A lot. And I did my very best to follow the training plan. I wanted to trust the plan, but I just couldn’t imagine it would actually end up working.

Not for me, the total non-runner.

But then, one random Thursday, it just clicked. All the training. All the conditioning. All the hard work just clicked one day, and I was running. I was REALLY running! I was running 4 miles, then 5 miles. I was running 6 miles and 7 miles. I ran 9 miles this past weekend – and the kicker – the 9 miles wasn’t even THAT hard!

Crazy!

I followed the training plan and I’ve become a runner. A real runner. I now trust the training completely and in trusting the training I find myself amazed on a weekly basis at what my body is able to do, the distances I’m able to cover, and the fact that I’m actually having FUN doing it!

I’ve sure come a long way from the couch potato I was back in April. And I can guarantee that I will never go back to the person I was before. I’m a runner now. And call me crazy, but I intend to stay a runner for a long, long time.

So to wrap things up, allow me to first share a picture from our group run this week taken just prior to heading out for our hilly 9 miles.



It was a smaller group than usual, but just a great bunch of people, all running for an amazing cause. I’m in the purple shirt with the white visor on the left. Not the best picture, and MAN I could use a tan! But you can at least see that I really do exist and really do go out on these crazy runs I speak of each week

And last, but not least, allow me to close the post by sharing a few things that have come out of my mouth in recent days. Things I NEVER thought anyone would ever hear me say:

“Sweet! I only have a short 3 mile run tonight.”

“I don’t really get into my groove until 2.5 – 3 miles.”

“The first 7 miles of that run were a piece of cake.”

“I’m actually starting to enjoy running more WITHOUT my music than with my music.”

“I ran 9 miles!” (or 8 miles, or 7 miles, or 6 miles, or 5 miles, or 4 miles – 3 miles I actually thought I might hit someday…)

“Set the alarm for 4:45 am so I can run 5.5 miles tomorrow before work.”

“I can’t wait to go running!”

“I can’t wait for the 10 mile run!”

And the scariest of all…

“Maybe I’ll train for a full marathon next year!”

Keep on running,