I am a slug.

That is all. There is nothing else to it. I am a slug.

How quickly we lose it

I never thought a week and a half off from running would cause me to back track. I did my first long run yesterday after the doctor's ordered rest for the leg strain. Now mind you, a long run for me is only 3.5 miles. Well, I pushed through it despote the fact that my legs started to feel heavy towards the end. This morning my quads are so terribly sore. I didn't notice how sore they actually were until I tried to get up off the floor after sitting there for an hour wrapping Christmas presents. YIKES!

I will stretch out today, maybe do some pilates to loosen up. My next scheduled running day is tomorrow. I will go. And I will do the best I can. And I will love it because I always do - at least after the fact. :)

Amazing Grace

My mother used to call me Grace when I was little because I didn't have any.

I am still amazed at this whole running thing. I went this afternoon. Still taking it easy because of the recent leg strain, but I'm doing it. Well, I typically trot along at an earth shattering *just under* 13:00 mile. Well, I did 2.5 today, but the first mile I did in 11:49. WOO FREAKIN' HOO!!! So let's see...if I can train myself to maintain that pace for 3.1 miles, I can finish my next 5K in around 37 minutes. I don't think my next 5K will be until February. I think this is doable.

At any rate, as I was driving back from the fitness trail, I found myself in awe of myself. I just still have a hard time believing that I have actually become a runner within these past several months. If you would have asked me in April, "Do you think you'll be able to run a 5K in November?" I'd have laughed. I couldn't run, let alone want to. I ran into some girls on one of the message board threads on the Weight Watchers website. It was all over from there. They made it sound fun. It took me a while to get to the "fun" part, but now, even as I'm out there in 20 degree weather, with snot running out of my nose because it's so cold, the sweat in my hair freezing to my head, I'm smiling knowing that I can do this, and I am doing it. Nothing is going to keep me from being a runner.

Damn, I should be a motivational speaker. Oh, wait. Talk to me about motiviation when the alarm clock goes off at 5:00 and I go out to run when is 20 degrees with a foot of snow on the ground. Maybe then I'll remember why I should NOT be a motivational speaker.

Back in the saddle.

I feel lazy. Completely. I know I need to get back to running, and I know I want to, but it's so much more fun to sit on the couch on my ass when I get home from work. And it's so much easier to stay in bed at 5:00 in the morning when the alarm goes off. And it's so much easier to sit here and come up with a million excuses as to why I shouldn't or can't run.

Deep down, I love it. And once I get out there and get started I love it. Okay, I love it after the first 15 minutes when I have to talk to myself outloud to get myself to keep going. I'm mentally lazy. Seriously. I KNOW my body can do it. My brain has to convince itself that what I'm doing is fun. Cause it IS. And I love how I feel after I'm done running. It's just GETTING STARTED.

Getting started...

I have an hour drive home after work to ramp myself up. Hopefully the rain stops. It's pouring here right now. (Is that another excuse?) Seriously...POURING. So, the rain will stop, and I will get home and put my gear on before I do anything else, even before I pee. Because then I'm half way to getting started. And if I'm in the clothes, I might as well use them. So...there it is.

I will run. And I will finish. And I will love it because I always do. And THAT is what I have to remember.

Go me.

Here is the proof!

I decided to share with with everyone that I am, indeed, a runner!

My first injury

I was all excited about trying my first "cold weather run" Tuesday night. I fought with myself all day and really had to talk myself into it. (I can be kind of a wimp.) Well, after being so proud of myself for just DOING it, something happened.

I was about a mile into my run and my left leg started to get tight. I stopped to stretch it out, thinking it was just the cold making me a little tight and I needed to warm up a bit more. Well, 100 more yards and I decided I needed to stop, and I should stop RIGHT NOW. So, I did. By this point, I could barely lift my foot off the ground. I was concerned. And I was freezing by now. It was 23 degrees. I was sweaty, and I was certainly not dressed to be doing anything other than running outside in that weather.

I hobbled back to my house and iced the leg right away. It hurt all night and into the next day. I became increasingly concerned for the worst, of course, thinking it was a stress fracture. I didn't want to, but my friends MADE me call the doctor. Much to my relief, the injury was only an intense sprain, nothing more. The best part is that I only have to take ONE week off from running, then I can get back into it - slowly. As in, one mile at a time. Ugh. Considering the alternative, I suppose I can live with this. I'm just disappointed that I'll have to miss the 5K I was looking forward to tomorrow.

It's funny. I started running in August after reading about a program called Couch to 5K (C25K). I was NOT a runner, nor did I ever think I would become one. Well, I did my first 5K on Thanksgiving morning, in a torrential downpour with 35 mph winds. An amateur wouldn't do that. An amateur would say, "Screw that!" and stay in bed. Running has become a big and important part of my life in these few short months. I'm now looking forward to training for a 5 MILE race in July.

It's true what I've seen in print...Runners are a different breed, and I'm starting to understand. And I'm starting to feel like one of them. I have my first race bib framed to prove it.