FIVE MILES {and some other exciting news!}

Last weekend the half marathon training program I'm working from called for us to run 5 miles.  F-I-V-E miles!  And considering the  most I had ever run was 3.1 (and at that only twice) I was a little intimidated.  I skipped the weekend the plan called for 4 miles (well, that was the weekend of the 5k I just did), so I was nervous about how this would work.  Us Mother Runners had suggested that when we started getting up to the higher miles -- anything above 5 -- we would meet up to run together to make it more fun.  So last weekend Jenn & I met up to run with her old running group MIT.  Holy moly guacamole!!  There were HUNDREDS of people there!  And I was so excited to meet a few of the awesome runners from my inspiration list over there.   I cannot thank Jenn enough . . . we started out with her old pace group -- the Lucky 13 - but given that I'm so slow we fell behind them.  I kept encouraging her to go ahead of me, but she hung with me and we chatted.  Honestly, we don't get to actually see each other in person/ talk nearly as much as someone might think (though we do "talk" daily), so it was really nice to just spend some time catching up!  (and for the record, she did most of the talking because I was focusing on not dying).  :)  I was excited to finish in my goal time of 1 hour 15 min.  I walked a few minutes a couple of times and walked the last hill (which was about .5 miles).  We run 5 miles again the weekend after next and I'm hoping to run more and crush that time (a bit).

In other exciting news, I won a little giveaway for month of Cyber Personal Training with Stong Body by Rebecca.  EEEP!!  I'm so very, very excited about this!  So stay tuned here (and on B&K's blog a bit) as I journal my progress. 

Move MMore 5k - June 19

When I started doing the Cto5k thing, my two closest friends insisted they wanted to run my first 5k with me.  Given that we are in summer months now, finding something that was just right (the right charity/event, location, time of day, etc) was a bit daunting.    But then we found the Move MMore 5k, which benefited the James Cancer hospital in our town (keeping the money local) as well as a research on Multiple Myeloma (which is the type of cancer my grandfather had).    The only catch was that it was on Father's Day . . . but my awesome husband, Tim, decided to run with us as well.

If there is one thing I've learned from Jenn, it's that it is all about the shirt. :)  Not only did we all score pretty cool tech shirts, but in picking up our "flair" packages I was able to check out a pretty cool (and large) running shop super close to my home, Front Runner.

I was so excited to have Jenn & Marie do this event with me.  Earlier in the year I gave Marie a copy of the book "Run Like a Mother" for her birthday.    I knew nothing about it -- I just liked the title. :)  She had just decided to train for a half marathon (which she ran in May) and I wanted to give her some things to help her obtain her goal.  The book has turned out to be a bible of sorts for the three of us and we've adopted the RLAM motto and wore our shirts to this event.  We are all "Badass Mother Runners" now!  {I highly, highly, highly recommend the book and they have an awesome facebook page, too!).    And to further add to her badass-ness, Marie pushed her triplet girls in the jogger for this race (on a morning after celebrating - late into the night - at a wedding the night before!). 

With this being my first running 5k {oh and did I mention I had only run 3 miles ONCE.  Ever??}, I started out way too fast.   Around .5 miles I felt like I was going to die.  Seriously.  So I had to walk way more than I would have liked -- it was humid, hilly and I couldn't seem to catch my breath.  But I kept a steady / fast walking pace on my "breaks" and I prayed to my grandfather to help me not pass out along the way (seriously.  I did!  I just asked him to help me not fail).  :) My goal was to finish in under 45 minutes.

I had told my friends - and husband - not to wait up for me.  I knew I'd be MUCH slower than everyone (I am still just a newbie!!) and so I settled into this routine of passing two ladies, they would pass me, repeat.  As I neared 2.8ish miles I saw Tim walking towards me.  He had finished and was coming to run with me to the finish line.  And so did Jenn.  I honestly wanted to cry!  Their support meant so much to me (and I know Marie would have too -- but she had her 3 little ones in tow!!). 

Before I get to the official details, I also want to throw a shout-out to my parents for donating to the cause and providing so much support from afar.  And also to my mother-in-law & father-in-law who not only came to cheer us on, but also kept my twins B&K occupied (they ran their own races -- over & over & over again) as well as donated to the cause, too.  Thank you so much!

Official Details:

Time: 43:12

Finish: 192/284 (thought there were walkers mixed in with this)

Age Group:  33/47

Drinking the Kool-aid

I have always been more of a follower than a leader.  And I'm totally fine with that. 


Earlier this year my two best friends (and fellow multiple mamas) Jenn and Marie decided to train for a half marathon.  They had both been training with the Couch to 5k program last year and decided to go for a big leap.   Jenn was training with a local Marathoner in Training program and Marie trained along side her from home.    I would have loved to play along at the time, but I don't have a treadmill at home (and don't have space for one), I didn't belong to a gym at the time (and couldn't really as my husband was traveling for work overseas 2 weeks at a time) and it was balls-ass cold outside (and who wants to set themselves up for failure as a new runner by freezing to death from the get-go??).  So I cheered them from afar.  And made a promise to myself that once the weather broke (or at least got above 40 degrees) I would start the Cto5k program myself outside.


I started the program in April.  During the wettest month my city/state has ever seen (fun times!).  But I did it.  And it was slow.  But over the course of the program I was amazed to see (like so many others) that I went from not being able to "run" 60 seconds to running 25 minutes straight. 


After watching Marie & Jenn run their first half marathon in May, I decided I would jump on the bandwagon, too.  If nothing else running would allow me time to myself -- to do something for ME -- a little each week.  And if Jenn & Marie could run 13.1 miles, so could I!  So here I am . . . I'm supposed to run 5 miles this weekend and needless to say I'm a little freaked out. :) 


So in this blog I hope to document my new "hobby".  And gush about my BFFs.  And maybe even add in some other healthy things -- like eating right and other exercise -- so I can continue down this path to a healthier me.  B&K get excited when they see me head out for a run.  And Tim has been super supportive as well.  So here we go . . .