New Adventures

I know that it's been a LONG time since I have posted. I have a hard time writing about what I'm doing and what we've been up to!

I've decided to use this blog to document how I feel on my runs, mileage, and times. Just as a reminder to myself.

Eleven weeks ago, I started running. I have always despised running. It was fine when I was in high school and at basketball practice, fine while I was running up and down the basketball court in a pick-up game, but never did I have the desire to just go out and run a couple of miles. Then I stopped playing. I mean, I have always LOVED to play basketball. But here in Chico, I wasn't as blessed to find a pick-up game without joining a gym! When I started coaching this last basketball season, I TRIED to run up and down the court with the girls. It was HARD. I mean really, REALLY HARD!! I needed to get into shape. So when I received the email from a local running shop that said they were doing a beginners 5k program, I immediately wanted to join.

I didn't think that I would meet a great running partner, *S*, on the first day. We just started chatting as we ran/walked. She helped the time go by faster. We met on Saturday mornings and Wednesday evenings as a group. We would talk about what we were going to do that weekend on Sat. and what we ended up doing on Weds. We both had a friend that we didn't want to let down by NOT showing up. So I went on EVERY run so I wasn't behind when we met. There were a couple of times that she was out of town for work, and I realized how much fun it was to have a running buddy.

The program has now been over for a week. I ran my first 5k in about 7 years last Saturday!! It was a great feeling to accomplish such a big obstacle. *S* and I had a goal of 33 minutes. That was 1:45 faster than what we normally ran it. It was pretty chilly that morning and we both felt sluggish. We were sure that we weren't going to make our goal time. But when we came around that last corner and we saw the timer, it was at 32:58!! We both looked at each other, HUGE smiles on our faces, and started running harder to the finish. I finished at 33:10 and *S*-33:11. The best part of the race was the finish and all the cheers we heard as we rounded that last corner. It was amazing all the support that was out there that morning. It's what makes me want to run another 5k.

I had a really hard time finding the motivation to run this last week. But it's a good thing that I was meeting up with *S* on Saturday morning. That is what pushed me to do my runs. I thought to myself, "If I don't run, then I won't be able to keep up with her. And you're a competitive person and don't like to get beat by your running buddy. You HAVE to go run"

So I did the Body for Life cardio workout on Tuesday and did 2.1 miles in 20 minutes. That equals out to about 10 minute miles. I felt GREAT about that. I want to work on getting faster.

Friday I did 3 miles in 33:12. Oh man, I wanted to quit about a mile into it!! I was just miserable. But I told myself that I HAD to do 3 miles. That is what I had planned on doing so I was going to stick to it. And I did. But my goodness, it was HARD!!

Today I met up with *S* and we did another 3 miles. We were both a little sore from our runs yesterday. My body wasn't liking me too much. My hips, calves and knees were all sore. But we did all 3 miles and I only complained the first 1/2 mile!

It's so rewarding to think that 11 weeks ago I was just doing 90 seconds of jogging, 3 minutes of walking and now I have ran six, SIX miles in 2 days! I still don't love to run, but do it because of how I feel afterward.