Confessions of Non-Athlete

When I was in elementary school, there was one day that I dreaded more than all the others. It wasn't standardized achievement testing day...nope, I liked that just fine. Other kids hated to see the religious art museum tour come along...I could handle art. It was that evil, unfair, surely against some child labor law...Field Day. The teachers assured me that one year I would find my niche. NOT...

50-yard dash? Last across the finish line every time.
Long jump? Ha...always the shortest.
Shot put? Yeah, right.

How could they put this face through that kind of humiliation????

Fast-Forward 22 years. When my family moved North, I started hanging out with this feisty Blond Chick who is a life-long runner. Pretty early into our friendship she started talking about running together...yeah, right. We ended up expecting babies two months apart, my second and her first. It is fun being preggo with a friend :)After having baby boy #2, my flab didn't melt away like it did with baby boy #1. So, in desperation, I started running with my friend.

I...thought...I....was...gonna...DIE! My body was not happy with me. But, that changed. The fat went away, and I started feeling great. I ran my first 5K a few months later.

Then, in 2007 we got a wild-hair to run a half-marathon...which we did...I am still amazed that I ran 13 miles. I never would have completed training if she had let up on me. She doesn't mind telling me that I am being a wimp. I can't stand being called a wimp. (Everyone needs a friend who will get in-your-face like that.)It was really a cool thing to be a part of. We are in this sea of runners, somewhere.

I haven't run another race since that one. Why? A minor injury from that race, an illness that put me out of commission completely for a couple of months, she had another baby (like her pregnancy was any excuse for me), and a bazillion other things.

So, no more excuses. There's another wild-hair growing, so-to-speak. Blond Chick and I started training this week for the Freedom's Run Half-Marathon that will take place in 282 days, on October 2nd. I am really excited about this race because the course winds through Antietam Battlefield, which is ironically beautiful. HISTORY is quite literally all around us.

Occasionally as we train, I will post an update. Mostly as an added accountability for me to stay on course. Like I need it...Blond Chick will be there to make sure of that. This week I've logged 97 minutes of road-time over four days. My last Half took 2 hours 21 minutes...so I've got a loooong way to go.
This is me and Blond Chick at a small-town 5K a couple of years ago. She has a medal because she is a beast on the race course. I have a medal because there were only about 4 people in my age category, HA!

Oh, and by the way, my quads hurt...