One Step at A Time

The running has commenced.

I have never been a runner.  I just like the challenge of working toward something.  It is rare for me to just go out for a run, unless I am training for some event.

Let me rephrase that.  Unless I am attempting to train for an event.  I typically am never quite as in shape as I should, or could be for any race I've ever ran.  But I've managed.  I just really enjoy running in races.  Not because I am competing for a chance to actually win, but because I enjoy the challenge of simply running the race.  It's always an adrenaline rush to run a race with other people.  Like I said, I'm never trying to win, but I do enjoy the challenge of trying to pass the person in front of me!

There's something about running a race that gives me a high.  I wouldn't call it the runner's high that you hear about.  It simply feels good to finish, and to have pushed myself as hard as I could.  Over the years I have ran numerous 8k and 10k races, but what I am most proud of is that I have also done a marathon.  I was slow as a snail and did a walk/run for the entire thing, but I don't care.  I finished and it's something I can proudly say I've done.

I always wanted to run a marathon but never really thought I could.  A few years back, I was inspired by watching the Biggest Loser.  It was because of a contestant named Ron that I signed up to run the Portland Marathon.  He was an older guy, in his 50's or so, with terrible, terrible knees. He walked with a cane.  He was able to complete a marathon.  I figured if he could do it, there was absolutely NO reason why I couldn't. Within a few days of watching that episode, I signed up for the marathon and paid the money.  Now I HAD to do it.

As I have mentioned in previous posts, I have also done the Hood to Coast Relay.  It started out as just another thing that I could tally up as something I could say I've done.  But.  I.  Loved.  It.  So I've done it every year since (except this last year because I was pregnant with the twins).  It's a relay of 12 people per team.  Each team has two vans of 6 runners.  While one van is out running, the other van is driving to the next exchange point.  You try to eat and sleep while you wait, but it is near impossible to get any rest.  The race starts at Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood and ends in Seaside, Oregon.  It's 199 miles of pure torturous fun. Each person runs 3 legs of the race, which is somewhere between 17-24 total miles/person, depending on the legs you run.  It's waiting in line for 20 minutes to use a port-a-potty.  You've never seen so many port-a-potties in your life!  It's hanging out with your team, stuck in a van together, soaked in sweat, and laughing hysterically when someone accidentally farts, because you are so exhausted.  It takes our team approximately 30 hours to finish. Again, we aren't there to win anything.  It's just the challenge and the rush of being a part of something so big.  When finished, I can hardly walk.  For the next few days afterward, I can barely get up and down off the toilet because I am so sore.  This event is both mentally and physically challenging, but despite it all, I keep going back for more.

I have 5 months to get ready for the next Hood to Coast.  I started going for walks with the babies a few weeks ago.  Not as much as I would like, but it's a start.  Today, I tried running for the first time.  If you can call it that.  It's the first time I've done any sort of running since I ran in the Cinco de Mayo 10k last May, just before our FET.

I'm starting slow.  I have to because I'm sooooo out of shape.  I'm prone to shin splints and have bad knees, so I need to be careful not to just jump in and get an injury right out of the gate.  I'm taking it one step at a time.

I walked to the high school track, which is just under a mile from our house.  I then went another mile around the track, walking the straight and running (jogging) the corners.  My right leg almost gave out on me during the first running stretch, but after that I settled in and it actually felt pretty good!  It was definitely different from the last time I ran.  My boobs jiggled and my arms swung against my muffin top, but I didn't care. I have to start somewhere, and the only way to get rid of the jiggle and middle, is by getting out there and taking those first steps!  I could have done more at the track.  I felt like I could have kept going, but I also had to walk back home and I want to be very careful and ease into the running.  I don't want to get too eager and over do it.

Overall, I went just under 3 miles today.  Mostly walking, but again, I don't care.  I'm taking it one step at a time.