Marissa, My First Run

I'm following a schedule I found at Fitness Magazine's website. It's a half-marathon training guide for people who aren't runners. You know, people like me. The guide is set up for eight weeks, but I'm giving myself nine just in case things come up. When you have two kids like I do, things are always coming up...

Saturday was my first morning out. According to the schedule I had to walk/run for two miles. Alright, I thought, that sounds reasonable. I've totally got this.

I'm using a park near my home that has a half-mile track so I can be precise. It's very well kept and not very crowded. I took pictures...

When I decided to do this I could picture myself like a Nike ad. Alone and powerful, running with endless energy, my arms pumping to the beat my shoes make on the concrete...

I managed to completely forget that I have two children who will need to be pushed in my giant double stroller. Now, under normal circumstances, this would be enough to deter me from my quest. Normally I would have thought to myself, "Oh yeah, I have to push that thing? No way! I'm not going to haul that thirteen miles, not a chance!" However, this new and determined me thought, "Aw crap... Oh well." Which I think is an improvement.

Here I am with my twenty-nine pound boy, my sixteen pound girl, my thirty-two pound stroller, and my too-many-pounds self. (The lady who I asked to take this looked at me like I was nuts. "Are you selling the stroller on ebay or something?" she asked. "No," I replied lightly, "just the children." I don't think she thought I was funny.)

So I set off. I decided to just take off and see how far I could get at a light jog. Through the first half-mile I was distinctly aware of the way my rear and thighs were jiggling with every step. Fortunately as I started with the second half-mile I lost all feeling from the waist down and it didn't bother me anymore. I can't believe how out of shape I am. After the first mile I was tired, but still feeling good.

After about twelve feet into the second mile I had to switch to a fast walk. That stroller kills me. I managed to alternate jogging and walking through the second mile and by the end I wasn't looking my best.

But I did it. I'm going to approach this one day at a time. I'm not going to dwell on the fact that a half-marathon is the equivalent of circling that track 26 times. If I do that then I'll just quit right now because that doesn't seem possible for me. One day at a time, one day at a time. I finished my task for that day successfully, and that's what's important.

The kids were pretty good about the whole thing. I wasn't sure how they'd tolerate the same scenery for that long, but they did great. The park is full of people with "doggies" and they kept Jack pretty entertained. Plus he had the promise that we would do this when I was finished.

He had a good time. Quinn got sort of bored watching him swing.

So, all in all, a good day.

Most miles in a day to date: 2
Goal: 13
Total miles in training: 2