Fast v. Fun

Monday: 8 miles
Tuesday: 11 miles bike, 4 miles run; 35 miles bike very eay pace
Wednesday: 4 mile
Thursday: 20 mile bike very easy pace

I just got done riding with a women's group. It was a lot of fun. I am still freezing, though, enough that I can barely type. I enjoy riding so much, because it is so social for me. I love being able to talk to adults. A good conversation while on a ride is pretty hard to beat.

As much as I love to talk and ride, I have been a little anxious about my training. I haven't ridden hard yet on a Tuesday night ride. We have a big group ride on Tuesdays, and this is usually my "fast" ride. I haven't really rode fast yet, and was a little discouraged. I have had a lot of fun riding these rides though, and have meant some great people. There is always time to ride fast, but not always time to learn about another person. I need to remember this more often.

Tuesday was also my first brick work. Brick work is when you do more then one activity in a day. Usually, for me, it consists of riding and then running. I felt pretty good on the run. I don't even remember that rubber feeling of the legs that is usual for the first mile. Can't wait to do my next brick.

My baby is awake! Real quickly, I would like to celebrate meeting new people. Everyone has a unique story of how they started running (or exercise of choice), I love to hear them. I started running to lose weight. I remember telling myself in high school that I would never be out of shape, and definately never be fat. 10 years and three kids later, I was both. I didn't even realize how bad I was until I started exercising. My reasons evolved from there, and now I exercise for sanity, for control, for improvement, and for many more reasons. What motivated you to start running?

One may go a long way after one is tired.

French Proverb

Wednesday: 6 1/2-7 miles

I almost missed a great run last night. It got to be 8:30, and I was tired. I decided to run for awhile, thinking I would have my husband pick me up if the weather turned worse. He suggested instead I run at the track, which I did. I hate running on the track when I have further than 4 miles, it just seems like forever. Anyway, the first three miles were brutal. Finally, on lap 13, my muscles loosened and my lungs opened, and I could run. Just goes to show, sometimes, you have to run further to make it easier. Seems so backwards, that running more will make that run that day easier, but it is true. (Did that even make sense?) I ended up running a mile further than I first planned. I love those days. I even run fast the last 800.

I don't have anymore time, I have things to accomplish. I will expand on the following quote later. Kind of ironic, isn't it.

Don't let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something

stand in the way of your doing it.

The time will pass anyway;

we might just as well put that passing time

to the best possible use.

Earl Nightingale.

Change

Wednesday: 6 miles
Thursday: Can't remember
Friday: 2 mile warm-up, 3x800, 1/2 mile cool down
Saturday: 30 miles bike tool shed and back
Monday: 4 miles pushing Jayci
Tuesday: 20 miles bike Burger King

Change is the essence of life.

Be willing to surrender what you are

for what you could become.

author unknown

I was on vacation, and have been home now for a week. I just haven't had time to recap since school was out. I did not get out much while vacationing. I did run 6 miles one day in the most wonderful rain I have ever been in. Wow!

Truthfully, I don't have much to report right now. I have decided that I definitely need to stretch, and I mean good stretch, a few days a week. I have always been very flexible, but when I first started exercising, I was coaching tumbling, and stretching 2 times a week. It is amazing how much flexibility I have lost. I imagine that I am like the tin man in the wizard of oz before he gets oiled, creaky and stiff. Stretching is like oiling a machine, it allows the joints to move more freely. I truly believe it makes a difference. However, it is just one more thing in the list of things to do, and often gets left out. Mental note, stretch!

I had a friend and a cousin that each ran their first 5K last Saturday. They did so great. My cousin called me when she finished, and was so proud, as well she should be. I tell you, it is amazing. They ran 3.1 miles, and are alive to tell about it. I was so excited for both of them, I can feel their happiness. There is something so wonderful about working towards a goal you once thought impossible, and achieving it. I think that is why running becomes so addictive to some. It is kind of a test of strength, physical and mental. It is nice to be able to control something when so many things in life leave us feeling out-of-control.

Today I would like to celebrate change. Change is something I have found hard all of my life. I like to have things stay the same, to know what to expect. Arnold Bennett said, "A change, even a change for the better, has its drawbacks and discomforts." I fear those discomforts. However, change is inevitable. It seems like the times I dread change the most, is the times the change has been the best for me. I have new neighbors who just moved in on Saturday. I think of the change they are dealing with, new friends, new community, new schools. They are in such unfamiliar territory. That is a huge discomfort and drawback to me. I am glad I am not them. This kind of change terrifies me. But on the other hand, I am somewhat jealous of them, it is a new adventure, and new chance to grow and stretch. Changes grows a man (or woman in this case.) I need to be willing to surrender what I am now for what I can become. Running helps me realize this, I am becoming something I once thought impossible. I run today to surrender the former me so I can become what I am meant to be in the future. Keep running!