Running Update

Okay, for those of you that don't know already....I'm training for a marathon in April. I'm a jogger, not fanatical at all, but this has been a goal of mine for some time - so I'm doing it!

Last night was my long run for the week - 6 miles - and not being a fanatic of running and not loving the treadmill training right now, I start to talk myself out of it during the run because I get tired or because I feel like I need to be doing laundry or something. At 1.5 miles I started thinking of the things I could be doing, at 3 miles I started thinking "this is where I would be if I were only training for the half-marathon, maybe I should do that instead", at 4 miles I thought "I'll just stop at 4.5 miles - that's good enough right?", at 4.5 miles I thought "Geez, I only have a mile and a half to go - finish it up slacker!", and at 6 miles I put my hands up and did a victory dance, then I realized on race day, I would have 20.2 more miles to go. HA! HA!

I am still at a 13 minute mile, that's been the consistent time for me and honestly I don't think that's bad at all! I'm doing sprints and rest periods in between my jogging trying to build up my endurance. And I downloaded a workout through NikeFit from Jean Benoit - it's 30 minutes of music and her talking to you to check your form, etc. and it really forces you to pick up the pace a bit and pay attention to what you're doing. I am supposed to do a 10 mile timed run on Sunday and am hoping that the weather cooperates and that I can do it outside vs. on the treadmill, I don't love running on the treadmill and am anxious to see if I do better outside.

My husband asked me last night "Why again do you want to run a marathon?" - and I simply replied "Because I can", at least I think I can. I do have Lupus and it does affect my joints, in addition to that I have a degenerative disk disease in my lower spine, for a few years all of my doctors and physical therapists told me that I wouldn't run anymore - something I had grown fond of in the summer of 2006. Then in September/October of 2008 I went through physical therapy through a spine clinic and the therapist showed me how to correct any back pains and how to hold myself differently when I walked. He also said "I don't see why you can't run" and with that simple statement I started to feel the itch to hit the road again. The marathon seemed to be motivation for me to actually start up again.

I know it's going to be tough and I continue to try and talk myself out of it.....because I don't LOVE it yet, because of the cold weather, I'm on a treadmill in my house where the kids can come to me to tie their shoes, or to fix a broken game controller, Randy can bring me the phone when someone calls, and I hear the laundry calling me. I know once I hit the road and feel the gravel under each step, breathe in the fresh air, and see the open road in front of me - I am going to love it. I have outside courses mapped out already and the first sign of warmth - I'll lace up my shoes and hit the road.

Happy running!

Angela