Christmas + Trails on ice

The last week has been a wonderful holiday, but not much running has gotten done. I ran last Saturday, and then nothing until today.  Christmas was good.  My boys opened every present ever created and we ate waaaay too much as is the holiday custom.  

Most of this week has been spent like this:  

No the 5yr old didn't build it by himself, but boy is he proud to play with it (sweet husband it proud to have built it, and wants to steal it and take it to work).

Needless to say when my friend Mish contacted me to say that she was coming to spend a few days in the city and did I want to meet up to run my thighs screamed "NO!", but my brain said "yes, Yes, YES!"

Mish is planning to run the Psycho Wyco Run Toto Run 50k over at Wyandotte county lake park, and has asked me to crew for her & pace her on the last 10 mile loop...so when she decided to come up this way we decided to run on that trail and get an idea of the terrain.  Holy hell the terrain...I knew it was going to be hilly after reading some reports, and due to the recent snow fall, cold and frozen.  I was totally unprepared for the iced over hills and SLOOOOW pace needed to navigate the trail though.  

Here's a pic of one section of trail (thankfully this one had a way around):

The hills looked like this (I greatly dislike how pics do not show how steep things actually are in person):

and this: 

 

The way out wasn't so bad as all the ice was on the downhills, but thanks to our slow pace we had to make it an out and back instead of following the whole trail around the lake which made all the ice...say it with me now...on the uphills on the way back.

The steep hills combined with ice made for a pretty damn torturous trip back, and then Mish tells me that the first and last 3 miles of FlatRock are about the same as this trail except more technical and rocky.  Ummm....CRAP!  Guess I'd better run wyco more often in prep for the FlatRock 25k next September.

Winter running, frozen eyelashes, and other firsts.

Its been a while since I blogged and I still need to write up the race report for the Sanders saunter trail 10k I did the week after my half marathon. 

However, todays run needed a post. It was the coldest run I've done (21 degrees F) and it was beautiful.  For the record, I do not like the cold...at all...but I like running and love the trail.  My brf Kris and I ran hills last night so my legs were quite tired this morning, but I got up and met Kris at the river trail anyway.  It snowed & iced this week so we weren't sure of the trails condition. Thankfully it was still fully frozen...pretty sure that's first time I've ever been thankful for frozen ground.

It was more hiking than running this morning and I ended up with icicles on my eyelashes & a frozen hydration pack hose, but it was beautiful and I got to chat with my best friend for a couple of hours before spending the day cleaning the house for the impending holiday.  I might end up being okay with winter after this winter running in it. There is always a first for everything. 

Sander's Saunter - Race Report

I'm a bit late writing this race report. I'm "good" like that sometimes.

I got up early and got dressed in the dark so as to hopefully not wake up the whole house.  This time it worked (YAY!!!).  I ate a banana as I drove to Clinton Lake for the race and dearly wished I had coffee.  It was a fairly chilly morning, so I was super excited to see the hot chocolate & COFFEE in the shelter & the bon-fire just behind the start/finish line.  Coffee is fabulous.

As per usual I met Kris at the start line and we started chatting.  We were both feeling pretty good considering we'd done a half marathon the weekend before. We were excited to do our first trail race but mostly we were just excited to be out there running again.  We tossed our extra stuff on one of the shelter tables and lined up for the start at the back of the pack.  

I don't remember much of the race its self since it was months ago now.  I hate that I've forgotten it and that I didn't get the report written up before all the details vanished.  All I remember now is the amazing feeling of not giving up.  The half marathon was my goal race for the year.  It was over, it was history and yet I was still out there running.  I didn't stop after hitting my goal.  Hooray for finding my brave.

If you want a fun race with great runners and fabulous volunteers for a good cause  Run Sander's Saunter. I'll see you there in 2013...maybe I'll get the RR up before I forget it all next year.  

Sander's Saunter - Our "hand me down" dogs

I posted yesterday about the Sander's Saunter 10k going on this Saturday.  I have several reasons to do this run and they all meld together to make it a really desirable run for me.  

1. It's kind of rare that the trailhawks host a race distance that I can cover, and since I'm a member I love to support their races when I can.

2. As a family we tend to be suckers for "hand me down" dogs as we call them.  The dogs that are perfectly fine but for whatever reason their owners can't keep them (too many pets in one apartment, not enough time for them anymore, the dog doesn't get on with the other dogs around, the dog is getting persecuted by the other dogs around...etc).  Since the Sander's Saunter is a benefit for the Lawrence Humane Society it hit kinda close to home even though both of our dogs were received from family that couldn't keep them anymore.  

3. The Humane Society is a wonderful organization that does amazing work.

Below are our two 'hand me down' dogs that have made our weird little family complete.  

Maggie rescued us by giving up her perfectly normal family to join us in all our weirdness almost two years ago now.  She was almost a year old when she came here and at first she wasn't sure she liked us (*two boys begging to pet her had NOTHING to do with it I'm sure*)  We gave her her own full size futon mattress for a bed, lots of ear rubs, some hotdogs, and started taking her for walks every morning then I think she started to like us.  When I started running a year ago,  she became my running buddy, although she still doesn't run well on a leash (HELLO leaping great dane!).  We take special trips to the dog park and run the trails there so I can get extra miles in and so she can get all her puppy energy out (an energy full vibrating great dane is a force of nature I tell you!). While for the most part she is Justin's dog, she still loves it when I get dressed to run just in case she gets to go with me.  

 Mags our 3 yr old Great Dane on one of our many dog park runs this summer.

Earlier this year my father in law said something about one of his dogs not fitting in well with the group.  He mentioned that we should take her home with us.  We laughed.  No really...we did.  Two boys and an energetic Great Dane make for a very full house most days.  Then we went to visit him and this happened:

Annie our 8ish year old Daschund.

Annie came right up to me (she knows I'm the weaker one) sat up on her back legs and looked at me with those huge brown eyes until I caved and picked her up.  She snuggled with me the rest of the day.  We didn't take her home that day because we were afraid of how Maggie would get along with such a small dog.  They are both super sweet, but the age & size difference worried us.  Next trip out to see Father-in-law we took Maggie with us and they got on fine, so we agreed to give it a try.  Annie is now my dog.  She LOVES going on morning walks with Mags and Justin, and she loves the dog park too, but she tends follow her nose and get lost in the underbrush.   She also gets super tired after one lap, so for longer dog park runs she stays home.  

Most days you'll find the two of them like this:

or like this:

We are so lucky they both chose to be part of our family.   

  

Next up - Saunder's Saunter Trail 10K

Before the half marathon I had heard that the trailhawks were putting on a trail 10k, and since I hadn't done a trailhawks race since joining their wonderful band I really wanted to do it....but the smarter part of me needed to wait until after the half to make sure I didn't injure myself (my racing history is pretty spotted with injury or re-injury).  Well since I didn't injure myself last Saturday (YAYAYAY!!!) I signed up.  

Here's the details in case anybody is looking for a trail 10k with a really good cause.  

From the race website:
Race Information: The race is a 10K+ loop course with a visit to Sanders Mound, a small hill overlooking Clinton Lake, at the beginning of the race and again near the end. The course is rugged trails running through beautiful trees. First 100 entrants will receive a coffee mug with "The Best things in life are rescued" logo. Fun awards for top 3 Male and Female finishers -- race goodies offered post race.

The LHS will be at the race with "marathon mutts" that are ready for your adoption. You are welcome to run the race with a marathon mutt, or simply give them some TLC, it's up to you! All dogs must remain on leash during the run. There is a wish list below of items the LHS needs for the shelter. Please bring any donations with you on race morning; we will have a drop box set up. 

For more information on the "marathon mutts" program, please visit http://www.lawrencehumane.org/
LHS Wish List: Paper towels, bleach, laundry detergent, Dawn dish soap, hand sanitizer, clay cat litter, peanut butter, crunchy dog biscuits, towels, sheets, and washable blankets.

Facebook Event Page:

http://www.facebook.com/events/431732780216539/?fref=ts

Ultra Signup Page:
http://ultrasignup.com/register.aspx?did=18024

Pilgrim Pacer Half Marathon - Race Report

With my eyes still closed I heard the sounds of the 3yr old talking in his room.  I briefly cursed my mommy hearing & then rolled over to see what time it was.  I was semi-happy to see that it was 5:30AM.  Then I immediately woke up enough to turn on my phone and check the weather one.more.time.  Thanks to my OCD weather checking for the past week I knew it was going to be a warm one for the half today, but it was even warmer than I expected.  My weather app said it was 63 degrees.  63!  It's November in Kansas at 5:30am.  Oh Boy!

After convincing the 3 yr old to at least stay in his room (a miracle I tell you!), I grabbed my clothes and hustled to get dressed.  Due to the weather I had revamped my race day outfit yesterday, and laid it out last night.  I had opted for my CWX stablyx capris & my "badass mother runner" short sleeve shirt from www.anothermotherrunner.com.  Both had been tested on several occasions & on long runs.  I wanted no surprises on this venture.  I ate a bagel, checked facebook, & grabbed a jacket (just in case) while waiting for my BRF Kris to show up and car pool with me to the race.  Once Kris showed up we were off!  Oh wait...coffee.  We needed coffee...so we stopped. Then we were off.  

It was a short 20 minute drive to the parking lot we had to park in.  Due to a shortness of parking they had us park about a mile away and ride a trolley into the race start which was at Theater in the Park in Shawnee, KS.  That was kind of fun.  Due to the high winds it was chilly in the parking lots and waiting for the start, so we kept our jackets on (thank goodness I packed it!).  We had 30 or so minutes before the start so we hit the porta potties, packed our jackets in our drop bag, & then headed out for a short warm up run & stretch on part of the paved path opposite the start line.  The sun was up and was coming out from behind some clouds and we got our first look at how beautiful it was going to be today.  We ran a bit, talked a lot and then found the entrance to a short trail.  Oh how I wanted to go run that little trail.  It was beautiful, but it was time to run back to the start line and get this long run going.

Me cheesing at the starting line.

After some chatting and standing around we were off.  The first part of the course was downhill which was kinda awesome, except when we realized we'd have to climb back up....oh well we decided to worry about that later.  We also managed to head out way too fast and did the first 4 miles at 5k pace...woops.  My cold/cough from earlier this week surfaced again after mile4 and every time I started hacking it was a little bit worse, but nothing to do but get it done. 

Pilgrim Pacer course profile:

We ran past some picnic structures and on the path by the lake which was beautiful.  We passed an aid station and didn't really need anything so we headed on, but by the first porta potty Kris needed to stop.  There was a long wait line so we skipped it and headed on to the second one.  At about mile 3.5 it started raining, but there weren't many clouds in the sky and honestly it felt wonderful.  Then strangely the rain stopped.  At the potty stop about 4 miles in we met a really nice guy who is in the army & stationed in Oklahoma.  He was running the half with his wife.  They left, Kris pottied, and we headed back out.  I had paused my Garmin when we stopped and when I went to turn it back on it kept bleeping that it had a GPS error.  I had no idea what that meant, so I reset the garmin and started the run over.  No biggie.  

After the potty stop we actually managed to slow down a bit which was good and bad.  I knew if we didn't the last few miles were going to hurt, but at this point the trail was in the sun and the sun and I don't really get along when I'm running.  I tend to just melt and have to walk.  Thankfully it we were coming up to a spectator point at a playground.  For some reason it looked really familiar. It took me a few minutes to place it, but when I did I got the biggest smile on my face.  The playground was one of the aid stations for the Breast Cancer 3day I did back in 2006.  For lack of a better way of saying it was like seeing an old friend.  I ran on those memories for a little bit and then came back down to earth.  The slog from the last aid station up a few more hills to the turnaround were...difficult.  

Kris & I just after the Halfway point:

Slow, slow, slow was the story for the remainder of the run.  We decided to walk up the hills, run down the hills, run as much of the flats as possible.  Our pace had severely slowed, but it was all about finishing at this point.  Kris was hurting and I was tired.  The wind, sun & warmer than what we'd trained in weather had beat us up (seriously, I'm wind burnt from the strong winds and gusts) We just had to gut it out.  

The last mile was all uphill and we didn't have the legs/lungs/guts/heart to run it.  We finally made it back up to the theater in the park and ran the last little bit to cross the finish line smiling.  I did it!  We did it!  I'm a half marathoner! 

Official time 3:09:17.  

Kris & I after some water and pumpkin pie.  

Next....hill training.  

Half Marathon Countdown - 3 days- Butterflies, the nervous kind.

The nervous, what the HELL was I thinking, butterflies are flying in my gut.  13.1 miles is a LONG run (especially at my slow back of pack pace).  Why am I doing this again?  What is that twinge in my ITband?  Is my fall on the trail last Saturday going to mess up some part of my body that before managed to remain un-injured?  BAH!!!

I know I can do it, I've already done 13 miles in training.  I've trained for it, to best of my currently injury prone ability.  Settle butterflies settle.

Half Marathon Countdown - 7days -

I headed out with the Trailhawks for a preview of the Sander's Saunter course (more details here: http://ultrasignup.com/register.aspx?did=18024), and my last Saturday run before the half marathon.  I was cursing getting up early on a Saturday & the cold.  Thankfully it was a beautiful morning for a run with Mech Hawk, Shiner Hawk, Story Hawk & Lampchop (Story Hawks fourlegged trail running friend).  They made me lead and right away I knew that was a bad idea.  It was only my second time on the Clinton trails at the first turn I was already lost.  I also started off too fast for me as I have a tendency to do.  This all left me walking by the time we got to Sander's mound for the first time.  A beautiful view of the sunrise and then the run back down for the rest of the course.  I felt my legs getting tired about mile 2.5.  I insisted that Mech Hawk lead & figured I was in for a fall.  Somewhere around mile 4, while listening to another awesome story from Story Hawk, it finally happened.  I hit an upended rock stuck in the trail with my toe and hit the ground hard.  My palms and knees took the brunt of it, but I scrapped up my right arm and shoulder as I rolled off the trail to get out of Shiner & Story Hawks way.  I laid there for a few minutes 1. feeling like an idiot, 2. trying to mentally feel around and see if anything was broken, 3. mentally kicking myself for going to the chiropractor on Friday (I always seem to injure myself immediately after going to the chiropractor). 4. Noticing how beautiful the sky is from that angle.  Story Hawk hauled my unstable butt back to standing position and we started walking.  I was a bit dazed from the tumble, but quickly felt like running again.  Another mile or so on the clock and then I rolled my right ankle on a loose rock.  F@&*!  I walked that off too and ran as much as could back out to Sander's mound, walked the hill, and ran back down & up (Kansas is so not flat) to the end of the course.  I felt a bit bashed up, sore, and stupid for all the falling and twisting I'd managed to inflict on my body, but I finished the run.

Thankfully the hawks were all very nice and didn't make me feel worse about my falls than I already did.  ALthough Story Hawk did mention that the falling & twisting was good practice for FlatRock.  OH BOY!  What have I gotten myself into??!

I headed home to pick up my little monsters and head over to my BRF Kris's house to hang out, cook lunch, and watch her kiddos so she could head out for a run.  Overall, not the best confidence boosting run to have before my first half marathon, but I ran it (Minus the hills. I know, I know.  Hill training is needed) nothing is broken, & I had a pretty good day enjoying the days beauty, & hanging with an awesome friend.  Keep moving forward.  

This pic was taken by Mech Hawk from the top of Sander's Mound the first time through.  Absolutely beautiful & so worth getting up early & running in the cold for.    

Almost Wordless Wednesday

Impromptu Halloween Costumes - Toothless from How to Train your Dragon, a Runner (of course), and a Monitor Lizard.

New Trails, New Views.

For awhile now I've mostly been running trails, and there are trails here out by a corp of engineers lake that everyone keeps telling me are too technical (for me) to run.  With that percolating in the back of my mind for months as well the knowledge that I'd better get over it & start running them because they are the best hope for my finishing the FlatRock25k next year I shut the doubts in my mental closet and headed out to a Saturday morning run with my local ultra-running group and my BRF (best running friend).

It was only a 5.8 miler this morning as the run leader was marking the trail for a 10k they are organizing out there in Nov.  The race is the week after my first half, but I would love to do.  I'm saving the signup for after the Pilgrim Pacer though as I want to make sure I'm up for it.  Anyway, I was a bit nervous, but the run leader is one of my favorite trail hawks (the group is called the Lawrence Trail Hawks) to run with.  He's done races and ultra races all over for many many years, and loves to tell stories while we all run.  Listening to him tell stories makes the run so much fun and makes it feel short (or maybe that was just the comparison to the 13 miles I did last week  :lol: ).  Ex. At the end of the run, on the biggest uphill, when my legs were starting to get tired, he recited all of the jabberwocky poem.  <3<3<3 him (thank you Story Hawk!).

Anyway, my BRF has been greatly adding to my "runxiety" about these trails since we started running trails a few months ago.  She kept saying how she'd hiked them and really wasn't sure how on earth anybody would run them.  I LOVE this lady to pieces and honestly her companionship on runs is one of the things that's kept me going this long, but her "horror tales" of these trails worried me.  I FINALLY convinced her come out with me for a run, and guess what?  She ROCKED IT (which means we ROCKED it. Although I walked a few more of the uphills than she did...sometimes long legs are a good thing.  I can keep up with her shorter trail stride by longer stride fast walking it).

I love it when I can rock (or just finish) something that has been mentally haunting me for awhile.  Also, when exactly did an almost 6 miler  on a technical trail become a short, easy run??

We had such a beautiful view from the top of Sander Mound this morning (my BRF on the left, me on the right).  I'm now looking forward to the many hilly, rooty, rocky miles I will have in the next year out at Clinton Lake in prep for FlatRock.

Growing Food, Growing Health 5k

A friend of mine sent me a link the other day saying, "This run sounds like fun!  Want to do it with me?" ....and since I can't refuse a good run for a good cause I sign up for it.  It was a benefit for a local school garden program.  They teach the kids how to plant, tend, and harvest food from the school gardens and then the schools get to use the freshly organically grown fruits and veggies for the students meals.  What an awesome program.

I signed up, and then totally ignored all info about the run until the night before.  When I pulled up the course map I find that it's in one of the hilliest portions of town.  Not big long hills, but up and down up and down incessantly.  Normally that would not really a problem.  It would slow me down, but no biggie.  At the moment however my ITband on the left side is still killing me from the April 5k and I'm not sure how on Earth I'm going to make up and down the hills for 3 miles.

I pick up my packet and holy cow!  This is the BEST race packet ever.  All organic, whole food samples and treats.  It's going to take me months to test all these out.  The t-shirt however is about 2 sizes too big.  Oh well, I'll add it to the t-shirt quilt pile.

Up and at 'em for the race.  Since I now know it's hilly I prep by stretching  rolling, and packing my roller with me in the car to roll out after the race.  I'm really glad I did.  The hills, since I've been doing no hill training lately, are brutal for me.  My ITband starts screaming about a mile in.  I walk some, I run what I can, and I get it done.  The time isn't pretty, and I feel really stupid for not checking the course map before signing up.  Time over all was 37:03.  Not bad for hilly, hot, and with a gimpy ITband.

ITband Issues and Physical Therapy

I've been struggling with ITband issues since April.  Yesterday I finally decided to go see the Physical Therapist.  I was nervous that I'd get benched, that something is really wrong, or that I'd going to get told I just shouldn't be a runner.  Thankfully none of those are what actually happened.

I walked into the PT office, and he talked to me for awhile about my running (distance, goals, speed <speed...hahahaha I'm about as slow as they come) other activities (biking, yoga, strength training).  Then he proceed to try and stretch me and see if that tight muscles/ligaments were the problem or if I needed to work on strength instead.  Strength (or lack there of) in the hips was the clear winner.  So I have eight new exercises to do 3-5x a week.  They hurt, a lot, but I must do them to keep running.  I honestly think I will do just about anything to just keep running.  

The Color Run - Kansas City

Holy Cow!  I am so excited.  The color run was a blast!!!   There were so many people for the Kansas City Color Run that they had to split it into a two day event.  Total (over the two days) there were almost 30,000 color runners making Kansas City the BIGGEST Color Run ever.  That's pretty darn cool!

Instead of give you a bunch of details I'll just show you all the pictures.  What a blast!!  I will totally do this again.  

Gimmicky?  Yes, but so much fun anyway.  

Mother's Day 5k

The friends that I started running with mostly agreed that mother's day tends to suck for mother's, so in a effort to do one thing WE wanted on Mother's Day we agreed to do a 5k together.  We looked all over for one to sign up for, but couldn't find what we were looking for so we decided to do our own.  It wouldn't have t-shirts or an after run buffet, but at least we could run when, where, and with whomever we wanted.

Instead of almost five of us it ended up just being two of us, and of course it was 90 some degrees and blaring sun by the time we could meet up for it. In an effort to avoid undue stress to my still hurting knee and to avoid the sun at all costs we decided to finally check out the Sandrat River Trail.  I had been asking my friend to run with me there for months, but she was a bit scared of trails (truth be told so was I & that's why I wanted company).  Mother's Day was the perfect day for it so we met at the trail head and headed in.  The shade was wonderful and just getting to chat with a friend uninterrupted for thirty minutes or so was a treat I needed on Mother's Day (Ahhhh....Motherhood).  I think we'll go back and try a Monday night "newbie" run.  It's hosted by a local Ultra Trail Running group called the Trail Hawks.  I have it on good authority that the lead guy is nice and that the newbie runs are truly newbie friendly.  I think I like this trail running thing.

Kansas 1/2 Marathon - 5k

Just got home from my first official running 5k. 

It was almost a perfect day for running. 45 degrees, but with the wind it was pretty darn cold while waiting for the race to start. Due to the wind I ended up wearing my running jacket (it was just too cold without it), so naturally at the 2 mile mark I was sweaty and wishing I'd left it at the starting line (Next time I will take a long sleeve shirt to toss off instead or get arm warmers). Also had technical difficulties with my garmin due to forgetting that the GPS was off until 3minutes before the start (today happened to be one of the days where it took forever to find satellites). 

I met my running friends about 3 blocks away in a park (for ease of finding each other & parking). After getting the last race bib pinned on (I had picked up one gals packet for her as she was out of town until last night) we walked/jogged to the start line to see off our friend running the half marathon. Lots of trying to stay warm later it was our turn. At this point I'm still trying to get my garmin to find satellites. I started out running with the whole group, but ended up running the first 2 miles with my friend that I usually consider my "beastly fast" friend. The pace wasn't hurting me and I was able to talk so I figured I was okay.  The first half mile was slightly uphill, but nothing compared to my usual route. The other gals in our group tend to run on the flats and they had some trouble. Finally about the 1 mile mark I got my garmin working and "started" my run (I'll be correcting that run to the official time a soon as I find it out). 

Right about mile 2 my knee (the left one) starting really bothering me. I made it to about 2.5 before it hurt so bad I had to walk. I ended up walking about a minute before running a bit more. Total I probably walked 2-3 minutes. I'm bummed that I had to walk, but it wasn't because I was tired or didn't have the legs or went out too fast. I was able to run except for the sharp pain in my knee. 

I past a traffic cop in the last mile who told me 6 more blocks, so I got to the top of the little hill and ran the last 5 blocks to the finish line. I'm not sure of the official time, but I crossed the finish line at 35...something which anyway I bend it is a PR for me.  I definitely crossed the line smiling due to seeing 35 on the clock at all.  

I found my sweet husband and kiddos at the finish line, got a banana and a water and watched my remaining friend cross the finish line. The boys wanted to go home because they were cold, and I couldn't blame them, so we headed out. I'm now sitting in the recliner with my feet up, a knee brace on, and an ice pack on my knee. Hopefully it'll feel better tomorrow, but if not I'll head to the doctor to see what I've done. 
Here's a photo sweet husband took post race. The time is wrong as I didn't find him until after I got water/banana etc, but I wanted share anyway.

UPDATE: Official time....34:47!!!! Yipee!!!!

Finishing Couch to 5K

For most of the C25K runs I felt like I was going to die, then somewhere near the end things started to change.  Some of the runs got a bit easier.  I'm going to say they were all good runs, or that they started getting easier every day (I've known people like that it does happen, just not to me).  There was still a lot of making myself go do it, and a lot of slow sloggy runs, but somehow the difference was enough to keep me moving.

I also realized that the C25k program wouldn't actually teach me to cover 3 miles (it's based on time, not mileage).  That was a problem.  I had a 5k planned, & I mentally needed to know I could cover the distance.  So instead of giving up (my old MO), I started the bridge to 10K.  The thought was that I could continue with the program that had gotten me so far while teaching myself to run longer.  It worked pretty well for a month or so. Then came my first 5k.

Getting Started

One foot in front of the other...one foot in front of the other.  Rinse repeat.  Not that hard except that I've never been a runner.  As a matter of fact I've mostly avoided all possible physical activity for most of my life, but today I started Couch to 5K.  

It all started as an idea from a friend, "let's run a 5k. There's one coming up in a few months, we have time to train." she said.  In my head I say, " 5K!  That's 3 miles. I can't run 3 miles, hell I can't climb the stairs without being out of breath."  ...and then I hear myself reply, " YES!  Let's do it!".  Crap.  What have I gotten myself into this time?

So last week I started walking a few miles a day and biking a few miles a day.  Today I did C25K Wk1 Day1.  What a good feeling to be started.  It all starts with one step.  One foot in front of the other.