I am so glad I got a blister today

Isabelle with Grandpa about half way through our walk. There is a geocache on this horse, but we couldn't find it.

Mama and Issy on the granite Teddy Bear. It is on the other side of the bridge at Lakeside.

Issy with the leaf she carried...the...entire...way.

Well, it has been a long two weeks with very little exercise. Two weeks ago we had inservice, and I made absolutely no time for exercising (besides the fact I was completely exhausted and had to juggle Isabelle's childcare). Then last week, we had the first week of school and I got up at 5 a.m. on Monday and walked 2 miles, but I didn't manage to walk the rest of the week. Somehow I associate "taking care of myself" with NOT exercising.

This morning though, I knew I wanted to get some good mileage in. I was hoping to get up early, walk from my parent's house (in West Highland Park) to my mom's office (in East HP) about 2.8 miles, then the 7 miles on the Katy Trail, and then 2.8 back to parent's house to total, I think, 12.6 miles. Kind of glad I slept late, so the plans changed. I made it to my mom's office around 10:30a, and managed to get on the Katy Trail pretty soon thereafter.

Mile 1 was good. Every ounce of my Sociology Minor self was so enjoying the people watching. I have the most interesting conversations with myself on these walks. They are so much more interesting than my walks on just streets with passing cars. There was a man on a bike with an old time looking front week with the diameter of probably like 6 feet and the back wheel with a 1 foot diameter. There were several families on bikes. Mostly healthy, interesting people. There was a lady swinging her arms as though they were both rigid and pendulums on clocks. It looked painful the amount of extra effort she was putting into her jaunt.

The entire time, I had a permanent smile on my face. So many thoughts were going through my mind especially the overwhelming ponderance of why I resisted walking all week, when it makes me feel SO. FREAKING. GOOD. I just don't get why my mind thinks that taking care of myself means to NOT walk, when everytime I do walk, I feel so great. The great thing about having made a commitment to the H&H Half in 4 weeks is that I knew I needed to continue to be walking.

It probably took like 30 minutes longer for me to pack up all my walking gear before leaving the house this morning since it has been a while. Shorts over here in this laundry pile, socks over here, shoes under the bed, ipod by my purse. I almost couldn't find my socks that were polyester blend therefore helping keep the sweat off my feet. Then I had the fleeting thought that since I had a small blister on my back heel (mainly because I wore big girl shoes, i.e. not crocs this week) that I should put a band-aid on and bring 2 extra just in case.

I am SOOOOO glad I did that. Turns out the scab over the blister did quite its job of protecting the heel....but...my toe started hurting about mile 4. Which by the way, the view as I was making it to the AAC (American Airlines Center) was amazing. Truthfully, there was probably nothing spectacular about the view, but it was so cool to be thinking about having walked from mom's office near Mockingbird and Central Expressway to Downtown Dallas.

Back to mile 4. My toe was hurting, and I sat down to take my sock off, and sure enough, there was a super delux blister forming. Strangely enough, all I could think was how glad I was that I had that blister. Weird, right? Well, I was thinking I was glad that I was having it today, because for

1: I was prepared with a band-aid

2: I was only doing about 10 miles rather than 13

3: it wasn't the H&H Half

4: this blister would form tougher skin that wouldn't be as likely to form a blister in the future

5: I was super glad to be able to learn from this lesson to always bring band-aids

So, today I was super grateful for my blister.

Mile 5, Dad called, and he was going to meet me at Mom's office (at the end of the Katy Trail) with Isabelle to ride her bike and us walk back to their house. I made it to the end of the Katy Trail (7 miles) in 1:58:51.47. That is about a 16:58 per mile pace. I was pretty happy with the results. The weather was awesome, and I was glad to have made it all the way to mile 7.

Around 1pm, Dad, Issy, and I headed west along Beverly Drive in Highland Park. If you are not familiar with Beverly Drive, it is definitely one of the top drives for Christmas light viewing in the winter. The homes are not only large, but they are beautifully landscaped and kept. The most interesting phenomenon is that for whatever reason about 10 years ago, the traditional 200 foot wide lot probably costing around 2-4 million was not sufficient, many people bought a next door lot to double their space. The joy of walking this way was that we got to soak in so many of the details.

Isabelle found a beautiful Magnolia Tree leaf at the beginning of the walk that she asked me to carry because it was "the biggest leaf she had ever seen in her whole life." I told her that no, she'd have to carry it. That crazy little 8 year old carried that big 'ole leaf the entire way back, wouldn't you know.

We made it easily at a very slow pace (which was nice after the faster pace on the KT). When we made it to Lakeside Drive we tood a detour to walk along Lakeside and it was so beautiful. We then walked over the bridge, ran into a high school friend of dad's who was building a house right there, and took some pictures on the granite teddy bear. We crossed Preston Road to head back on Bordeaux, and it was such a beautiful walk. It took us a total of an hour and 45 minutes to go 3.2 miles, but I should probably take off about 30 minutes we stopped to look at the friend's house and to look at this crazy house next door to it. So, it was about 1 hour 15 minutes for 3.2 miles.

My Real Time Glucose Monitoring was soooooo nice because instead of testing my blood every 2 miles, I was able to just click the button and see the trend or direction it was headed. So at 7 miles, I knew to eat raisins, but not too many. I absolutely love my new Real Time System!!

It was such a nice end to a medium speed walk to spend time with Isabelle and my dad. I soooo enjoy the quality time I get when walking (even with myself). So often throughout my day, I don't slow down to smell the roses, much less look at them. Today, my friends, I looked at the roses, and they are beautiful. 4 weeks baby!!!! And I'll have done my first Half Marathon.

Lesson for the day: Walking makes me feel good, I enjoy the journey, the view, and the feeling, taking care of myself means to walk, not skip, breaks are ok, as long as they end, add band-aids to the packing list for long walks, I love my Real Time new system, JUST SHOW UP!!!!

Part 1 - Katy Trail

Time: 10:30a - 12:30p - Part 1 Katy Trail, 7 miles

Temp: 75 - 85, cooler, clear skies

Distance: 7 miles

Time: 1:58:51.47

Pace: 16:58/m

MPH: 3.53

Half estimate: 3.71 hours

Part 2 - Beverly Drive

Time: 1:00 pm - 2:45 pm
Temp: 75 - 85, cooler, clear skies
Distance: 3.2 miles
Time: 75 minutes
Pace: 23.44 minutes/mile
MPH: 2.56

Half estimate: 5.12 hours

Just Showed Up Today

Got up at 5a. Did 2 miles in 34 minutes. Great to just get out and show up. Exhausted from day 1 of school. Glad to have made it.

Sent from my iPod

Update

Taking a break this week. Not planned or intentional, but I underestimated how stressful this week would be. I'm hoping to catch up this weekend.

Sent from my iPod

Saturday

Did 8.1 miles on Waxahachie with Brooke in 144 minutes.

Sent from my iPod

Tuesday

Don't have super long to post. First day of inservice tomorrow.

Did 4 mile loop. Saw a biker and runner loop several times. It was kind of cool being among fellow athletes. My times were:

20:12.93 - 20:13
39:05.35 - 18:53
55:53.26 - 16:48
1:11:55.43 - 16:02

Super serious negative splits. One note, I was listening to a sermon laps 1&2, and Latin music at 130 bpm laps 3&4.

Sent from my iPod

Tuesday

What is Normal?

Normal - 1 a : according with, constituting, or not deviating from anorm, rule, or principle b : conforming to a type, standard, or regular pattern
2 : occurring naturally and not because of disease, inoculation, or anyexperimental treatment <normal immunity>
3 a : of, relating to, or characterized by average intelligence or development b : free from mental disorder : SANE c : characterized by balanced well-integrated functioning of the organism as a whole
4a of a solution : having a concentration of one gram equivalent of solute per liter b : containing neither basic hydrogen nor acid hydrogen <normalphosphate of silver> c : not associated <normal molecules> d : having a straight-chain structure <normal pentane> <normal butylalcohol> —nor·mal·ly /'nor-m&-lE/ adverb

This is the Medical definition of normal. Something of which I have no clear memory of feeling...normal (especially medically speaking). As early as I can remember for the most part, I have always felt abnormal, defective, and broken. Recently, through a long process of inventorying my thoughts, feelings, actions, and reactions I realized how key this thought process has been a part of decisions I make, resentments I fester, excuses I use, and judgments I make. I have always thought that somewhere, somehow God messed up. And through this inventory recently, I have just barely touched on how to start approaching/thinking/viewing this abnormality in a different light. Easier said than done, right?

But oddly enough (as has actually always been the truth with my diabetes), the more I have learned to embrace my abnormality/defectiveness the more it has LESS control over my thoughts, feelings, and actions. It has been very backwards from what I would have thought. I thought that staying in denial, keeping it on the back burner, would make it less of an impairment or struggle in my everyday life.

About 10 years ago, I went on the insulin pump for my Diabetes. It took my A1C's from in the 13's to now in the lower 7s. It is recommended lower, but 7s isn't too bad. And recently, I sat in a Diabetes Exercise and Sports Association Support Group where this guy (I think I may have already blogged about this, but oh, well) said his doctor said, "I wish all diabetics worked as hard at it as you do." And his response was, "We do all work hard...ALL of us." Even those who may appear to not, still have to take shots daily, and test occasionally and feel like crud a lot, whereas non-diabetics don't have to work at that at all. I was so empowered to hear that. We do work hard...and the technology is what helps us work SMARTer.

So, after hearing about the Real Time System (which monitors the blood sugar every 5 minutes and reads it to my pump), I decided to try for it. I wasn't sure if my insurance would cover it since it expires at the end of August, but I thought, "Why not just try for it anyways. The worst they can say is no." JUST SHOW UP. So, last Monday I went out on a limb with my parents, and asked them to help out financially to make it happen. They both eagerly wanted to help. I called the Medtronic rep....she started out on a quick course. By Thursday, I was hooked up to a blind test "transmitter" as I called it to see if my blood sugars were "bad" enough to warrant needing it. And unhooked my transmitter on Sunday right after my 15K.

Oh, did I mention that my blood sugars on Thursday and Friday were so perfect they almost looked made up. I never thought I'd be bothered about good blood sugars. Well, sure enough Saturday night I ate a meal I think I incorrectly bolused for (insulin for food eaten rather than just the insulin that carries me throughout the day), and then ended up super high and then bolused for the high and got super low at midnight then high and then low...the infamous roller coaster that makes me want to hang in the highs. And all that the night before my first 15K (9.3 miles) ever!!!

Lynne, my Medtronic rep, said that if it didn't work with this insurance, we could try with the next. I knew I had already met my deductible, so hoping to see if it is cheaper now or later. We worked on cleaning the house today, and then set out to go FedEx the "transmitter" and it's charger to Lynne so she could send it to the insurance company to prove I needed it. By the time we got home from going to FedEx, wouldn't you know it...Ed from Medtronic was calling for my shipping information!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WHAT?!?!?! I hadn't even mailed it yet. The good Lord has been working all along as I was "just showin' up". Oy, vey...I can't quit crying today...I just wept in my kitchen. The thoughts that raced through my head after the phone call were, "I never thought being hooked up to a pump and transmitter would feel so normal." "I had no idea how much I would be grateful (not even entitled) for getting to be normal." "Normal-what is normal....today, I am...I am normal." And all this is possible, because I just keep "showin' up."

Well, I couldn't even post the exciting news about my 15K until I got that out of the way. I never ever thought that on May 24th what was an inkling of a thought about doing something 4 months off would turn into this journey.

Sunday, I completed my very first 15K...which is the super fancy and much more interesting way of saying 9.3 miles, which gosh, dog still sounds pretty crazy. Last week, my training partner and I walked around White Rock Lake for 9.3 miles (in 3h 7m 7s), but it was at a slow comfortable pace (something like 21 minute miles), and it was all about finishing. This week we were trying for a small time improvement.

Dina (our friend) joined us on our walk. She walked with Brandie at the last H&H Event for the 5K when I did the 10K. And Dina, Brandie, and I all traded off on pushing D (Brandie's son) in the stroller. He did great, but I learned quickly why Brandie gets on to him for squirming around. Any small movement, and the stroller becomes about 25% harder to push. He did great and was a real trooper for the walk. Dina only did the 10K, and she graciously offered to stay with D while Brandie and I finished the last 5K without the stroller (or D). In order to make the course more manageable for the water stops and the medics, the H&H crew suggested we do the 10K course first, then walk back past the finish line to add another 5K which essentially required us to pass the finish line (and small crowd) about 3 times before even finishing the race. I think this was tougher on my training partner than it was on me, as I was just excited to complete my first ever 15K. I appreciated the cheers and was glad to see people when we had only seen trees otherwise.

The first 10K were wonderful, achievable, invigorating, and I loved the conversations! But the next 5K seemed to be a definite new challenge for both my training partner and myself, but in very different ways. Brandie asked me to not talk to her once we reached the sunny part, and I quickly realized some things about my walking styles...with people versus alone.

I learned that when I am alone, I go fast, and I maintain my posture, my arms at 90 degree angles, my feet rolling, and my hips rotating in a much better position, but I also need my music and distractions when I am alone. I tend to go pretty fast when I am alone, but I don't mind giving that up for walking with other people. When I am with other people, I love the conversation, I enjoy talking, and I am charged by the conversation, even if I am tired or stressed. When I am wanting to quit, just being around someone pushes me through. Quality time is definitely my number 1 love language. But it can also be a distraction.

So after about a torturous mile of not talking (I felt like my daughter probably feels when we ask her to quit talking...I was just dieing to talk), a new friend Brenda came down the trail towards us to get the 5K turn around sign. I picked it up since I called Libby and we were the last on the 5K trail. Brenda carried it and talked with me the rest of the way back. She had read my H&H bio and we talked about diabetes. She works with diabetics, and I really enjoyed talking to her.

At the end, D was screaming for his mama, and it was very precious. He was so proud!!! What an awesome memory! We finished up in a pretty good time (one easier for me to beat than my 10K was) and by the time we did the math, we realized if we go at that same rate, we will be able to finish the Half Marathon in under 4 hours which is when the course closes (although Paula and Libby said they'd hold it open for us) and a personal goal for ourselves.

CAUTION - PROCEED WITH CAUTION
The below paragraphs contain my thoughts and opinions, which you may or may not agree with, but nonetheless they are MY opinions. I know they are not nice or the most politically correct opinions, but they are MINE.

I also noticed that the 15K didn't feel quite as boast-worthy as the 10K, and it really had me look at why am I doing this...am I doing this to brag/boast or am I doing it for daily health. I think the initial brag was a good motivator, but I also think that when that wears off it is what separates the marathon (or even half) runners (or even walkers) from the fresh resolve makers (which I have been 100 times before).

Today on the Tyra Banks show (I usually can't stand her) they had several morbidly obese guests who were trying to convince Tyra they liked their morbid obesity. One thing a lady who had lost about 150 pounds said, was that there are no fat old people. I thought that was really the most profound statement of the whole show, and I thought, you know, today, thank God, I am on the graph away from that destiny rather than towards it. I used to think "skinny" or rather "healthy" people just had it handed to them, that it was easy, but the more I learn about others and myself, I am learning that being healthy is work...hard work, but that is probably also more at the root of why people view as a general statement healthy people as attractive. It seems to be that our subconscious knows that healthy people are hard workers. I know that those viewpoints would be slaughtered on any politically correct forum or even if I posted that on facebook, but you know what...this is MY blog. And today, I am grateful that *I* am on this journey in this direction. Because I have been on the other way on that graph for many, many years.

I'm working on trying to get my motivation intrinsically versus from others more these days, and I'm finding a lot about the difference between walking regularly versus training for a half marathon. From what began as a far off goal and one of those things I'd love to brag about some day to what has turned into a lifestyle and part of my daily health management, this journey has been not at all what I ever expected (or I probably would have started it sooner, which ironically would probably have made it not as impactful as it has been for me).

My sister and my father are considering doing the Half Marathon also, and I am super excited about that. The main decision I will be facing will be who to walk this with and what is best for me and my journey. I learned this weekend that I need conversation, but that it can slow me down. I also learned that walking alone is more, oh, what's the word...I want to say monotonous, but in a good way. I am charged by the energy of others, but in that same way, I can also be oh, easily un-charged by others, too. That has absolutely nothing to do with anyone else, it is 100% about me and my makeup....how I am made. I believe that the best method will be revealed to me through time, but I just need to keep showin' up.

Lesson for the day: I am charged and de-charged by people's energy around me, not good or bad about them, it just is the way it is; the more I face my disease head-on, the less I feel driven by it; enjoy the milestones; JUST SHOW UP!!!!

Time: 6:30a - 9:15a
Temp: 78 - 85 degrees, hot, clear skies
Distance: 9.3 miles/15K
Event: Heels and Hills Dollar a K - 15K (first ever)
Time: 2:48:20.2
Pace: 18:06/m
MPH: 3.31
Half estimate: 3h 57m

The Loop

For the longest time I have been complaining about my neighborhood and how the sidewalks don't go much farther beyond our small subdivision, and the view isn't so great, and it is hard to get in more than about a mile. Well, I slept late this morning, and then committed to doing my 4 miles this evening. As the storms rolled in I wasn't sure if it was going to happen, but sure enough they left by about 7pm-something. We had dinner with our Life Group leaders at Panda's Chinese Buffet, which is so not a place I like to eat...just about anything worth eating is covered in sugar (and I don't eat sugar as a main ingredient) and what isn't covered in sugar is fried, and don't even get me started on the health department's rating of them. But the time together was wonderful, and we really enjoyed talking with them.

By the time we got home, I needed to get dressed in my oh so cute "mom shorts" that probably ride up my butt, my oh so cool PHanny pack (spelled with a PH cause it's so PHAT), and my super cool tight tech top. I just love how every bit of fashion sense goes out the window all for the sake of practicality and convenience when it comes to exercise. I am a practical girl deep down inside, but like to flare my pink here and there.

So, back to the neighborhood...while I like to complain about it and the poor long distances, I did find that there is a hidden jewel about my neighborhood that I think will work to my benefit in months and years to come...it is E.X.A.C.T.L.Y. 1.zero, zero miles around the outside of it according to mapmyrun.com. I am going to track it with my gps some time also for comparison. But it worked really well for me to look at my splits and at my mile rate. It also worked well for a late night, dark, moon lit, walk. And I think that 4 loops will be great in the future when I just need to fit it in. I was also able to bring Isabelle along for loop 1, she stayed for a bathroom break for loop 2, and joined back up for loops 3 and 4. She is such an awesome encourager. The entire time, (on her bike) she just kept going on and on about how proud she was of me. I just love that kiddo so much!!!

In my approaching 8 weeks I am trying out a small, medium, large or slow, medium, fast approach to my training. I generally train 4 days a week, either Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and then Sunday or Monday, Wednesday, Friday and then Sunday. But on day 1 (Mon or Tue) I am doing a slow, just get it done pace, similar to a stroll in a mall. I think I already blogged about this, but oh, well. Day 2, I am trying for a 10 min brisk, 10 min stroll rotation. Tonight, I did that and found I really enjoyed it. Then on Day 3 a 5 min "super duper fast as I can walk" pace, and then 5 minute "catch my breath" pace. And on Day 4 (usually Sundays) long distance...and just gettin' it done.

Well, these loops helped with my 10s rotation. So here are my splits:

Mile 1: 17:50
Mile 2: 17:02
Mile 3: 17:36
Mile 4: 17:06

I had to slow down a bit in mile 3 because my blood sugar got a little low at 77 and had to eat some "organic energy chews". Testing those out to see that I can handle the Tapioca Syrup and Cane juice without it jacking my blood sugars up too high and also making sure it doesn't trigger my sugar addiction. It seemed to work well, and I was happy about it not upsetting my stomach.

I also found that after mile 2 loop it helped to go the other direction and change it up a bit (a little different of a view).

Wanted to also add my new bio on the H&H Lucky 13 Bio Page....this is still sooooo crazy for me!!!! I can't believe I AM ON A RACE TEAM!!!! I keep mentioning to Paula and Libby that I am somewhat embarrassed about my "story" and where I am on my journey, but they both have reassured me that everyone starts somewhere and there there are "millions" of women who need to hear the story about starting "where you are" not some unachievable "where you want to be" place. I can't help but embrace the fact that I believe with every ounce of my being that God placed me in the path of H&H and H&H in my path. I am not going to give power one more time to those self-defeating thoughts that I am in an embarrassing place on this journey. Starting now, I will embrace, celebrate, appreciate, and encourage from where I am, not where I was, not where I want to be, but WHERE I AM!!!

http://www.heelsandhills.com/Social_Life/Run_Team_2009_bios.html#Jennifer_Elvington

Jennifer is a newer walker who got started in an effort to lead a healthier life and manage her diabetes and will be completing her first half marathon at the Heels and Hills and Him Half Marathon on September 27.

Jennifer has had Type 1 Insulin Dependent Diabetes since the age of 11, and in the 23 years since that diagnosis, has had not one complication. However, after having her daughter 8 years ago, she found that she was consistently gaining about 5 pounds a year. In her words: “A little extra take out here, less exercise there, and some life in between.” So, on top of the Type 1 (which is the juvenile, insulin requiring kind) Diabetes, she slowly developed a form of Type II Diabetes (where your body can't process the insulin). So her body not only isn’t producing insulin but now it struggles to process the insulin taken with her insulin pump.

Her doctor insisted on an exercise routine during her last visit - something 3-4 days a week for more than 30 minutes. She had joined expensive gyms, signed up with costly trainers, joined Biggest Loser competitions, and tried it all, but recently a friend of hers, fellow Run Team member Brandie, mentioned signing up to walk the Heels and Hills and Him Marathon.

Jennifer had walked and even partly ran some 5Ks in the past, but she thought there was no way she could complete a half marathon. She and her friend did some research and developed a walking plan that would work in with their lifestyles. As of August 1, Jennifer is 8 weeks into the plan – she has stuck with it! She finished the most recent H&H June 5K with a new personal record of 49:43. And Jennifer says, “My blood sugars and my diabetes are better than ever!”

Jennifer is a great addition to the run team, with these words from her run team application: “I am absolutely in love with the core vision of H&H - staying active in a fun and unintimidating atmosphere, with your personality, warmness, and positive attitude! I feel like I was the recipient of that at the past 5K. I participated in another 5K last year near my home and felt so intimidated and out of place. Feeling that way at the previous one made me not want to do another. While I finished 71 out of 77 last weekend, I felt so encouraged in just finishing!

I hope to be an encouragement that walking is a great place to start when striving to learn how to make being active a part of your life...in fact, in the past when I would set out on a plan of running before walking, I burned out quickly. My story is one of learning how to set achievable and personal goals rather than constantly comparing myself to others.”

Lesson for the day: My neighborhood is exactly 1 mile around, so when all else fails, the neighborhood is safe, out my door, predictable and great to time laps, walking on trash night/day stinks...literally...ewww, Isabelle is such an awesome encourager, walking at night has the horrible down side of totally energizing me...natural caffeine, 85 degrees at night still feels cooler than 78 degrees in the morning, JUST SHOW UP!!!!

Time: 8:45p - 10:00p
Temp: 85 degrees, after the storm, clear skies
Distance: 4.00 miles
Time: 1:09:33.67
Pace: 17:23.4/m
MPH: 3.45
15K estimate: 2h 42m
Half estimate: 3h 48m

Lucky, lucky ME!!!! And blessed!

I applied on a very far whim a few weeks ago to get into the Heels & Hills Lucky 13 Race Team. You ask, "What is a Lucky 13 Race Team?"

The "Lucky 13" Run Team is filled with happy, friendly people who also happen to run or walk. They are ambassadors to show others Heels and Hills’ core vision, staying active in a fun and unintimidating atmosphere, with a friendly personality, warmness, and positive attitude! Run Team members receive select race entry fees paid, Heels and Hills Run Team tech shirt, additional Heels and Hills apparel at reduced cost, the pride of being part of a select group, and fun socializing with other runners and walkers.

What a huge, huge honor!!! And this is exactly the next step I needed in my path of this journey. I am so excited. We will have races we will be meeting at and events to show up to and talk about how much we love H&H!!! That should be easy. I can't speak enough of how much I love them. I truly believe Brandie, my training partner, and I are going to be an encouragement to those out there who need to take the first step of becoming active by walking rather than running. I think we do actually have an awesome place to encourage those to get active!!!

I ran/walked last 4th of July in a Fireworks 5K and seriously thought I was going to sit down on the side of the road and call my husband to come pick me up. Only problem was, I didn't have my cell phone, so I had to finish. Every one, I mean everyone, ran, and so I ran, and 5 minutes later, I never could catch my breath. I finished with an OK time, but I seriously thought I was going to die!!! After that experience, I never wanted to enter an event again.

Well, as I started to learn more about the H&H Half Marathon in September, this whole thing sort of evolved into this crazy new journey. I thought about calling it an obsession, but my experience has been that not - one - single - obsession has ever last me more than 4-6 weeks, and we are now going on week number 11 with about 8 to go. Well beyond an obsession at this point, and now a journey. And I can guarantee you that at 5:10 a.m. when I walked out the door with like 78 degrees and who knows what horrible humidity it was not an obsession, but a journey....ugh, I can't wait for October. But we really are very lucky to live in Texas and not have to worry about the low temps like many parts of the country do.

I just still can't believe I am on a Running Team. Un.....believable!!!! I am not only lucky, but also blessed.

As I said, got out at 5:10a this morning to see the sun come up. Started to go down the road that has no cars allowed, but quickly listened to my gut and took a regular neighborhood route. I am trying to see what my fall schedule will look like incorporating my training and have thrown around a few ideas about either training super early or after school before I pick up Izzy on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

After school is starting to look better, although I love the sense of accomplishment after doing it in the morning. But...according to my calculations, at my slowest pace, around 20:00/mile and 4 miles, that is about 1hr and 20 m, so I'd have to leave the house by 5:10a to get home by 6:30a in which I still need about 10 minutes to quit sweating and barely enough time to be ready to leave the house by 7:15a to drop Izzy at school by 7:50a (I think that is her school start time). So, I'd probably have to get up at 4:45a and leave the house by 5:00a which would get me home by 6:20a with a 10 min cool down.

Ughhhh...that is awfully early!!! I am more of a morning person now than ever, but ikes, that means I need to be asleep and eyes shut by um, 9p so in bed by 8:30p. Oh, wow...how life changes by 35. Most people who know me would have characterized me by up til 5a and asleep until 8p in my previous lifetime.

After school, I leave the building by 4:30p, get changed to my clothes by 4:40p, go park at Izzy's school where she has aftercare, then pick her up around 6:00p. Oh, that doesn't sound any better than the early morning option. But in the colder months it might sound more appealing due to the weather. Oh, well, I'll learn as I go as I have been learning with this weather.

Lesson for the day: Apply for a team, even if you think you are not worthy, trust your gut and don't go down abandoned roads in the dark, GPS and mapmyrun will always have a little variation, round to the nearest tenth of a mile, enjoy the journey, and be grateful it isn't an obsession, JUST SHOW UP!!!!

Time: 5:15a - 6:30a
Temp: 78 degrees, clear skies
Distance: 4.14 miles
Time: 1:16.06
Pace: 18:22.2/m
MPH: 3.27
15K estimate: 2h 51m
Half estimate: 4h 0.6m

The Rock, WRL, WR...oh, I am so cool

The Rock, WRL, WR...all names for White Rock Lake. I, my friends, walked around THE ENTIRE WHITE ROCK LAKE LOOP. All 9.3 miles, that is, if we took the correct route. We finished it in about 3 hours 7 minutes. I was a bit discouraged about the time, as I would like to have my time a little faster, but I knew without a doubt I needed to take it easy to complete this far distance. I can work on time later.

I absolutely think God truly put my training partner, Brandie, in my life for a reason for this training. We help encourage each and push each other. We allow grace and truth in a healthy balance in each other's training. I only walked 1 mile on Tuesday, and the thunderstorms won on Thursday. So, it was good to get back walking today. She also helped remind me to slow down when I'd want to overdo it. I would tend to get too charged, but I needed to pace it to finish it.

I just can't believe I finished the entire loop. And I ran into my neighbor, a new Hills & Heels friend saw me, and we saw a lady in H&H shirt that I cheered to. And just saying that we walked that whole way...wow.

And while I was a tiny bit discouraged about my time, I did find that my averages are consistently improving.

My Half marathon estimate time has consistently decreased:
4.84
4.55
4.47
4.31
4.23
4.18
4.16
4.12
4.11
4.11

Those are all number of the week's ongoing average since May 24th in terms of decimals not minutes. So 4.25 would translate to 4 hours and 15 minutes. My main goal is to finish in less than 4 hours. It would appear that this goal is totally achievable, but I have to remember that my first and primary goal is to COMPLETE the Half.

Here are my ongoing averages for miles per hour:
2.74
2.93
2.97
3.08
3.13
3.17
3.19
3.22
3.23
3.23

And again, there is consistent improvement. And all these rates include even my super long walks and my super slow walks.

And these rates are my minutes per mile rates:
22.17
20.83
20.49
19.74
19.38
19.14
19.05
18.86
18.81
18.81

So, I want to celebrate that I have made very consistent improvement. I can't imagine what this will look like when the weather gets better.

New milestone today... WHITE ROCK LAKE!!!

Lesson for the day: Mile 2 still just sucks, walking that freaking far is much shorter I am quite convinced with a training partner and great conversation, it is hard to finish when we can't see the finish line, praise God the rain waited another 15 minutes, and add small poncho to the fanny pack list (yes, I got a fanny pack...things that were once very dorky are becoming very practical), JUST SHOW UP!!!!

Temp: 78 degrees, covered skies
Distance: 9.3 miles
Time: 187 minutes = 3 hours, 7 minutes
Pace: 20:07/m
MPH: 2.98
15K estimate: 3 hours, 7 minutes
Half estimate: 4h 23.4m