26.2 miles, 50 Years, and dreams

I started my summer with an idea.  That became a dream and that dream became a goal.  I now have a goal that will become a reality at the end of the summer.  I have come to the realization that if I change the dates and say "oh, I'll do the Dallas, or I'll do the El Paso Ultra marathon", I'll never complete a marathon.  I know for some it will be hard to understand why and for others they will see the "line in the sand" quite clearly. What am I trying to say here?  Well I guess what it all boils down to is this.  I spent a whole week thinking about my goal of running 26.2 miles and how much of a toll that would take on my body.  I was scaring myself and tried to rationalize taking a few extra months to train.  Then I started to remember all the lofty goals that came before and how close I got only to fail before making the final goal.  So after several days and nights I have decided the following.  I have drawn my line in the sand here.  My Line will be a full marathon in October of 2014.  I know that I need to train and train hard and consistently.  I know I need to drop more than a few pounds.  I know that the summer is the wrong time of the year to start training for such a large goal, but if not now, then when?   After bouncing back and forth for seven days and arguing with my inner self, I am not backing down.  I will be 50 in July of 2014 and I am running a full marathon on 12 October 2014.  I'm not changing my mind.  If you don't understand or think I'm just plain nuts, I ask only that you keep your thoughts to yourself.  If you can't support me, then stay out of my way.  And I really don't want people to think I'm being rude by making those two statements, I just want everyone to understand how serious I am about this.  If you are not a runner it's hard to explain "running".  I have my eye on the horizon and a goal.  It's my dream.  It's a journey I will have to make alone and I am okay with this.  I may fail in October and if I do then I will step back and look at other options.  With that said I dedicate the summer training and marathon to my children and my grand-daughters.  I want them all to know.  "She believed she could, so she did." There will come a time when you will have to make a choice to stand your ground and not back down.  I hope I make you proud.  Love you all, Mom.  T

Vacation, breaks and taking it easy.

     This past week I took my finals for the two classes I was taking this Spring semester and I'm now ready to take a small break from my college classes.  I have one more class that I will take before beginning the nursing program to complete my BSN.  Pathophysiology isn't really needed unless I do the "sit in class" program or I go on to finish my masters.  I haven't decided which type of BS program, either on line or class room, and I've not ruled out going on for my Masters yet either.   So I have decided that I will take the class so I won't have to scramble later for any route I choose.  So I have a few months that I won't have to crack open a college text book.  But that doesn't mean that I won't be studying something.   I sometimes think I just live to put too much on my plate.  Why?  I've decided that I want to become Med/Surg certified and I'm also looking into becoming Hospice certified as well.  I am also going to try and learn a little more Spanish to help with my work.  Somewhere up above my Grandmother Inez is smiling I'm sure because she always wanted us (her grand-children) to know how to converse with her.  So I think I place more on my own shoulders than any one else ever could.  I'm always pushing myself to do better and do more.  

     I haven't given up on my over all health or weight loss goals at this point, but I have decided to try to approach it from another angle, AGAIN, LOL.  I have to laugh because it seems on this subject I am in constant change.  I think I finally need to learn to love my body for what it is now and just work on getting healthy.  I'm not happy with the way my body looks.  I will never like all the "lumps and rolls" I have, but if I can't love me for me, I don't think I'll ever figure it out the getting healthy thing.  So I am going to try to learn to love my body and me the way I am now and work on just getting healthy.  I have taken steps on moving that way and I will continue to push myself to take more.  I want to try push myself to eat better, but I am not as knowledgeable as I would like in that area.  I know what I should eat and about portion control, but I lack the knowledge on making it filling and tasty.  I need to learn how to transition away from processed foods and make items that both my husband and I will both eat.  Plus making it convenient for my sometimes hectic life style.  I know I need to be lighter than I am now to run my full marathon in October so I will have a goal to lose some weight.  I also need to go in and have my body looked at to see if we can find the reason for being stiff and sore when I walk.  But I won't back down from the goal of completing 26.2 in October.  

    So with that said I need to get off my tushy and start moving again so I will spend part of my day today writing out my training plan and I plan on starting off with walking today.  So time to get busy again, that means my vacation and taking it easy is over!  Let's get busy!  Until next week!!! 

It's been a while!

 It's been almost a year since I've written on this blog.  I've not stopped running, but I haven't run as well as I've wanted either.  I've not stopped trying to lose weight but I've not reached my goal either.  I ran my third 1/2 marathon on Sunday, it wasn't pretty.  So I'm giving myself a few days to recuperate from that horrible run and then I need to get serious about my first full marathon.  I've decided that I'm not good about following through with plans, but I have also seen how ugly a run can be if you are not ready.  I need figure out how to stay on track for the next five months.  If I can't 26.2 miles in October is going to hurt.  This summer my cousins and I will celebrate a large mile stone.  The three of us will turn 50 during the summer.  Last summer as I was training I thought about what I wanted to accomplish the following year.  The fall was full of disappointments and the goals faded.  Our house was filled with changes as the new year began, but in February my goal of completing a full marathon peeked out on Valentine's day.  My husband asked what I wanted for the holiday.  I was searching the web at the time and was looking at the Prairie Fire's web page where they had announced a Back2Back challenge and so I replied to him, "I want to run a 1/2 marathon in May and a Full marathon in October.  I want to complete this challenge.  He then paid for my registration fee for the challenge and took me out to get me new shoes and equipment to get me started for my challenge.  I had a goal of being under 200 pounds for the spring race, my weight the day I left for the race was 202.  

Missed it by 3-4 pounds. I wanted to do well during the race, I ended up just being thankful to complete it.  While he could clear the road for me to take on the challenge, as much as he loves me he can not do the challenge for me.  I did have goals for the 1/2 marathon and I was close to meeting them, but still did not quite make them.  I'm frustrated by the fact that I can't reach my goals.  So I've spent the few days thinking about the fall race and what I wanted to accomplish for that race. (Believe me when you have to drive for 13 hours alone both ways you have plenty of time to think.)  First let me say sorry for being all over the place with this blog.  That's kind of the way that my mind has been going over the past weekend.  So having said that this is what I have decided.  In the fall I'd like to be a little lighter in the weight department and I will try to lose some of this weight.  The main reason is because 26 miles is a long way to go carrying around over 200 pounds, but I'm not going to give a specific amount.  I instead will pledge to eat better while training and allow myself one day a month to splurge.  So if I weight less than 202 pounds on October 14,2014, it will be a goal reached.  I also will not give myself a time goal for the race.  Well, I want to finish before the 7 hour deadline set by the Prairie Fire race, after 7 hours they will no longer keep the roads closed for you.

So any time before 7 hours will be a win for me.  I'm not going to back down from the full marathon challenge, I will complete it.  Yes, I know that 26.2 miles is NOT a walk in the park.  Yes, I understand that by the end of the race I will be a total mess.  I've had several tell me that it's okay to lower my goal, that I should do another 1/2, but I'm not backing down from the 26.  I can and I will stand up and face the beast.  I may not conquer the beast with style and grace, but I will conquer the beast.  The 26.2 is my choice, I know the risks, I also know I'm tired of backing down. I will officially begin my training on Sunday 11 May 2014.  I will do my best to blog about the training, the race that I just completed and a lot of other mindless stuff.  Help keep me on track and push me while I reach deep down and push myself this summer.  What is your dream?   Grab a dream and come chase it with me!