I found this picture on my memories on Facebook this morning. It's my second race ever. My nephew, Jakob, came down to Louisiana from Oklahoma to run it with me. He had been at my first race the month before and figured he could do that too. So he did! When this picture came up this morning 7 years of memories flooded my mind! I had no idea at the time that I would still be running today. The future was actually very fuzzy at that time and I was barely making it day-by-day. My son and I were staying in a nursing home in a small town nearby and I honestly had no idea what to expect. I had just found running and had fallen in love with it. I'm happy to say that we are still involved in quite the love affair. lol I didn't know I'd reestablish myself and build a home back in Oklahoma and become a full-time caregiver for my son. I didn't know I'd face my own health issues in the coming years. I didn't know I'd run 20 half marathons. I never  dreamed I...

This one sneaked up on me. I knew I wasn't feeling my best, but boy did my body give me a run for the money this morning. After I got off my meds last month I gained about 8 pounds and have only been able to lose a little bit of it. So, it looks like I may need to talk to the cardiologist about going back on the diuretic. I may give it one more week with some major changes to see if it helps first. I felt like I was running (if you wanna stretch and call it running) through mud this morning. I had a spurt or two of feeling "okay" but never did feel good during this race. I kept an eye on my heart rate and it never spiked, but it seemed to have a more difficult time coming back down. It was running a bit higher than normal and taking forever to slow down when I'd start walking. I ended up walking A LOT! Frustrating. The Go Girl itself was very well organized and as always - very well done. Except they changed the course from last year and I swear they did it so t...

This was one awesome weekend! I did finish the Cowtown Challenge by doing a 5K on Saturday and a half marathon on Saturday. In between I rode bikes around with one of my friends. I enjoyed the camaraderie of all the runners and the general atmosphere around the Cowtown is just awesome - Oh - and I met Jeff Galloway himself! He is so kind and encouraging - just like Mark Bravo. I really felt very under-trained for this particular event. I hadn't run much in the last two weeks and had only done one 9+ miler in the last month. I usually have a few 10 milers in, but not this time. But - it all worked out. One of the biggest struggles I have is simply not knowing what my body is going to do on any given day. I have to keep my attitude straight and just be "okay" with whatever I have to work with. Doing a race while traveling adds another struggle - trying to eat out without taking in too much salt. Hey- the struggle is real! One night we ate at Chili's and I asked fo...

Lots going on in my mind today. I ran a 10K this morning. It's the first I've done of this length in awhile. Overall it went very well. There was plenty of time before the race so I did a slow and easy .8 mile so my miles for the day would round out to 7. Actually, this race felt very good. I think it even surprised me. I'm getting a little faster (not really the primary focus) but I am feeling better while doing it (the primary  focus)! I'm on track for the half next month if I get to do it. Then I will keep my miles up after that to continue preparing for a full marathon. I'm pretty happy with my progress though it's been slow. Progress is progress  after all. So this week has been a rough one for me. I've gotten myself into a tight spot and I'm trying to make the best choices I can with what I have to work with. I had just about talked myself into quitting taekwondo. So a good friend came over this week and we talked it out and she got me to thi...

Okay so I tested up a belt in taekwondo over the weekend but it brought some emotions with it that caught me off guard. I actually bottomed out after I got home. Of course I was nervous about testing, but I've been told that just shows you care. I did okay and got the new belt....but I got really depressed afterwards. Why? I don't guess I know. The blue belt is the lowest rank of the advanced belts and just one step closer to a black belt. But for some reason instead of encouraging me - I found the opposite to be true. I began to doubt I could get a black belt. Honestly, I just bottomed out. I still have a long ways to go and many things to learn so I have no idea what was eating at me so. I really just felt defeated; with no justification for it. I also keep stalling out on my marathon training but mentally I'm still pursuing it. I know it's going to take longer than it does for most but I am determined to do it right this time. I really think I tried to cram a f...

I've been running but sort of been on a hiatus from racing. It's been a nice break actually but it's been more of a financial decision. But now I'm starting to itch ...ready to get back out there. I was looking at my fall schedule and penciling in some fall races - hoping to get back to a few half marathons this fall. As far as full marathon training, I'm still there mentally, but have a long (very long) way to go physically. I'm hoping for some good half marathons this fall to get my miles back up there so I can slip right into full training. That's the goal anyway. Right now, I've made adjustments and I'm actually doing well - even though I'm not doing a lot of long mile runs. This is very frustrating to me - but life happens. I heard a long time ago that delay is not denial. But I am getting older here.  I'm set my goal now on next year's OKC Memorial Marathon I think. That gives me plenty of halfs between now and then. Now to ge...

Well all I can say is half marathon #17 is in the books. It was by far the hardest race I've done and it was a fight between my body and my mind most of the way. The good part about that is that is made this the sweetest half finish line I've ever crossed! My mind is still trying to sort it all out but I feel like there are some things I did wrong and some things I had no control over. The last two weeks have been super stressful for me and even last night was stressful - just can't get a break on that and I guess I gotta figure out a way to handle life's stuff better. I'll work on that. I haven't slept much and kept waking up every hour last night to see what time it was - lol - I will probably never stop doing that. On one hand I feel like I didn't train enough between my last two half marathons. I literally had no long runs, I think I did one 8 miler. I've got to figure out how to make the right adjustments so I can train right, smarter and ...

This weekend I'll be lining up for my 17th half marathon. I'm enjoying that thought because it's not long until I celebrate 20 of these little 13.1 mile runs! You'd think experience would help me settle down to enjoy the journey - but once again I am as nervous as I was my first one. It's only been 6 weeks since I did a half but it feels like forever ago and I haven't had any good long runs since the last half I did but I have run. My lack of running is what is chipping away at my mind and heart. When I first started running 6 years ago I was surprised at how much of it was mental. I really thought you'd just put your shoes on and go for a run. I was shocked when I started having to fight for each race mentally before ever running it physically. I've run enough now to have plenty of ammunition. But the diagnosis of CHF and feeling lousy this week really works against my mind. Last weekend's trip left me exhausted and I have not run since Satu...

It started out pretty- but by the end I was rethinking why I even run to begin with! lol This was a very unusual race for me. First of all I started out great - had no breathlessness or any of the normal-for-everyone warm up feelings of yuck. Before I knew it, I was at the first mile marker and my Nike app told me I'd done it in just over 11 minutes. I was shocked because I thought I was running at a comfortable pace. For the first 7 miles it was a picture perfect race. I was holding strong and at the 7 mile marker I was at less than an hour and a half. That's nearly monumental for me. Then by mile 8 -close to 9 it all went away. My body decided I'd gone too far too fast and it began to revolt. I decided to push it since I was still in line for a half PR. I know... it was a very bad idea. For the first 6 miles I was under 13 minutes except for mile 3 which was a 13:06. I ended up with a 13:19 minute mile average - which all things considered is not too bad. I had...

Today I finished my 113th race and my 15th race at the 10K distance. It's funny now that I have finished a couple of half marathons (okay 15 to be exact - 2 post CHF diagnosis) I think of a 10K and a 5K as a "just" race. It's "just a 5K" or today it was "just a 10K." Even with all my questions about how I'm going to feel it's like I know I will finish, period. I may be dragging my sorry, tired old butt across the finish line at midnight - but the question isn't  "am I going to finish?" Something that happened during the race today caught me off guard. I was running/walking about mile 4.5 or so and a group of teenage cheerleaders were trying to cheer everyone on. They said, "you can do it!" and I was like, "Of course I can do it. Why would I be out here if I didn't think I could do it." I was sort of surprised by my matter-of-factness. Of course I didn't say that out loud because I knew they were...

One of the most important things I have learned over the last few months is to listen to my body. I have found this very difficult since I got so used to "Push! Push! Push!" But when I began to feel ill when I ran I learned that my body did not always respond to the pushing. Last year when I started having chest pains and retaining water my body started dragging behind. Almost every run was more like dragging a huge, heavy bag of wet tators behind me. It took everything I had to just pick one foot up one at a time and keep my body moving forward. I can't say I have adjusted well to the changes I had to make and I didn't start out really listening to my body very well. But over the last few weeks my running has improved and my stamina has increased. I really have to say some of that is due to making the necessary adjustments and really tuning in to what my body is saying. I find this very frustrating! Why do I find it frustrating? Because I want to just go run or w...

Yesterday I ran my 15th half marathon. But it was only my second one since the congestive heart failure diagnosis. I reached the start line with tons of questions and super nervous about the race. I just never know on any given day what my body is going to give me. I'm learning to listen to my body and it is making a huge difference in my running and training. The race went surprisingly well - actually I'm just as surprised today! I just felt so good. Now I will admit I had some chest discomfort along the way. But I slowed down and let my body get a feel for what was going on each time. I never felt like I couldn't catch my breath, any more than normal for beating down 13.1 miles. But my head went a hundred miles an hour all along the course. I didn't push it from the start and tried to find a comfortable pace that felt like I wasn't trying to do too much. The first couple of miles I forced myself to take walk breaks since that's how I've been training...

When I first started running I really thought it was all physical. As I continued training and increasing my mileage I learned that there is a lot of mental activity that keeps you in the running game. As I turn my thoughts to training for another full marathon (something I never thought I'd even say again) I'm finding there's a lot involved. My life has so many more complicated issues than it had 3 years ago! One thing I'm already learning is that I have a tendency to just jump - and think later. But this is different - and pretty hard on me. I have to make a lot of purposeful preparations just to get ready  to train. I have to get okays from multiple doctors - specifically the cardiologist. I have to work on getting my diet right and my body ready. You'd think I've been running for 6 years and should be in shape, huh? No - I have let so many things go; I'm ashamed. One of my goals for right now is to get some form of exercise in every day. I'd like...

That's it! I've decided to train for another full marathon and I'm inviting you along on the journey. For a while I thought I'd be happy just saying I'd done one. But I'm itching to try another now. This week I'll be completing my 15th half marathon and there's just something in me that makes me want to do another full. Maybe it's because so many think I can't. Just recently I was diagnosed with congestive heart failure. Yep - you read that right. So far I have been okayed to run. My cardiologist said I can run as long as I have my blood pressure under control. My primary care told me I can run carefully- as long as I don't over-do it and as long as I walk if I am having any issues. So using great wisdom - I push forward. I have a half this weekend and then another in April. I'm becoming "okay" with doing them even if I have to walk a lot for my health's sake. It still gripes me a lot though. Since I've always been a...

This is my new mantra - Make it Happen! I had a conversation with someone the other day who was talking about something they wanted to do. They could not even plan toward it as they began with all these negatives about why they couldn't do it and how it wasn't going to work out. I asked them if that's what they really wanted to do - they affirmed. I said then Make it happen! Do you want to run a 5K?  10K? Half marathon? or a full? Then make it happen. Do what you need to do to get it done. I crawled a full marathon last year and have another planned for this year. I hope I do not crawl the last 6.2 again though! lol. No one can do your training for you. No one can kick you out of the bed in the morning or run your miles for you. If you want it - go get it! This is just one of the life lessons I have learned from running (and life!). I can sit around and whine about how out of shape I am or how slow I run...or I can get off the couch and change it. But no one can cha...

That's what my body (and my schedule) have been screaming at me ever since I decided to put October 14, 2012 on my calendar. It's a full marathon in Wichita, Kansas. I think I want to make it my first. BUT - (my "but" always gets in my way!) -- it's only about 12 weeks away. I have only run 13.1 miles as my longest runs ever - all of those in half marathons. Not feeling prepared here... But I have to do two things - decide not to do the full marathon this fall... or suck it up and run! I struggle because it's hot... or I can't run outside since it's hot - which means putting the miles on the treadmill... did I mention I have a love\hate relationship with the treadmill? I love it because it means I can make my goals whether or not I get to go out to run... but I hate running on in as it's boring and provides no escape like outdoor running does! But - I must remember that despite lack of convenience, overbooked schedules, too much work and stre...

I have been running for three years now and actually next week will be the third anniversary of my very first 5K - runners you know the one when running gets in your blood? Yeah, that one! Well, this spring I did three half marathons in 72 days and I think I am finally ready to go for the full marathon. My goal is next April's OKC Memorial Marathon. I've done four half marathons now and will probably do a couple more this fall if I can find them in my area. Mentally I have already begun training. This means I really have to change up my diet and training schedule. I pretty well live in that mode anyway but tackling a marathon seems way out there for me and so I have to make a few adjustments. I hope to keep up this blog and share my training triumphs and woes. One thing I have noticed already is that it is difficult to work on everything all at once. When I started adding miles to prepare for half marathons, my speed suffered. It's a whole different mentality altogether. ...

So - I am in the middle of training for this year's half marathon. I was planning on doing another one this fall. I have been doing 2 races a month. Actually, last week I did my 3rd 10K and set a new PR. (Don't get too excited, I still came in 4th in my age group and still took forever!) I had another 5K planned for 2 weeks down the road. Then, a friend found an inaugural race this coming weekend. It's a 5K and a half marathon. We signed up for the 5k; and I was happy! Then she sends me a text and asks if I want to upgrade to the half. Well, you know I just couldn't leave that thought alone. But I have only done 8 miles twice since I broke my knee cap last August. I'm trying to slowly build up and still have several weeks until the scheduled half...but we just couldn't leave it alone.. so finally she had someone flip a coin and we won a half marathon! So now we have upgraded our status to the half come Sunday... What? I feel so ill prepared... but I oddly so...

Well, I just finished running 6.6 miles. That's the longest distance I have completed since I busted my knee back in August. I must say it was not easy! I had done 5 miles last week, and that was pushing it. I guess my run today made me realize how out of shape I am. My body is not just talking to me right now - it's screaming that I have to get myself back in shape by eating right. I know I am eating out of pure emotions - but I gotta figure out how to stop doing that...it's not easy either! I sort through a lot of my thoughts while I am running. It really seems like it makes it go a lot faster and I get a lot of goals set for the coming days and weeks. (usually) In between I do have crazy thoughts about things like not spitting into the wind and fears that I won't make it back to the bathroom in time! But I get a lot of my emotions and thoughts all lined up and controllable.  6.6 miles - not too bad for an old lady I guess. It's a little better than half of ...

I know.. none of us like to really talk about goal setting. But this morning while I was beating out a couple of miles on the dreadmill I realized if I want to do the half marathon (that I have already signed up for) I'm going to have to set some realistic goals. It's never an easy task no matter what - but coming off a relatively major injury sure does seem to make it more difficult.  The funny thing is that I know I can run 13.1 miles - because I have done it~! But I also know that I cannot do that today! I hate starting all over! I am up to about 10 miles a week again since the injury that sidelined me for about 10 weeks this season. (frustrating --sigh) And you know what? I really did not want to get on that treadmill this morning! It's difficult because I really like to run outside. However, I do not have the privilege of doing so. That means that if I really want to do the half marathon in April I do not have the luxury of a choice! So I have to ask myself How b...