Last year I had my own mantra - Make it Happen!  My big goal was to do a destination race. I chose the Chicago half marathon. There were several reasons behind this specific choice. For one, I was living in Chicago when my son was injured in a car accident and I became his primary caregiver. There was something empowering about going back and knocking out a half marathon there. It was also my personal goal since I had felt like I could not travel to races due to my circumstances. It was an "Yes, I can!" moment. I did it to prove that I can do anything - it might take more organization and work than others have to face; but I did it! That was the premise behind my own "Make it Happen!" campaign. This year I have designed my own personal campaign again. This year it's my own Just do Something! fitness campaign. I propose to do something every day. My goal is for it to be at least 30 minutes each day and some form of exercise. Today will be day 7 of my streak! I ...

Before I headed out this morning I knew it was hot. I also knew that I was pretty tired and not feeling my best, and that's not always a winning combination. But because I run when the aide got here, I ran anyway. Just over a mile and I felt very sluggish. My legs felt like they were carrying an extra 25 pounds a piece (and no I haven't gained THAT much weight! lol). I started thinking that this run was a lot like my life. Over the last 4.5 years I have lived in what I call the furnace. Life is just one big trial; and like today's run - it can be stifling at times. I could probably use it all for an excuse and really no one would blame me. I was thinking about how my run and my life were so parallel as I was coming around mile 2. Here's pretty much my thought process: Ugh! This run is just like my life - heavy, tiring, strength-sapping and stifling hot. Lots of excuses...all of which are true - No....they are NOT excuses - they are reasons to survive! Peter says i...

Running for me seems to be about setting goals. Some of them are kept and some are not. Today as I was running in the heat I was determined to reach my newly set goals. Over the last few years I have set and made lots of goals - and set and not made lots of goals. But a couple of weeks ago it hit me real hard when I weighed in and found that I was overweight. (not a happy camper) I determined right then and there to make a difference. You see, I eat to fill a void in my life. But over the last few weeks I realized that eating more foods may fill my tummy but it will not erase the pain of the circumstance. It's up to me to change -  and I'm committed to the journey. By now I have earned the right to call myself a runner even though I didn't start until the year I turned 49. I've completed over 60 races - 7 of which are half marathons and one marathon ( that I crawled). Some might say that this is amazing but I still talk myself out of that. It's not really that ...

I know - long time no see - but I'm back! There are lots of holes in the story and maybe I will fill them in over time. For now I'll just start with where I am. I issued myself a personal challenge 9 days ago. My goal was to run every single day and to see how long I could do that. It didn't matter to me if it was only a mile - I wanted to see how it would feel to run some everyday.Then my friends on dailymile.com issued a 100k challenge. The 100K challenge is to run a 10K everyday for 10 days. I figured that would work well with my own challenge to run every day so I accepted it! Yesterday was day 8 of running every single day; and it was day 3 of the 10 day challenge. I've learned a lot already. I found out I am made of tougher stuff than I thought! (lol) That translates into "so far so good"! It's been difficult as my body cries out to stop and rest - but I keep going. The good thing is I am seeing some benefit already. I've started to lose a li...

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 really prefer to run outside even though I have a treadmill. It just feels a lot more profitable to run outside - same miles but a totally different feel. It also gets me out of the house a little bit which is very necessary for me. But some days the aide doesn't show up which means that I can't run outside and if I am going to run it'll have to be on the dreadmill! Not long ago I got really frustrated with myself. I was doing a 5K at the OKC zoo. It was for Limbs for Life. I did terrible. I got third place in my age group but I did not perform well at all. It took me forever and I felt like I was dragging. I blamed it on lack of training and not keeping my miles up.I think really there were other factors - but that's what I blamed it on anyway. Well, I made some life changing decisions during that run as I began to ask myself some probing questions. I asked what's your problem?  And why aren't you training properly? I also asked myself if I really wanted t...