I know I have been awful about blogging lately - the ever-growing list of to-do's at work keeps growing and that coupled with completing teaching two classes, giving their finals and doing final grades all hit when pollen decided to rear it's ugly head. I got super sick with bronchitis and a sinus infection, on top of awful allergies. So that has been my past couple weeks, just trying to survive! I am finally back to feeling like me again and the teaching two classes has now gone down to only one class, so I am hopeful that my stress levels will reduce some. I have also been trying to get everything ready for vacation which is now down to only 7 days!! I cannot wait!! Sun, sand, clear oceans, fruity drinks with umbrellas, swimming with dolphins all await me!!
In other news, I have picked up running. For anyone that has known me for long, the fact that I am/can run at all with all my health problems is a feat in and of itself. For those that have known me longer, the fact that I am running considering my hatred of it is another feat. We used to have to run with dryland for swimming. It was pure and complete torture for me. I would have preferred my coach just put me in the water and let me swim five miles over running a half a mile. I would never complain about the hardest of swim practices, but the minute he made us run a mile the complaints would start flying.
Fast forward several years, and I am about to have my back surgeries. The doctor is going over the long list of things I will never be able to do again. One was running, which at the time, I was completely OK with that. My thought was, "Wow, wish I could have had these surgeries back in high school then I would have had a legitimate excuse to get out of running for dryland!" Recently, I have been trying to get back in to shape. I know so many people that run and rave about how fast it gets them in shape. Add that to the whole I-like-to-prove-people-wrong and the whole super stubborn streak that I have and I decided to just try and run to see how it felt. I ran for the first time last summer about two miles with Scout. It wasn't pleasant, but was exhilarating at the same time.
This year, one of my resolutions was to continue with the working out and getting back in shape efforts. Having a vacation and being forced to be in a bathing suit expedited that process. So a few months ago, I ran with the girls for their walk, and survived. I then went to the gym and did the elliptical and wanted to try the treadmill to see if I could. I have taken the approach of cautious optimism. I doubt my ability to run and try it just to see if I can actually do it. Then the one day, when it was all said and done, I logged 4.5 miles. I wasn't completely sore or dead and my time wasn't awful. The next day, I tried it again to make sure it wasn't a fluke and was able to do it again.
It has gradually been that approach that was now got me to the point of logging around 25 miles of running. I have been able to get my mile run time down to 10:45 for at least the first mile, averaging 11:30 a mile. The one day I wasn't going for quickness, I just wanted to see if I could go any further on distance. I ended up logging 7 miles that day. Two days later I was back in the gym and my thought was that must have been a fluke, there is no way I can run that kind of distance. So I tried it again, and logged 7.5 miles. I will say that my friends that touted the vanity aspect of running are correct. Since doing this, people keep telling me how weight is falling off of me. The other benefit is how strong and empowering it feels.
I had never considered running events at any point in my life. This past weekend I was in Wilmington for a friend's birthday and was talking to several of her friends. A lot of them are big marathon, triathlon and runners. It came up that I hated running and preferred swimming. One told me that surprised her because of being tall she thought I would be good at it. I said well I have started to run some and don't hate it, so I guess that is progress. She asked how far I had been running and I said prior to getting sick I did two days at 7ish miles and was logging on average 20 miles a week. She said, "Kelly that means you are now a runner." Those word combinations have never been put together in reference to me. Later we were talking with another friend that had done her first full marathon last year and her second a few weeks ago. They were talking over the fears and concerns of doing one and it was mentioned that if you can average on your long run 7-8 miles, then you can handle a half-marathon. The one friend said if you can finish a half-marathon, then you can do a full because at that point it is mostly mental. The one friend looked at me and said, see you could do a half-marathon.
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