Beauty

This picture, this stunning shot capturing such beauty was taken by my friend Skip. He captured this scene while running last Saturday morning with our running group. When I saw this picture for the first time, I was taken by surprise at the beauty it encompassed. Why did it affect me this way? Because it is in this is the beautiful place that I get to run amongst every Saturday morning!

As I contemplated this response to Skip's photo, I sadly realised how little time I take to look around at the beauty in which I have the privilege to live in. The truth is, the place I find most breath-taking and most beautiful is the beach, the ocean with its colorful sunsets, crashing waves, sandy shores and surrounding rocks. It is my place of serenity, a place I feel close to God and feel such peace in my soul with life. All is good when I am there. However, I do not live at the beach, I live a short 30 minute drive away. I suppose that perhaps I have neglected to appreciate the beauty that surrounds me where I daily work and play because it is not at the location that I go when I am anticipating and expecting my senses to be filled with the warmth of it's beauty.

Looking at the photo of this trail that I am blessed to run on every week, I can clearly see the beauty I am surrounded with. I live in a beautiful place and if I stop and take it in, perhaps I will learn to appreciate it and enjoy more. The ocean shore, it is not, but a beauty all it's own it does posses.

0 to 15

Last night I attended the A Snails Pace Running Club (ASPRC) awards banquet. We had a good time, so many people attended, the banquet room was packed to capacity! The room was loud with every one's animated talking and laughing, the food was delicious, and all who attended were "dressed", not in running clothes, but nice clothes that we are unaccustomed to seeing each other in. A great end to a great year!

Reflecting over these past 10 months that I have been running, I realize that I have gained so much more than lung capacity and mileage. I have gained a family of friends. It has taken all these 10 months to remember so many names; actually, I am still working on that! One reason why I joined ASPRC was to make new friends; I am so glad to report that this is happening. This is a good group of friendly, loving people, I feel privileged to be a part of them! In fact, without these beautiful people, I would not have "stuck to it" and probably would have quit after a week or two. Over these months I have been welcomed, encouraged, educated, coached, supported, included, and loved by this wonderful group of people. A big "Thank you" to all my friends in ASPRC!

Now, back to the banquet, this was an "awards" banquet...what kind of award would I have earned this year? In my mind, nothing remarkable happened, I did not run my first marathon, my first Ultra, heck, I didn't even run in my first race! I merely survived these beginning stages of running. The big accomplishment seems to be that I am actually still running! I remember that first run on a cold February morning, Mike and I ran so slow for a half-an-hour and maybe ran a mile while huffing and puffing tremendously! I remember when we realized that our mentors that ran with us for those 30 minutes on Saturday mornings, were actually just warming up for their Saturday runs of, 6, 7, 8, 9 or 10 miles! Unthinkable! It's fun to think how now a Saturday run for us can be up to 7 miles (and climbing)!

I have learned that this "sport" is one of discipline. I had thought in the beginning that I would just run, but, nooooo, if you just run, injury will soon find you (especially if your journey begins in your 40's)! Therefore, one must learn to run at the right pace for you that day, one must leave a day in between running days to let the muscles heal, one must learn the correct stride (too big and you may tire easily and risk injury), not to mention the discipline of getting out of bed on Sat morning at 6am, running even when you don't "feel" like it, drinking the right amount of water, figuring out when to eat before a run, and last but not least, the discipline of keeping on running when you are fatigued.

So, my "award" that I received says, "In honor of outstanding performance, A Snail's Pace Running Club presents Yvonne Miller With this certificate of recognition for the achievement of: First Steps-Beginning the running journey. From 0 to 15 miles a week - 2010"

At first I thought this award was so silly, however, now that I think about it, it is pretty significant. I have changed the trajectory of my life this year through learning to run. Because of running I have gained; new friends, good memories, muscle, lung capacity, discipline, health, self-confidence, a love for running, the satisfaction of going out there and doing it, more energy, knowledge, and yes, I have gained mileage.....from 0 to 15 miles a week in 2010.

Happy Day!

Oh, Happy day!

Yesterday I joined my running group for a 5 mile run. Usually on Tuesday's I do not run that far, more like 3 or 4 miles, but, I am increasing my weekly miles lately, so I dove in for the 5.

One thing different about this run was that Mike was not there. The impact of this is that I did not have someone who runs as slow as I do to run with, however, I knew this going into it and was ready to try to go a little faster. Recently, my running friend Don had encouraged me to try some "speed drills" on the shorter runs to build up endurance and lung power. So, I thought this would be a good opportunity to try to go faster.

As far as "speed drills" go, I have never done one. I have a book that explains how to do speed drills, but, I was not ready to try such a structured endeavor alone, so, I just ran faster.

I started out running at what seemed a normal pace for me, but then we went down a big hill. Now, going down hills I am really good at and can rather "fly" down them! When at the bottom of the hill, I realized that I was keeping pace with the faster runners in the group! Much inspired, I continued on. I fell a little behind, but for the most part kept up with them.

Another strange thing happened as I was running at this faster pace, I rarely took any walk beaks. In fact, it was the longest I had ever run without a walk break! Inspired now, on the way back, I purposed to run up the entire (very long) hill and equal my distance without a walk break. This I did, and when I made it to the top of the hill...I just kept running, no walk break was needed as now I headed down another long hill. I ended up running all the way back to the parking lot without a walk break! This was truly the longest stretch ever run with no walking!

O.K., so the weirdest, best thing about it was that I was not even really that tired when I was done! I was exhilarated! Really, I was too excited, I didn't even want to eat dinner! Craziness! I am ready to do it again!

All Geared Up!

Well, it's that time of year, it's getting darker earlier. Last week a runner was hit by a car and killed while running in the early evening. Not good.

Before I heard that news I was rather lackadaisical about considering buying some reflective gear for running in these darker months. Last Thursday I actually cracked a joke about my friend Don's new running vest that it looked like he was wearing one of those "kid-leashes"!

Well, this evening, Mike and I went to our local running store and purchased a reflective running vest for each of us. I actually bought the same silly looking vest that I teased Don about last week! I am taking safety a bit more seriously now. Oh, especially since a couple of weeks ago I had purchased a black long-sleeved running shirt, not even considering the darkness approaching! Now my black bank-robber, Ninja running shirt will have a bright yellow reflective vest surrounding it! (I will post a picture tomorrow after my run.) I never thought I would ever wear such a silly looking thing, but for the love for running it will! =)

I'm Still Here!

Wow!! I am amazed that my last post was Aug 2nd!

No worries though, I am still plugging away at running!
However, much has happened since Aug 2. In my running world, I got my first injury, yes, the IT band was injured. =( I got very zealous one Thursday evening and worked out much too hard, resulting in the injury. I then had to spend time recovering. I think I was more bummed about my recovery time than the pain the injury cost. Secondly, and much more fun, I got new running shoes!! Believe it or not, I was so excited about them I actually had difficulty sleeping that night!

I guess I have been really busy, I actually forgot about my blog! My daughter Jenn got married on Sept. 4th to Andrew Kornoff! Pretty exciting! Then two weeks later Mike and I went on a 7 day cruise! All this with work and school deadlines to meet. Well, here I am, hopefully in a little less busy of a state for a while!

While Mike and I were on the cruise, we ran! Yep! We really did! The ship has a running track to use. We actually ran twice. I was pretty happy about it, we ran in the middle of the ocean!! I have posted a couple pics of that run.

As for other running issues, I am pretty much healed from my injury, and Mike his, therefore we are now back on the road to making progress in our running careers! We have actually decided to run in the San Fransisco marathon this spring! We will choose to tackle the half marathon, a whole marathon will be the next challenge!

Cookies =)

The more I run, the more I want to run! As I add more distance to my weekly running it seems I add more desire to run. It is pretty nice. =)

The battle rages on however! What battle you ask? The battle of my deep desire to eat healthy, lots of fruits and veggies, lean proteins, and lots of refreshing water versus my immediate desire to eat cookies, coke, chocolate, popcorn, pizza, french fries, muffins, etc, etc, etc! That second list could just keep going!

I guess I will just have to keep on fighting, hoping that the times that I do eat in a healthy way will eventually grow and start winning. Maybe I should just take every little victory and celebrate it (with cookies of course!). No, but really, I need to just remember that life is a marathon, I am in it for the long-haul. As long as I aim to eat well and succeed most of the time, then I am winning. =)

Besides, who wants to live life without cookies?

Seven point three!!!!!

No, that's not the judges score on our performance, it's the distance we ran on Saturday!! =) Oh, sweet victory!


So, anyway, Don says, "Let's go up the hill, next week, it's just a mile further". Well, I was very ready to go further than our weekly Saturday run of 5.1 miles so, I thought that sounded great!

Roaring and ready to go Saturday morning at 6:30am, I come to realize that "just one more mile" actually means one more up and one more back. Seven miles, not six. Oh, well, I was up for the adventure and off we went!


It was a rather HOT summer morning as we began our run, but all was just fine, until we reached the hill. It is quite a steep hill. In his enthusiasm, Don tells us newbies the proper way of running up hills. He obviously thinks we are better than we are; run? Was he crazy? We were lucky we made it to the top at all! But, as you can see from the picture, we did make it! I must tell you, we look better than we felt!


The next couple miles were actually quite nice, all down hill. =) It was going well for me, that is until I was foolish enough to ask how far we had gone. The answer, about 5, was not what I wanted to hear. I was pretty beat and now that our downhill section was behind us, the run seemed difficult. But, we had no choice but to keep on going. About half a mile until our completion, my left knee began to hurt pretty bad. I chose to walk that last bit to avoid a long-lasting injury.


At the end of the run, I was pretty happy! The invigorating feeling of accomplishment stayed with me all day, I really loved it. I can't wait to do it again! It took us a little less than 2 hours. I think next time, we should go for 6, stick with that for a while though, and try 7 again in a month when we are a little more ready for it.


Side note: Mike's injury flared up the minute we hit the hill. Needless to say, his experience was quite different than mine. He was not real happy about it.

Mistaken II

OK, I guess I really don't know what I am talking about sometimes! So, the other day I wrote about how nice it was to finally have the heat here and run in it. Well, that was nothing! Yesterday the mercury hit 96 and when we ran 3.1 miles it was still 95! That was hot, for real this time!

When we arrived at the trail we were to run on, we were pleasantly surprised to find a nice breeze in the air. We thought, "This won't be so bad with this nice breeze!" And we were right. The unfortunate happening is that about a quarter way through our run, the lovely breeze stopped. Not good. My body became so fatigued that I needed to take more walk breaks than usual. It was difficult, I do not know if I have ever sweat that much in my life! (Interesting little fact though is that even though we walked more than normal, we made the same time...guess we must have run faster when we ran. Go figure!)

At the end of the run I felt weak, tired, VERY hungry, thirsty, and also very happy! We did it! We went the distance in the heat, we accomplished what we set out to do, that feels good.

I think I am actually really starting to love my new running lifestyle, feels good. =)

Mistaken

Well, i was actually quite mistaken about the warm weather, we have had a week full of overcast, 74 degree days!

Well, thought I had some time to write, but, apparently I am yet again mistaken!

Later! =)

Finally Hot!

So, yesterday was July first, and also the first day that we ran in the heat. I love the warmth of the sun. I had a four year stint living in a very cold place, cold 10 months out of the year. Now, my definition of cold may differ from yours, cold to me is when it's too cold to go out and get the mail in bare feet, shorts, and no jacket! But, seriously, I lived in a very cold (yes, freezing at night starting in late Sept and continuing until May, snow, ice, wind, the whole nine yards) place for those four years and after three years of living back at home in sunny Southern California, I am still defrosting! =)

Needless to say, I love it when it's warm! I have been looking forward to warmer running weather since I began running in January. This year has actually been unseasonably "cold" for So. Cal and we have had very little really warm days. Anyway, all this to say that it was finally very warm....what was I thinking? I have no idea why running in the heat is superior than in the coolness of 60 to 75 degrees!! After I returned home and showered, I was still sweating so bad that I could not even put make-up on before my 7:30 pm appointment regarding Jenn's wedding cake! Looks like the warm summer running days are here to stay. I will not complain about my beloved warm sun however, I will probably be looking forward to those "cooler" running days of the past!

Sometimes I am so silly! =)

Realities

This past weekend we headed to Concord CA. to "drop off" Alyssa for the summer so she can be a part of Concord Blue Devil's drum corps. Yes, this was a little emotional for me, she is only 16 and I will miss her! Anyway, along with the Blue Devil's festivities and first performance, we (mostly Mike) tiled a shower for Cindy (Mike's sister). Our intentions were good, honestly, we were planning on running, but, we were just too beat! We drove up Thursday night arriving at 12;15am Friday morning. We then had to be up early to get Alyssa to rehearsal and then begin to tile the shower. We also had several hours of school work to accomplish and a late night when we dropped Alyssa off at her "home" for the summer.

When the alarm rang on Saturday morning, we just could not make it happen. Knowing that we had another long day of tile, homework and a dinner party ahead of us. Also with the knowledge that we would be driving home after the Sunday Blue Devil's show (ending approx 10pm), meaning that we would not arrive home until approx. 4am on Monday morning with the first daycare arrival at our home at 7:30am Monday morning; we just could not physically do it, we chose to sleet in till 7am Sat morning.

We did not run at all this weekend. Reality, I am not 25 anymore, I am 45. My body does not recover from that much loss of sleep very easily. Actually, that is the first time I have gone with only two hours of sleep in years. I wonder why I thought it was appealing when I was younger? I just found it exhausting this time around!

Reality number two, I could not run on Monday. My body was pretty messed up from the all-niter! (I know, what a wimp!) Tuesday, we were back to our regularly scheduled run. I hadn't run since last Wednesday! We took it kind of easy because of our long break. After the run, I was glad to be back on schedule! I admit, it was actually difficult to get going again. It was good that Mike was more motivated than I and encouraged me to get back out there and run.

Reality three, it is VERY helpful that Mike and I are running together and with a larger group. When Mike is less motivated, seems like I am more motivated and vise-versa. When neither of us is motivated, our running group that is expecting us to join them on Saturday mornings and Thursday evenings, is motivating! If I did not have these people to motivate me, I would surely have lost the battle against my excuse-ridden will and not be able to still call myself a runner today! Thank you my Friends for keeping me on track! =)

Braces On!

Braces have nothing to do with running you say? Well, you really are right, however, it is part of the adventure, so I am including it in my blog! =) Anyway, I got braces on my teeth last Thursday. I have been waiting for this day for quite a while! They feel very strange, like some big bulky thing is sticking out of my mouth! Not really what I imagined. Oh, at this point, they are certainly hurting more than I imagined also. So, in a way I kind of feel like a kid, I told my husband that I am going through my "awkward" stage! My friend even made up an emoticon for braces... =(#) I love it!

Running has been going pretty smoothly. Jeff Goldberg (author and Olympian), Says that every time we run we may have to contend with our left-brain. Our left-brain is the one telling us that we are "too tired, or "had a long day", or "don't feel well enough" to run, and little things like that. We must tell the left-brain to be quiet! We must overcome the arguments of our left brain to be victorious in our quest for healthy bodies!

It seems that I have my share of fighting my left-brain lately! I especially had to fight it on Thursday when my teeth were aching because of my most recent acquisition of braces! Over the last couple of weeks I have had many stressors in just about every area of life! My left-brain jumps at every chance to get me seated in front of the TV eating popcorn instead of running. I have respectfully declined Left-brain's offers and have gone running in spite of the compelling arguments not too! That is not to say that I have stepped out the door with a happy face and a jump in my step though, but, I have gone out the door and I have run, that is the victory! Hurray for victory!

Three weeks later...

Wow! Time flies! It's been about three weeks since my last post! Twenty days to be exact. I suppose the wisdom tooth ordeal set me back a bit. I had no idea that the pain would last so long! However, it is good to say that as of now, wisdom tooth pulling pain is gone, that can no longer be an excuse! =)

Let's see, what has been happening as far as running is concerned. It seems like it has been slow-going. Last weekend, I will admit, that I did not run on Saturday or Sunday. I know, bummer. We went up to Concord for Alyssa's drum corp rehearsals and failed to run on Saturday morning because we were....too tired. I know, sounds like a cop-out. But, in my defense, we drove for 7 hrs on Friday and arrived at 12:15 am. We had to have Alyssa at rehearsal by 9am. Too tired. Then Mike, Pam, Ryan, Cindy and I hiked for a while at Mt. Diablo, so some exercise at least. Then Sunday morning, same thing, we would have had to get up at 5:45am to fit running in, and we just didn't do it, too tired. That's all I have to say about that. Oh, except the view from Mt. Diablo is stunning!

The new news is that starting tomorrow Mike and I are gonna get up at 5:45am and begin weight training! We have done this before, we do know what we are getting ourselves into! =) The plan is to lift weights three mornings a week, run two afternoons a week and keep running on Saturdays! We are both going off of soda (iced tea here we come!), and eating well. The plan is in motion. We are both very motivated about this as our Daughter Jenn is getting married in September (4th) and we are going on a seven day cruise in September (20th)! We are gonna be looking good by then! =)

Well, it is Memorial day, one of my rare day's off, no work, no school! Therefore, I am going to close this blog and go finish BBQ-ing my chicken and relax!

Wisdom Teeth

So, I got my wisdom teeth pulled last Friday! I am very happy about this as the next step is putting braces on my teeth! The light at the end of the tunnel of all the work needed on my mouth and jaw is now in sight! =) Anyway, I knew that I would not be able to run on Saturday due to the fresh holes in my mouth so, I got up at regular time Friday morning before the oral surgery and ran. This way, I thought I will not really be missing any runs!....Well, somehow I missed the memo from my doctor that I am actually not supposed to do any strenuous exercise for 7 to 10 days after oral surgery! This, I thought was silly, of course I would be back out there running on Monday. As it turns out,I am the one who was being silly! My mouth hurts, it even throbbed last night when I went to sleep. Needless to say, recovery is taking much longer than I had anticipated. Bummer. It is Tuesday, and no, I am not running today. I have pushed all thought s of super quick recovery and planning to run on Saturday morning for a short run.

I guess, when I started this whole running adventure, I never realized how much life would get in the way of progress! I just always imagine getting stronger and faster each week as if all that was entailed was running. But, life gets in the way all the time. So far, I have had a slight knee injury (Mike, my running partner has had an injury also), I have had a bad cold, bad cough, its rained on running days, and now my mouth has slowed me down. So, I must remind myself that it is about the long run (no pun intended), I am healthier that I was a few months ago and as long as I continue I will continue getting healthier. So, I must remind myself of these things and relax, find other ways to stay fit even when life gets in the way of running.....after all, it's all part of the adventure isn't it! =D

The Farthest Yet!

As you may guess by the title, today I ran the farthest yet!! 5.1 miles!! With my beginners running group, encouraged by Don, we ran to the lake and back! Funny thing is, I think I actually could have kept on going! Yay progress! I have become quite a believer in this run-walk-run method.

This past week I was ill with laryngitis, bad cough/cold. But, I still ran. It was challenging as I was feeling a little weak, but, I remembered what Jeff Galloway says over and over again in his books, take walk breaks early and often. So, I applied this to my runs and walked more often and kept the running a little shorter and...I made it through my runs feeling pretty good!

Another breakthrough happened too, my knee did not hurt when I ran on Thursday or today! That is the first time in a month! My friend Pam, who is a Physical Therapist, advised me that my knee was most likely hurting because of lack of muscle strength in my thighs. So, she showed me exercises to strengthen the thigh that aren't bad for the knees (no more squats or lunges). I have been doing the exercises and finally it has payed off! Thanks Pam! =)

This is a fun weekend, I have no paper to write for school, I am meeting my daughter's future in-laws for the first time tonight, and on Sunday, I am spending the day with a group of friends that I have not seen for 16 to 28 years! The sun is shining brightly and life is good! Oh, I am getting my wisdom teeth out next Friday, no running for me next Sat. But, then, I get braces on my teeth by the beginning of June!! =) All good things! =D

Rain

O.K. So, now another post in the same day....
Maybe I should call it "Disappointment" as I feel so disappointed about the rain. Don't get me wrong, I love the rain, really, I do. I also know how badly we need every drop we can get! Here's the thing, we are scheduled to run three times a week, Mon or Tues (whichever works better on a certain week), Thurs, with our running group, and Sat with our group. So, on Monday there was no rain, it's April and here in So. Cal, one does not even consider rain a possibility in April! Anyway we decided the schedule would work better if we ran on Tuesday. Tuesday came and with it the rain! ARGH!! So, we adapted; quite honestly I was coming down with a sore throat and Mike's thigh muscle was still slightly sore, so we though it best anyway. Wednesday (no rain) we decided to run an "easier" than normal run since we would be running the next day. Now, we are at Thursday afternoon, and it is raining!! Disappointed? Yes!

Guess I will have to pray and hope for no rain on Sat!!!

Patience is a virtue....



Post Script:
As it turns out, I am just a big whiner! Two hours after I posted this blog, the sky was bright blue, the sun was shining, the ground was almost dry, and it was warmer than it has been in days! Too funny! Anyway, I DID get to run, alone though, on account of Mike's injury needing more rest. This time when I ran alone, I did not count. I just ran till I was tired and then walked for about 40 steps (well, I guess I did a little counting =))! That was much more fun than the first time alone with only counting to think about! =D

Sacramento

Sacramento

As I have been investigating and learning about my newly adopted runners world, I have noticed that so many runners run in races. Let's see, there are 5K's, 8K's, Half Marathon's, Marathon's, Ultras and Relay's. I am sure there are more that I have left out or not learned about yet. Many runners travel to different cities, states and countries to participate in these runs. It seems that they are always having so much fun and adventure!

Well...this past weekend I had my first opportunity to run in a different city! "What?" you say, "are you in shape enough so soon to join a race?" Sadly to say, "Of course I am not, silly!"

However, Mike and I were up in Sacramento for a marriage conference this weekend and we woke up before dawn (5:30am) to run the grounds of our state capital! Our time constraints only allowed for a half-hour run, but, boy was it worth it! It was absolutely beautiful!

When we arrived at the Capital building it was actually still dark, the dawn was just arriving with the soft glow of the sun. Many birds serenaded us as we ran. Beautiful flowers colored our path and majestic old trees lead the way. At one point a glorious aroma filled the air! My untrained nose thought "Orange Blossoms", but no orange blossoms were in sight. Maybe it was cherry blossoms, I may never know. Whatever it was from, it was very welcome to me!

We ran through the rose garden (pictured), and up the Capital steps Rocky style. Every one who has been there is laughing, I know, but you got to take what life gives you! =)

It was very quiet, just us, the birds, a few cars, a couple maintenance men, and a couple "walkers". I certainly call my first (oh, another first!) run in a different city a great success! =D

Firsts

Yesterday I ran alone. That was a first. I have always run with Mike, Alyssa, or with members of our running group, not yesterday though, it ended up just me. I must say that I really did not like it very much. I had to do way too much counting! We have not yet acquired our GPS contraption that, evidently every runner needs, that calculates miles, steps, time, and beeps when you Pre-set a determined time or pattern of times, therefore we must count steps. Mike has calculated approximately how many steps we run per minute and we time our run-walk-run pattern accordingly. All that to say, Mike is the one who is calculating and counting...not me. I just run and let him do the counting! Well, if I am alone, then I must count to keep on track, not fun, pretty boring. Wow, I appreciate Mike's counting a whole lot more now!

I have discovered that as I engage in this running adventure, I am encountering many "firsts". There is the "first" Saturday in January that Mike and I woke up at the ridiculous-for-a -Saturday hour of 5:45am to run with our "Beginning Steps" running group. Then there's the "first" time I realized I really didn't have any appropriate running clothes, and as soon as possible bought my "first" running duds. Then there is the "first time" we ran two miles, and then the "first" time we ran three! Then there's the "first" time we joined the "real' running group(not the beginner group)to attempt running part of their 7 mile run, they left us in the dust as we are still very slow!!. Then there's the "first" time I tried running in a wilderness trail and getting my shoes and socks really dirty. Then there's the "first" time last Thursday we took a trail with the regular running group and ran to the dam and back, our furthest to date, 3.4 miles!! I have bought and read my "first" book on running. And humbly I will admit the "first" time (and hopefully the last!) that I tripped over a rock and fell! How embarrassing, I scraped up my knees and hands...I do not remember it hurting that much when I fell as a child! I am enjoying all these "firsts", well except for the fall, and am looking forward to the many more "firsts" to come!

My friend Skip, is the official photographer of our running group, and also the one who invited us to join the beginner's group, has photographed us along these past weeks. He has agreed to let me use his photo's on my blog! Thanks, Skip! So, hopefully in the next week, I will have photo's to show you many of these"firsts" that have happened along the way!

The Begining

I never thought I would be one to blog, and yet, here I go! My husband and friends are all blogging so, I thought I would join them. I informed my husband of this new venture for me last night and he asked what my blog would be about. Hmmm, it is supposed to be about something? Oh, that kinda puts a wrench in things, what to do? I began to search my brain for ideas, then I found the one! I will blog about my adventure of becoming a runner.

Yes, I have recently become a runner. Actually, my husband Mike and I began "running" with a beginners group about 10 weeks ago! I say"running" because, well, our lungs could handle very little actual running at first, and still we huff and puff quite a bit. So, I say "running" as a very loose term. We really are starting with a walk-run type of training.

So, I will blog about this adventurous part of my journey to becoming a healthier person. I have already learned much about my new sport, however, I have only read one book about it so far. My running adventure is already changing my ideas about long term health, nutrition, and benefits of a runners lifestyle. I am fascinated about learning how our bodies work and respond to how we treat them, hopefully I won't bore you with that! See, when I turned 40, (5 yrs ago) I decided that I was going to live to be 100, a healthy 100yrs. So, this new running life-style I am adopting is all part of that long term, live to be 100 plan...so, here I go!