Start the Year Right!

Today is January 16th and so far this year I've  only ran twice.  The first run of the year was on January 1st.  I had just run the day before and had a good run, I wanted to end the year on a high note.  2015 wasn't always good to me.  But I felt I needed to end the year the way I started by going out for a run. I ran a 1/2 mile without stopping!  That is huge for me. But I digress...January 1st was an overcast day and a bit chilly.  I ended up running for .52 miles without stopping and then walked the rest of the time.  The air was just to cold and my lungs were not happy.  But I was happy to be improving!

 Happy New Year!  Its COLD!

Below is a picture of my running log.  I note the weather, what time I went out, what route I took, and my weight.  Next I log my distance and pace.  I use MapMyRun app to keep track of my workouts but then I transfer the information into my log so that I can look back and see how I did on certain days and compare.  This helps me when I wonder if I am making any improvements.  I have also started logging how I feel and any other notes on what is going on.

 On January 9th the weather was really nice, low 40's and no rain so again I put on my shoes and headed out.  This run was a little different.  On this day I decided to run/walk uphill for 3/4 of a mile to our high school stadium.  And I have to say the whole way is UPHILL.  Once at the stadium I ran 1/4 mile around and then walked a few laps.  I then decided I could run all the way back home so I did!   It was all down hill but let me tell you it wasn't easy but I did it.  I think I will add this to my running plan from time to time.  I felt great, it was hard but it felt great when I got back home.   Its nice to feel like I am making progress. Its been a real struggle this past year.

Crazy to have the whole track to myself.  It was very peaceful and wonderful to clear the mind.

Who? What? Where? Why?

What is Eating an Elephant? It comes from the joke "How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time."  My elephant is to run a marathon.  26.2 miles.  When I first came up with the idea to write a blog about me dream it seemed like eating an elephant was just as impossible as I was only able to run for .2 miles without having to stop and catch my breath and walk for a little while.  I would have to be able to walk .2 run .2 for just over 65 times. That is crazy!!  It would take me about 6 hours to complete a marathon, that is without stopping to take a "nature break" or to grab fuel, or to run up a hills or anything that might slow my pace.

My goal is simple...  to run a marathon in Maui in January 2017. (Because if I'm going to run a marathon...why not do it in Hawaii.) I would like to run the marathon at a 9:30 pace and figuring in a few this and that's that would have me finishing the race in 4.5 hours.  Seems totally do able.

I have charted this whole idea out and on paper it looks totally doable.  It makes my think I can eat this elephant.  However, for those of you who don't know me let me introduce myself.  I am 46 years old.  I started running in September of 2014 with the Couch to 5 k program.  I was doing great and then I tore my Achilles Tendon in my left leg in October of 2014.  I started to run again on January 1st, 2015 and took it easy to start.  Unfortunately other factors were at play with my body and I struggled to run for just 30 secs at a time.  My frustration grew and grew as I struggled with my running, and also with a health issue I wasn't really handling well.  Finally in July I went to my doctor and let him know something was wrong because before I got hurt I was running really well and now I just didn't have the stamina to keep up the pace.  Turns out...I had developed Crohn's.  Yea, that was the condition I was ignoring.  Today I am on meds and while the Crohn's is under control my running is not coming back as fast as I want.  But today!  TODAY  I ran well. TODAY I hit a goal.  TODAY running a marathon seems like I can do this.  TODAY I know I am crazy.

Now as I said in my first paragraph when I came up with this idea that I could run a marathon I was only running for .2 miles at one stretch.  That was about 2 months ago.  Today, December 26th 2015 I ran .42 miles and .44 miles without stopping. One was at the start of my run and one was at the end.  I didn't get much more running in the rest of my time but I can live with that.

The whole point of this blog is to record the journey I am trying to accomplish.  To write down my goals and keep myself accountable to those goal. To be brutally honest with you the reader and with myself. I want to relish my accomplishments and acknowledge my struggles so that I can learn what I'm doing wrong and try to fix them. I plan to record my weight, pictures of myself, all the messy stuff on here so if you are not interested in reading about how I had to pee in the woods..again, this might not be the blog for you.

Tomorrow I will give you my stats as this entry is getting long winded. I hadn't intended to start this blog today but was going to wait until January 1st but since I had a major woo hoo moment I had to start this today.

Thank you for reading.  What's your ELEPHANT?

-Tammy