But I like these photos. 1st - Because it has my son and I doing something together and I love that he does these events with me. 2nd - Because I'm in my element. RUNNING. I love to run. It makes me feel free and relaxed and empowered.
I used to be a competitive runner. I was fast and even placed in a few distance races in college. Early in my 20s I entered a long deep depression and I quit running. I gained weight and then thought I couldn't run because I weighed too much. The cycle continued.
A couple of years ago, I started trying to run again in order to lose some weight. But I didn't fix the depression part and I felt sorry for myself because I wasn't the runner I used to be and I didn't train the right way. This led to 1 injury after another which confirmed my poor attitude that I couldn't run anymore.
Well, I've done some counseling and I am feeling so much better and I am ready to tackle this running thing again, but in a different way.
My favorite races that I have had the most fun at were the few Disney races I ran. They are usually pretty flat, have tons of entertainment and lots of music. The top picture is when Alex and I finished the Up 5K in Walt Disney World. I went on the next day to complete the 1/2 marathon and the next day got through about 8 miles of the full marathon (I'm rather slow and was running behind a walker who missed the class on tying your shoes BEFORE the race begins. I stopped when she stooped down and another runner crashed into me. I flipped over her and jammed my shoulder - I was {am} a tad angry).
So here's my goal: RUN ALL THE RUNDISNEY RACES IN 2013. This consists of 14 races in 7 race weekends (7 - 5Ks -- 1 - 10miler -- 5 - 1/2 marathons and 1 full marathon).
NO, I'm not crazy. I promise. I'M EXCITED. This time, I'm going to do the Jeff Galloway program which focuses on injury-free running. My mother is TOTALLY freaked out. In my half-assed attempted in the past 2 years, I have had a litany of injuries. My jammed shoulder was the least of my concerns. I had 8 stress fractures, plantar fascitis, sprains, strains and I actually gained weight instead of loosing it.
I am wondering if folks could help me along my journey in a few ways:
1) PRAY - This is a large undertaking. I'm going to have to work MORE (I know less seems logical since I need train, but I also have to pay for this weird idea). I'm going to need to keep at it and Lord, PLEASE, I need to avoid injury.
2) Come Back Here - While counseling has been an enormous help in changing my thought patterns and bring me more out of my shell (most people don't know that once upon a time, I was a weird kooky outgoing personality), I still have a bit of a tendency to slip back into negative self-sabotage thinking. If folks could come back and support me in this, I think I can keep myself out of this rut.
3) Kick my butt once in awhile - If you here me make excuses to get out of runs, yelling at me is fine. The Jeff Galloway program has a very high success rate for preventing injuries, but since it is so easy going on the body, every single run is important to do in order to increase strength and endurance. Please don't let me get away with excuses
4) Donate? I'm not going to spend the next year begging for money, but if you did want to give up a latte and send me $5 a month, I'm not going to turn that down. I'm going to work every extra shift I can, do as many classes as I can in my business and pinch every dime I can. I'm NOT going into debt for this though. I'm estimating that this is going to cost between $10,000 and $13,000. Disney races tend to have some of the higher entrance fees. There is also airfare, hotels, food, good shoes and insoles (prior foot injury to prevent recurrence), clothes (I really hope this helps me drop a few pounds) and body glide (I'd bathe in that stuff if I could... It's miraculous) to consider.
Thanks all for reading my craziness and I hope you'll come back often to check in!
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