Strong Run Today :)

So, I know that it's just a little victory, but I ran about 3.6 miles today in 36 minutes, which isn't anything big to some people, or even a PR for me, but I felt really strong throughout my run- which has not been a feeling I've had on many runs recently... so it was a totally feel-good moment!  


And then I came across this Paulo Coelho quote: "...when we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better, too."  


And it just really made me smile- because I've been working really hard in the pool and on the road, and that's why I felt so strong on my run tonight.  I put in the work and it paid off.  And although I have so much more work to do, I also know I should be proud of myself and celebrate the little victories along the way.  Woohoo!

Pursuit of...

I believe the common phrase is "pursuit of happiness"... but I don't believe that I'm running this marathon to find happiness (although I'm sure I'll be a smidge of happy crossing the finish line).  So what am I in pursuit of?  


I think that by pushing myself beyond limits that I can't even fully understand yet, I'll become a better person. 


I know that seems cliche, but I was so afraid of failing at this goal.  When I first thought about committing to this, I was scared to say it aloud to anyone, because I didn't want anyone to know I failed before I even began my journey- I especially didn't want to fail myself (again, before I even began, this was going through my mind!)  And then I thought- wow, this is so unbelievably sad... depressing even. 


To rewind a bit, My mom even jokes that even as a kid I'd kind of sit back, just do what's necessary, you know- coast along... I guess I had the original idea for cruise control, just not for putting it in cars.  I remember being content with Cs and Bs in school, and my parents would be so confused- why wouldn't she try for an A, she's so capable. I guess I never cared too much while I was in school... I did ballet as a very young kid, and by the recital tapes, it was clear I wasn't striving to be the best in show... Even playing sports all my life, I was more worried about playing and having fun than winning.  


I mean, sometimes staying on cruise control is worth it- if you're always trying super hard to be the best or most successful, you rarely have time to pause and enjoy life, right?  Not to mention you're so disappointed if you don't meet your pie in the sky expectations.  I'm the kind of person who's more worried about enjoying the pie- and I'll settle for the pie in the fridge if I don't feel like reaching for the sky.  Anyway, although I'm still happy to apply this mantra to some facets of my life I've realized that without Big Huge Risks, I will never reap Big Huge Rewards.


And running a marathon is the Biggest Huge-est Reward I can think of.  And obviously I have a lot of fear to conquer while working toward such a big huge risk, but it will make my big huge reward taste that much sweeter.


Just like I can't fully imagine and understand the limits I'll push myself beyond, I can't really fully imagine or understand the rewards that will be earned throughout my journey... but I believe it will make me a better person.  And if it doesn't, well then I'll never feel bad about how much time I spend on my couch again!


So I guess I'm in Pursuit of Betterness (or guilt-free couch lounging, whichever prevails)!

Medium Salsa, Not Medium Singlet

So it's been a while since I've posted to my blog... and if anyone out there is keeping track, and disappointed, my apologies!  

My "pre-training", as I'm labeling it, is going slowly... but as I realized that April 30th will be my 6-month mark from the race, I've been working to get more serious.  (I will also soon be getting more serious about fundraising, so watch out, ya'll!)

But alas, what has inspired me to jump start my (thus far pretty lame) blog?! Well, I got mail this week from St. Jude's... and as anyone who LOVES receiving any sort of R E A L mail, I was so excited to rip it open, just like a kid on Xmas.  

It was my race singlet... which was a Medium... the size I selected... and as the title of this post give away, the heat-scale I usually prefer for my salsa, and the size I usually prefer for my shirts... I was very excited, so I tried it on, and regretfully realized, holy cow, I am not a medium in the race singlet world of clothing design... but I guess with all my pre-training, followed by my real training, I will possibly fit in my medium sausage-casing-like race singlet for race day! 

So, that's all; summary: pre-training is going slowly but surly, I'm almost 6 months from race day, and most importantly the shameful fit of my race singlet is my motivation for at least a few more weeks.... That's all the news that's fit to print!

St. Jude's Heroes

Paige Boughan's Page

Visit my fundraising page (click the link above) for some more information about St. Jude's hospital.

Day Two and Hurting

I've always struggled with identifying myself as a runner.  Who is a runner?  How far do you have to run or fast do you have to run to qualify as a "real" runner?  Well, I'm coming to terms with the fact I was a runner... but am no longer.

I haven't been running since sometime in the fall.  And haven't been running regularly since probably last summer.  So all you non-runners, or runners who have also been taking a long winter break, can relate to how I feel on day two on the treadmill.

Muscles are very cranky with me, and Tylenol is probably a must before bedtime at least for a few more days... every 5 minutes on the treadmill I'm battling myself to keep going for 5 more.  

And at this point I'm already thinking about running for 4, 5, maybe even 6 hours.... CONSECUTIVELY.... seems DAUNTING.

But, like my Mom always told me:  Like the Nike commercial says Paige-ee, Just Do It.

So even though I won't look as awesome as the people in the Nike commercials, I'll just keep doing it. 

How I got this far...

Okay, well "they" say the best motivation for running a marathon is to register for a marathon.  And my particular "they" was actually my great friend and former college roommate, Kristen Wilson.  She has one marathon under her belt already (you are awesome, friend!!) and she signed up for the Marine Corps Marathon in DC this October. 

Well, let me back up a little bit- I've been toying with the idea of running a half marathon for a while- however, committing to any race is where I usually fall short.  But alas, I was determined to finally sign up for a half, because a full would be CRAZY.  So I decided I would tentatively commit to running a half, and ordered myself a book to help motivate me to actually register... oh yeah, and to train...

So I started reading Dawn Dais's, "The Non-Runner's Marathon Guide for Women: Get Off Your Butt and On With Your Training".  This is a humorous guide written by someone I can actually relate to- she LOVES watching tv, she loves finding a close parking spot, and she was also scared of dying in the process of training for her marathon.  The book encourages readers to journal their own marathon running efforts, much like she did.  And since I think it's likely that once I complete this marathon, I may never want to take one on again, I figured it'd be a good idea to follow suite and blog my journey because I rarely take on feats of this magnitude, and like I said, doubt I will after this:)

So now that I'm almost finished with the book, and saw that Kristen signed up for her second marathon, I decided- screw a half!!  I'm going to push myself to impossible limits, and I figured a short lapse in reality like this only comes to me every so often, so I should go with it and REGISTER!

Well, this is where my actual marathon journey really began I suppose- without registration, there is no journey... and would you believe that I went to the Marine Corps Marathon website to register, to see that it sold out- in just over two days of being open... this means that almost 30,000 people gobbled up the online registration spots in about 48 hours... these are spots that seal your fate of running 26.2 miles- I can't get past this- if it was sold out and I was trying to register for a free Macbook, yes, maybe shock wouldn't be my reaction... but, come on people!  

However, this was a good thing- because I found out, through some reading that I was still able to register, if I agreed to fundraise for a charity.  And so I found St. Jude's.  

So maybe it's all meant to happen this way... hopefully this is a sign I'm meant to finish my journey of completing 26.2.    I definitely want one of the 26.2 bumper stickers on my car November 1st if this all really works out for me!  Just had to throw that out there.