resolutions

Back at the beginning of the year, I made the outrageous announcement that one of my new year's resolutions was to begin training for the Boston Marathon - to run it in 2009, not this April. I'm not THAT crazy. After I made the outrageous announcement, I got really sick. And then school started, which meant I got really busy really quick. And then there was that out of town conference...

Once you begin the "putting off" process, it's downhill from there. (that's a running joke, you're supposed to laugh now)

So I've been procrastinating since February. I confess. But in the meantime I've committed to a final project in my "Thinking Theologically in Everyday Life" course on (go ahead, make a guess...) running. Running the Boston Marathon in particular, but since I won't be running that marathon this April, running in general.

For people like me (I don't like to exercise, much less sweat, ewww) there's a training program called "Couch to 5K" on Cool Runnings. It's sensible and do-able. You start by alternating walking and running, so you don't flame out in the first five minutes and give it all up. http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml

There's also a podcast out there, which I desperately needed. How could I possibly watch my watch while running? The guy who made the podcast uses great music and tells you when to run and when to walk, and is encouraging.

Even though we had rain and snow (at the same time) today, I knew that if I didn't start today, I would just keep putting it off, and putting it off, and putting it off...

There's a three mile Run For Women here in May. If I started the Couch to 5K program today, I could run the Run for Women with my daughters. Enough with the excuses, enough with the procrastination, just put on the expensive warm gear, lace up the shoes, pop in the iPod and GET OUT THERE. ~sigh~

So I did. And I discovered why the man who won the most Boston Marathons (and is the oldest winner ever) came from this little town. It's all hills. ALL hills. For a non-runner, I managed to start uphill and finish uphill. Argh!

So far, the muscles aren't screaming. The lungs work just fine, so does the heart. Thanks to Celia, I stretched out afterward. We'll see how things are in the morning, but tomorrow is a yoga day. Friday's the next run.

We'll see how it goes. Don't buy stock in ibuprofen just yet.