21 Days

They say it takes 21 days to make or break a habit.  So now that we’re over 3 weeks into our training, our running “habit” should be made, right?

Week 3 didn’t seem so bad, but then after typing this up, I’m not sure I’d call it “good” either…

We’ve gotten out of the habit of getting up at 5am to run and opted to run after work instead.  For me, nothing good was coming from dragging myself out of bed at 5am, forcing myself to run with poor form, minimal energy, and nominal effort.

Last Monday’s run wasn’t horrible, but wasn’t ideal either.  I started off with my shoelaces tied too tight.  After briefly stopping to retie my laces a bit looser, I wound up with the right side being TOO loose, so I had to stop again shortly after.  My shins were hurting about a ½ mile into the 3.5 that we had to cover, and once they started hurting, I felt as though I was running with lead weights tied to my feet.  I even remember saying around mile 1.5, “I feel like I’m trying to drive a car with four flat tires.”  On our “homestretch” from Hayden to home, across Osborn, was tough because we were running against the wind.  But we stuck it out & actually ran most of that stretch.  I can’t remember what our time was.  I need to get better about keeping track of that!  (By the way, I use www.mapmyrun.com to create our routes, track my progress, etc.)

Since Tuesdays are cross-train days, we usually walk.  I don’t remember much from it last week, really.  Walking has become pretty uneventful.  That’s probably a good thing.  We could run these days also.  And we both are planning to buy cheap mountain bikes at Wal-Mart in the next week or two so we can do something besides run or walk.

Wednesday we had 3.5 miles again.  While we didn’t run fast, we did run almost the entire loop, which was a huge accomplishment for us!  Suz & I agreed that we were subconsciously pushing each other – it was awesome!  It’s hard to work all day and then come home knowing that we HAVE to run, but when we’re finished, it’s so fulfilling to know that I didn’t just come home & veg out on the couch! 

Hooray again for Thursday-Rest-Day!!!

The entire week I was feeling more and more sluggish each day, despite sleeping fairly normally all week.  In hindsight, though, I had a lot going on again last week.  Monday my grandmother was admitted to the hospital for several different issues including severe dehydration.  She had been in severe pain for a week and had been unable to keep any food/liquid down for the same time.  Tuesday she was transferred to a different hospital, where they were running test after test after test to try to diagnose her.  Wednesday they told us she has congestive heart failure, but were still running more tests.  Later Wednesday night Mamaw was in a great deal of pain in her arm and chest, and she was afraid that she was having a heart attack.  We learned Friday afternoon that the pain in her arm was an ongoing muscle spasm, potentially caused by a needle hitting a nerve when they drew blood for her tests… or something like that??  I’m not really sure.  I can’t keep up anymore!  Every time someone calls with an update on Mamaw, it’s completely different from the last time I heard anything, and everybody’s versions are different.  Mamaw came home Saturday, but went back to another hospital again last night.  It is my understanding that she must undergo an angioplasty, but given all the different reports, that could’ve changed since last night when I last spoke with my mom...

By Thursday I was so mentally exhausted that I couldn’t think straight.  I literally had to stop one of my co-workers mid-sentence and have him start from the beginning because I simply couldn’t process whatever it was he was saying to me.  It was awful!  Totally could’ve used a mental health day that day!

Saturday was our first 5-mile run (dah-dah-dahhhhh)!!!  Suz opted to go out on her own early Saturday morning.  I was up putzing around by the time she got home & she said she felt good – ran the entire time.  YAY FOR SUZ!!!  J

Nick & I had agreed last weekend that we’d run the 5-mile loop around the Tempe Town Lake.  By Friday evening we had roped in Beth to do the run with us, and where Beth goes, her hubby Steve goes, so it turned into a group run!  By the time we actually started running it was probably about 10:30am, but the weather has been GORGEOUS, so we didn’t have to worry about it getting too warm that day. 

Nick has an application on his Droid that tracks our distance and time.  He paced at a little over a 10-minute mile.  I had to slow down to a walk a few different times because I felt sick to my stomach, then during the last stretch my knee was killing me, so I had to walk again (boo!).  I hadn’t been having any issues with my knee for the past 2 weeks, but it’s possible that I mis-stepped at some point toward the end that caused it to hurt so badly.  We were running against the Arizona Animal Welfare League & SPCA's Walk to Save Animals, so there were a few minutes where we had no choice but to walk – we were running again a wall of people and their dogs!  Thank goodness I didn’t take Percy with me!  She’s such an attention whore, especially around other dogs, that I wouldn’t have been able to walk, let alone RUN, with her in tow!

Speaking of Percy...  For those of you who have met my dog, you know how crazy she can be!  Well, over time, she’s developed this habit that doubles us over in hysterics.  Every day when we come home and change into our running clothes, Percy starts “talking” to us as though to say “I’m ready to go, Mom!” or, “Let’s go, Auntie Suz!”  Sometimes it actually sounds like she says “Hurry up!” which is HILARIOUS!  The barking and “talking” gets progressively louder and more comical the more-dressed we get – for example, once I sit down to put my socks on, Percy is jumping around and convulsing so hard that you’d think she’s having a seizure!  Sometimes she’ll even bite our toes & try to pull our socks off of our feet out of sheer excitement at the possibility of going out for a walk/run.  And, of course, we narrate what we think she’s thinking, “OhMyGodOhMyGodOhMyGod-LetsGoLetsGoLetsGo-HurryUpHurryup-OhMyGodOhMyGodHurryUpOhMyGodLetsGo!!!”

I can’t really describe in words how she “talks” – it’s somewhere in between a growl and a whine, maybe??  I always try to imitate it by saying “Wroowww, wroow, wrow.”  She doesn’t say “bow wow” or “arf, arf” like normal dogs.  I really NEED to catch her on video & upload it because it is so, so, SO funny! 

Only 60 days to go!!!

PS - Check out my friend JeVon's blog for training tips, info, motivation, etc!   http://jevonikner.blogspot.com/