Somehow we survived the weekend without drowning in Hurricane Hanna's intense rainfall. Our official DBRM (dog bowl rainfall measurement) shows about 3.5 inches. I'm just glad our trip to the shore was last weekend and not this one. And our plants are happier than they've been in weeks.
It's been a crazy week with Melrose starting at her new school (and getting sick and sent home on Day 2) and Mommy and Daddy struggling (Mommy rather unsuccessfully) to overcome post-vacation fatigue and dig out from piles of work. Knock wood Melrose seems to be over her illness, I caught up on some of my sleep deficit this weekend, and hopefully we will all have a better week. Mommy needs to be better about concentrating and staying motivated, along with being better about eating lightly and exercising diligently. She hasn't been good about any of this in some time, except the exercise.
Back to first person. I have been working hard with the running lately. Other than racing to catch a train, I'd never run on purpose in my life until 4 years ago, when I tried it in desperation to lose some baby weight and successfully ran a 5K. I kind of fell off the wagon after that, and one more kid didn't help matters. I tried to gear up for a 5K last summer but we ended up going out of town the weekend of the race and I slacked off afterward.
Right now I am getting ready to run a 5K in three weeks. I don't care about my time, just about finishing. My goal is to do the entire thing running, but I went over to check out the course and they weren't kidding when they mentioned "rolling hills." Covered bridge notwithstanding, this has me a little concerned. Also, I haven't built up to running more than 1.75 miles straight. This has me a lot concerned.
I've done one 5K before. This was in 2005, when Melrose was 1, and I was about 15 pounds lighter (despite all the exercise, this number appears to be climbing, sad to say). I used this awesome program, which I can tell you works, since I am the ultimate couch potato (in more ways than one, as my college friends will attest). It was also a flat course. Completely flat, and along the Schuylkill riverfront with a nice view of Boathouse Row. The road I run on near here is rural but more or less flat - a couple of small rises here and there, but not "rolling."
Adding to my insecurity is the fact that my brother is a triathlete and my brother-in-law a marathoner. The latter has been a very kind and patient mentor, and has even offered to join me on my little races as motivation, but given my 13-minute miles, I hate to put him through the torture.
The key after this 5K is to keep signing up for subsequent 5Ks, just to force myself to keep in shape. Assuming I don't have a heart attack on the covered bridge, my next goal is to run in the Valley Forge Revolutionary Run 5-miler next spring, and maybe a 10K after that. The following year, if I really am a glutton for punishment, I would like to work up to the 10-mile Broad Street Run, if only because it would be really cool to run through the city holding up traffic all over downtown Philly. But that's as far as I could go. And for a person who has never been an athlete, completing any race at all is pretty darn good.
To keep in shape and maybe take off some of this blubber, I'd like to be able to run 3-4 miles as a regular workout. Then I could be like this enviably petite, skinny, smug mom at one of Melrose's friends' birthday parties who accepted a small slice of pizza, saying airily "I think I deserve this - I ran six miles this morning."
Don't worry. If I could do a six-mile run just for the heck of it, I wouldn't mention it later at the party. Probably because I'd be too busy beating people away from the pizza with a stick while inhaling as many slices as possible.
It's been a crazy week with Melrose starting at her new school (and getting sick and sent home on Day 2) and Mommy and Daddy struggling (Mommy rather unsuccessfully) to overcome post-vacation fatigue and dig out from piles of work. Knock wood Melrose seems to be over her illness, I caught up on some of my sleep deficit this weekend, and hopefully we will all have a better week. Mommy needs to be better about concentrating and staying motivated, along with being better about eating lightly and exercising diligently. She hasn't been good about any of this in some time, except the exercise.
Back to first person. I have been working hard with the running lately. Other than racing to catch a train, I'd never run on purpose in my life until 4 years ago, when I tried it in desperation to lose some baby weight and successfully ran a 5K. I kind of fell off the wagon after that, and one more kid didn't help matters. I tried to gear up for a 5K last summer but we ended up going out of town the weekend of the race and I slacked off afterward.
Right now I am getting ready to run a 5K in three weeks. I don't care about my time, just about finishing. My goal is to do the entire thing running, but I went over to check out the course and they weren't kidding when they mentioned "rolling hills." Covered bridge notwithstanding, this has me a little concerned. Also, I haven't built up to running more than 1.75 miles straight. This has me a lot concerned.
I've done one 5K before. This was in 2005, when Melrose was 1, and I was about 15 pounds lighter (despite all the exercise, this number appears to be climbing, sad to say). I used this awesome program, which I can tell you works, since I am the ultimate couch potato (in more ways than one, as my college friends will attest). It was also a flat course. Completely flat, and along the Schuylkill riverfront with a nice view of Boathouse Row. The road I run on near here is rural but more or less flat - a couple of small rises here and there, but not "rolling."
Adding to my insecurity is the fact that my brother is a triathlete and my brother-in-law a marathoner. The latter has been a very kind and patient mentor, and has even offered to join me on my little races as motivation, but given my 13-minute miles, I hate to put him through the torture.
The key after this 5K is to keep signing up for subsequent 5Ks, just to force myself to keep in shape. Assuming I don't have a heart attack on the covered bridge, my next goal is to run in the Valley Forge Revolutionary Run 5-miler next spring, and maybe a 10K after that. The following year, if I really am a glutton for punishment, I would like to work up to the 10-mile Broad Street Run, if only because it would be really cool to run through the city holding up traffic all over downtown Philly. But that's as far as I could go. And for a person who has never been an athlete, completing any race at all is pretty darn good.
To keep in shape and maybe take off some of this blubber, I'd like to be able to run 3-4 miles as a regular workout. Then I could be like this enviably petite, skinny, smug mom at one of Melrose's friends' birthday parties who accepted a small slice of pizza, saying airily "I think I deserve this - I ran six miles this morning."
Don't worry. If I could do a six-mile run just for the heck of it, I wouldn't mention it later at the party. Probably because I'd be too busy beating people away from the pizza with a stick while inhaling as many slices as possible.
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