Day 82 - 2 days to go!! Biggest Loser

This week I felt a bit slouchy.  I really didn't run this week (aside from 3 miles on Tuesday) because I  wanted to rest my body.  I'm glad I did -- I feel good and raring to run.  But I miss the daily sweat for sure.  (Uh.  Did I just say that?)

Anyway, with all this non-running free time, I'm catching up on my Tivo'ed shows and one of my guilty pleasures is The Biggest Loser.  Holy crap, I had tears running down my face (damn reality television!)  The BL gang traveled to Texas to challenge the biggest people in the biggest state to take control of their health and do a 5K with them.

Wow.  Did this show stir some stuff up for me.  There was the stories of self-doubt, of fear of failure, of embarrassment, anxiety and assumptions of not being able to do it.  One by one these people shattered those self-imposed myths and whether they ran, walked or crawled - they crossed the finish line.

And then there was the last lady wearing team grey.  She was walking with her daughter and had to stop several times from pain and fatigue.  She was very out of shape.  The whole time she had to dig deep.  Koli and Sam (two Biggest Loser contestants) promised to go back and help her and they did.  It took this lady more than 2 hours and she was the last  to finish but her pride radiated right through the television.  Around 100 people were at the finish line and they were cheering for her like she was running in the winning touch down at the Superbowl.  As she crossed the finish line and collapsed into tears, she exclaimed through sobs, "I don't even walk around Wal*Mart, i use a scooter!"  My heart burst for her.  Here's a woman who believed she was so done that she'd been using a scooter to get around and had long given up on her body and herself and she had just walked a 5K -- she might as well have climbed Mt. Everest.

And I totally related to her.  Thankfully I wasn't at the point of needing a jazzy but  I can relate to thinking no way, not me and then all of the sudden discovering unbelievable joy and liberation when you realize you do have it in you to do something so momentous.

There's a quote that Nicole sent me this morning that I'm going to paraphrase.  It said something like:  "I run because of the adrenaline I get at the start of the race and the winner I become when I finish."  And I guess that's why we do this.

I can't think of better inspiration to help me cross my own finish line.

XO

Jen

Day 81 - almost there!

I'm starting to get super excited!  Only two more days!!  I've been training and working towards this for 81 days now!

I'm so proud of myself for this journey - regardless of what happens on race day because this was an amazing experience and life lesson about perseverance.  About pushing away excuses and going for something.  About working through road blocks, dealing with set backs, struggling with emotions, hard days, tempting food, bad weather, achey joints, crappy sneakers and illness.

It's about getting knocked down but always getting back up again.  It's about goal setting.  It's about accepting imperfection.  It's about shooting for the moon and landing in the stars.

My whole life I've gotten hot for some big idea, only to see it fade away after a few days or weeks.  To hit a wall and let it slip through my hands.  This is the first (meaningful) time I've set a physical goal so big and pushed towards it, no matter what.

It also feels good to have committed to and followed through with writing this blog (even on boring - not much to report days.)  I missed one entry and that was because I simultaneously had the stomach flu, a power outage and not much to report anyway.  I do love writing but every night this blog takes up a decent chunk of time out of my life - somedays, thinking about and coming up with something that I think might be relevant and interesting (plus keep myself thinking) takes as long as and is as challenging as a run!  So just being able to do this has been awesome.

Thank you for being a part of this life changing journey with me.

XO

Jen

PS:

Check out this information below -- you can check in with me during the marathon on Sunday morning!  The run starts at 9AM -- I'll post my bib number on Saturday night!!

**IMPORTANT PARTICIPANT NEWS** NJ Discover will stream live video of the New Jersey Marathon onNJDiscover.com on May 2, 2010. Portions of the race and expo will also be placed on Facebook,YouTube, and the New Jersey Marathon website for everyone to enjoy!  The race will be available on NJDiscover.com 24/7 for 6 months!  Tell your friends and family to check you out while you are running!

Day 80 - 3 days to go!!

"If you want to become the best runner you can be, start now. Don't spend the rest of your life wondering if you can do it." --Priscilla Welch, who won the 1987 New York City Marathon at age 42

OK, Loving that quote.

I think what makes it so profound is that you can take the word "runner" out and plug in any big goal or dream you have and it's totally relevant.

But for now, I'm keeping runner in there...

And Priscilla won the NYC marathon at the age of 42 - go on with your bad self.

Anyway, I read this great article today it can be found here:  Tips to get you motivated to run  -- number 1 tip was "start a running blog."  :)  I'm bookmarking this page for those days I just want to skip training.  I guarantee that you can't get thru ten of them without finding at least a little motivation!  There was some really great advice so if you are serious about running, definitely check it out.

This was a good one too:  five ways to break through road blocks  -- ahhh where were these articles the other day when I really needed them!  

So, my three mile run yesterday made me a little sore because since I cockily was thinking to myself, "pfff, this is only 3 miles," I decided to do a lot of speed work (well speed work for me - which is probably normal running for others.. lol) and I really pushed to run fast and do sprints.      I think I'm going to stick to the eliptical or bike the rest of the week - maybe a little power walking but no running.  I want to feel 100% for race day.  Can't wait!

XO

Jen

Day 79 - 4 days to go!! Ready or Not...

WOW!!

Here we go - only four days left!  

Got back in the gym today and ran for 3 miles.  Felt really good and miracle of miracles - my I-Pod came back to life!  Yippee!!  Thank you Lord for small mercies.

So, there's some good news and bad news - the good news is, I think I'm going to keep this blog going past the marathon, I've really loved writing it and a few of you have said that you'd miss it - so I figure that I should keep this thing up.

The bad news is (or good depending on the day) I'm going to have to come up with an entirely new finish line to shoot for in order to justify keeping this going...

Well, what does every athlete do after winning their big game?

They go to DISNEYLAND!  And I think I might just do that too -- Labor day weekend - Disneyland has a cool race thru the theme park -- what could be more fun than  dressing up like your favorite Disney character and running 13 miles thru a theme park as Mickey and Co.  cheers you on and rides like "Magic Mountain" and "Small World" wait to usher you back to your youth?

OK, stop laughing.  Yeah, there are a lot of things that could be more fun but no matter!  I think I'm going to sign up for this (at the suggestion of running buddy Angela) where our new challenge will be to run the entire 13 miles without ever stopping to walk -- and with an obvious desire to improve my time.

Just have to run it by hubby and see if I can swing it.  Will keep you posted!

Hmmm, I always wanted to channel my inner Tinker Bell.

XO

Jen

Day 78 - 5 days to go!! Rainy days and Mondays...

UGH.  I think I'm getting scared.

I felt super unmotivated today, in fact, I've felt a bit unmotivated the last few days.

The pouring rain kind of screwed me out of running outside, I finally dragged myself to the gym - only to get on the treadmill and find that my i-pod must really be dead. (I thought the other day was maybe a flukey, forgot to charge issue.) I did plug it in all last night so it's no fluke - it's deader than a a door nail and with only five days to go, I'm gonna have to figure something out.

So I got to the gym and still didn't feel like doing anything and with the dead I-Pod just decided to do a 20 minute power walk while watching Dr. Oz and even that dragged.

What's wrong with me!?

Am I self sabotaging?  Is it fear?  I mean five days to go - I've come this far and now I'm doubting myself, am feeling like blowing off training and can barely get thru a 20 minute walk??  Oh brother.  If I was self analyzing myself, my psychology 101 assessment would be I'm backing off from training as a defense mechanism, to protect myself from the potential of failure.

Or I'm just making that up.  I don't know.  Sigh.  I'll get it together and rally.

Hopefully the sun will come out tomorrow and I'll be back on track - 3 mile run tomorrow no matter what, even if I have to sing to myself the whole time!

XO
Jen

Day 77 - 6 days to go!! A week from right now...

One week from right now (8:34 PM - Sunday night) I will have run 13 miles and rocking my victory!!

For now, this adorable cartoon pre-creation, courtesy of my very dear friend Angela Lee, will have to represent my future accomplishment:

That's just too cute!!  Thank you sooo much Ang!!  You're the best!!  

XO

Jen

Day 76 - 7 days to go!!

It's the final countdown...

One small week until the sneakers hit the road.  I'm getting nervous and excited -- I'm excited to take on the biggest physical challenge of my life.  I can't properly articulate what made me take this thing on but I'm glad I did.

You know, besides getting physically stronger, this running thing has helped so much of my life fall into place - I've become fitter, a better writer, a more patient mother, more motivated to reach for dreams and even, "souper."

They say that one small change can lead to big life movements and it's absolutely true.  Who woulda thunk that just putting one foot in front of another -in a quick succession could do all it's done?  Not me.

I lost .2 pounds at Weight Watchers this week.  My personal weight loss goal since I started this thing was 15 pounds. (from 180 - 165)  I'm at 167.  I need to lose two pounds this week to be perfectly on target.  It's pretty amazing.  I only lost 7 pounds all of last year - I've nearly doubled that and we're not even half way through 2010!  So put out the "lose weight vibes" for me this week because I would be soooo happy to have also set and reached my weight loss goal for this thing!!

Happy Saturday.

XO
Jen