I'm Doing it Again...

...because of this:

This is me Labor Day weekend 2011 at my first and ONLY 5K I have entered. One that I entered with absolutely ZERO training and ZERO motivation to do another one...

My Moma & Me after our 5K!

Me, Moma & my cousin Tonya!

...until NOW!

I'm doing it for my cousin Cody who has Esophageal Cancer and the many expenses associated with the fight of this disease.

I will be running along with the family members you see above along with hundreds of other family members and friends from my hometown and surrounding area for someone dear to us all. I think when you can place what someone else is going/gone through before your own you can press through anything.

I officially began my training Tuesday. No, I don't intend to place and who knows if I will even run the whole race, but I WILL be in better shape and health for it. I think probably that is the best overall gift of support I can give to my entire family, including Cody.

If you would like to join me or make a donation, click here.

And yes, I am now considering The Color Run and Warrior Dash- the Warrior Dash is going to include a wedding this year, my beautiful cousin Tonya, in the red above,  is going to tie the knot all muddy & sweaty, but that's another post and a lot of consideration for this girly RHOK Star!!

*Cody's Run

Cody’s Run is a non-profit, fund raising event to assist with cancer treatment expenses for 1996 Lone Grove Schools alum, Cody Dean Ponder.

♥Mrs. Hart♥
who is pressing onward towards this great goal!!

I Did It! My First Half-Marathon!

I just want to thank my fellow housewives for not kicking me off our blog yet. I totally missed the day I was to post last time and almost missed today! EEK! 
Since I forgot to post two weeks ago, I didn't get the chance to share about my experience at the Route 66 race. As you may recall, I had been training for my first ever race - a half-marathon. Our group at the Owasso YMCA trained three times a week for 16 weeks prior to the race. Did I forget to mention that we trained at 5:30am? And, on those longer runs we met to run even earlier than that. Getting dressed that early of a morning even left me with putting things on backwards and not even knowing it until one of my running friends pointed it out! 

For about 13 of the 16 weeks I dealt with extreme shin splints. I even did six weeks of physical therapy for them. During three of those weeks I also had IT Band issues and had therapy on that as well. Many mornings after a run you could catch me looking like this...

I DID NOT GIVE UP! 

There were so many reasons for me to give up on this goal. I had the shin splints and IT Band issues to deal with, the early mornings, and just all over pain early on. The old me would have just said, "Running is not for me" and gave up. I'll tell you what really kept me going.  It was the fact that I was so "out there" on Facebook with my running and all the encouragement and support I received from those who had been there or those who were inspired by me doing something I'd never done before. THANK YOU!! (Oh, and the fact that my thighs and butt were getting smaller. Ha!) 

I must point out, in case you've forgotten, had never ran a race before, not even a 5K. Here I was training for a half-marathon. To say I was scared is an understatement. I didn't even realize how many miles were in a half-marathon until I'd been in training for three weeks. DUH! Once I figured it out, I immediately thought to myself, "There's NO WAY YOU CAN DO THIS. Are you freaking crazy!?" But, I continued to show up for training. 

13.1 miles - The red part is the half-marathon map. 

When I first saw this map I was a little nervous, but didn't become too freaked out until we actual drove the course. There were SO.MANY.HILLS. To be exact, turns out the first nine miles were nothing but hill after hill. 

I actually rested well the night before the race. I'd eaten properly for the three days prior to the race and hydrated well. I'm so thankful for the help we got from our training group. I woke up early and prayed over my shoes before putting them on. These shoes and I have spent lots of time together training. 

The first part of the run was pure adrenalin. I enjoyed running with a few of my running friends. Several of us stayed together to almost the very end. The route was beautiful, but the hills were killer for me. I had not been able to do much hill training at all because of my shin issues. We ran intervals the whole race. We ran 3 minutes and then would walk 1 minute, over and over. By the end of mile 9 we decided we should have ran 2 minutes and walked 1 minute instead. We had pretty much exhausted ourselves through the hills. It made it very hard to stick with the run 3, walk 1 the last three miles. We did change it to run 2, walk 1, but even that proved too difficult for me the last two miles. 

Before the race,  the furthest I had ever ran was 10 miles. Let me tell you, miles 10-13 took everything I had mentally and physically to finish. By mile 11, I was fighting tears and by mile 12, I just cried while I ran. I literally felt like I was having an out-of-body experience. The bottoms of my feet felt numb, my hips were hurting, my chest was hurting and honestly, I just felt like I was looking down from above myself wondering what in the heck was going on?! 

When I came to the very end, (you know the part where everyone was standing and cheering?) all I wanted to do was walk in. But, I sucked it up and did my very best to make it look like running. I had envisioned running hard across that finish line with a HUGE smile on my face. It was anything BUT that. As soon as I crossed the finish line a few of my friends were standing there. I just bent over, out of breath, and bawled. 

Here's the video my husband captured of me coming in to the finish. I'm the one in the bright pink. (It's not a great video.)

I've had some people tell me the minute they finished they wanted to sign up for another one. I've even had truly crazy people tell me when they crossed the finish line they wanted to train for a FULL marathon. When I crossed the finished line all I wanted to do was fall on the ground, curl up in a ball, put my thumb in my mouth and cry like a baby. Who are those people? What gene did they get that got left out of me? I am STILL hesitant to sign up for another half. I'll never feel the desire to do a full. No, uh huh. Hesitant that I am, I am thinking about signing up for the Oklahoma City Memorial run that will be in April. If I sign up, I'm going to rush right out and get me one of these t-shirts, ASAP! 

I could not have trained and gotten over that finish line without my running group. I love them and the encouragement they shared. 

Michele and Shea - the two I ran with the most. Lots of good conversation on those early mornings. 

Michele even provided some much needed comic relief there towards the very end. :) 

Love these girls as well - even though I mostly just saw their backsides during our training. Ha! 

The majority of our group gathered together at the downtown YMCA before the race. 

So, how did I do time-wise you may wonder? I had set a hefty-goal for myself of 2 hours and 30 minutes, but was going to be happy with 2:45. I finished in 2:35:39 and that was with one potty stop where I had to wait a few minutes. I was pleased for my first run. I know I can do better next time. GULP! I just said it, didn't I? I said, "NEXT TIME!" *smacking forehead* 

(Photo taken when I was still happy at around mile 6?!)
Since the Route 66 on November 18th, I have finally ran a 5k. Mrs. Priss, along with myself and others ran the Jingle Bell Run benefiting the Arthritis Foundation last Saturday. I should clarify that Priss and my hubby walked the 5k while the rest of us ran it. What a super fun run, one that we plan to do every year now. (I got my PR - 32:19. I'm shooting for 30 min. on my next 5k.) 

Priss & my fun husband! I LOVE them! 

Mrs. Albright,
and obviously a glutton for punishment!

Doing the Impossible

Can you think, right off the top of you head, what seems impossible for you to do? I certainly can. Running is at the top of the list for me. I have never been a runner. Even when I played basketball in school, I hated the running part. It hurts for me to run. I also feel like I could be breathing fire as I gasp for air!

But.

(You knew there was going to be a but, didn't you?!)

Almost a month ago I decided I was going to go for a walk. I started putting on my tennis shoes and got a wild hair to search the app store for a couch to 5K app. What?! I hate running. I've always hated it. Why on earth would I download an app for it? Before I knew it, my FIVE year-old-daughter and I headed out the door.

As my phone "dinged" that it was time to run for 30 seconds, I started running. My daughter was running with me. She was keeping up with me. She was passing me. What the heck?! Each time my phone signaled for me to run she would run faster than me. At one point she hollered, "Why are you going so slow?" Honesty is the best policy, right? As I was gasping for air I replied, "Baby, it hurts when mommy's fat bounces!" Yes, we both laughed. You know what I'm talking about, don't you?

I wanted to share with you what app I'm using. It's called Ease into 5K. I used a free app for two weeks before purchasing this one. I really like this one. Here's what it looks like.

I really, really, really like week 1. Hey, I'm being honest. I finished week 1. I think I'd be okay with repeating week 1 over and over. But, my curiosity got the best of me and I went on to week 2. I'm still alive.

 

Can I also just say that the warm up and warm down are still my favorite?!   

But, my favoritest (I know that's not a word) part is sharing my run on Facebook. No, it's not to brag. Heck, what do I have to brag about? I just admitted that my fat hurts when it bounces. I hope no one thinks I share it because I'm bragging. That's the farthest from the truth. I share it because it is making me accountable AND because I get the most sincere encouragement for my hard work from some of the best friends in the world.

I came across this while I was searching Pinterest. It made me laugh because it's those two things that make me think I can't do this. My mind STILL keeps telling me I can't do this. I'm still not certain I can ever run more than a minute and a half at a time. Time will tell. What will happen if I can't? Am I a failure? No. I already am doing more than I thought I could.

This interval training is good, no, GREAT for the heart. I have high blood pressure and high triglycerides and my doctor told me I had to restrict carbs and exercise 30 minutes a day. See? There is a reason to my madness. I want to feel good again and not be on blood pressure medication or worry about having a heart attack or stroke.

I've not only started this thing people call running, I've also started Weight Watchers. I've been at it a little over a week. I did really well my first week by losing 8 pounds. I contribute that loss to staying under my daily points AND running/walking. I feel encouraged and motivated to press on. I've set a goal of a 20 pound weight loss by July 4. I'm almost half way there already. I. CAN. DO. THIS.

I've had numerous people (and by people, I mean runners) ask me if I've signed up for a 5K yet or if I'm planning on it. YIKES! I never thought about actually running a race when I downloaded that little app. My answer to them is always, "I don't know." It scares me. Again, it's my mind telling me I won't ever be able to run more than 2 minutes at a time. I'm just not ready to sign up for a race yet. I hope I will be some day.

My husband and girls got me some pretty high dollar new running shoes and ear buds for Mother's Day. I guess I can't quit now. Eek! I'm scared. Did I already say that?

Are you a runner? If so, I'd love to hear about any hurdles you've overcome or tips you could share with a newbie. If you aren't a runner, would you want to take this journey with me? When I say, "If I can do it, ANYONE can do it," I'm not kidding. There's never been a bigger anti-runner than me. Just take a look-see at the text between my brother and I on Saturday...

  

~Mrs. Albright

Defying the voice in my head, like a.....

Sneaking a Peek Into Your Neck of the Woods- CYA to the Sun!!

Twenty-Five years! Wow! That is the number of years that my hometown Wilson, OK has been having its annual Fall Fest. So hard to believe that I was, yes- 11 years old when we celebrated the first event. For the several years now I have tried to make it a point to go back during Labor Day weekend to celebrate this event and catch up with old friends and family. This year I actually participated a little differently.

 I ran/walked/giggled/talked/jogged and giggled my way through my first 5K!

I joined my Moma for her second 5K and my cousin Tonya for her first 5K.

I have been reading this book since Christmas 2010 called Run Like a Mother.  I started reading this book because I placed on my bucket list to run a 1/2 marathon by October of this year. Yeah, it usually doesn't take me nine months to read a book. I really do want to be a runner and not just a walker, but I need a magic spell placed over me to "like" running. So, I did not succeed in my plan of a 13.1 but, I do have my first race under my belt.

You know, it is a HUGE thing to do something like this by yourself  and train like both my cousin and Moma have done. But another secret that helps go the extra mile is the encouragement received from family, friends and other peers. Crossing the finish line was an amazing feeling of success and having each and every organizer, sponsor and participant that finished before us to cheer us on was an absolute honor.

Congratulations to all CYA to the Sun 5K Run/Walk Fall Fest 2011 participants!

My Moma & Me before the race!

Moma, Me & Tonya striking a pose- maybe we should just model running wear.

Ha Ha- Goofballs at the start line!

I really didn't want to share this one. See the support at the finish line. My son  is even there. We really need to work on my form. LOL! Oh and our time...we tied of course (even though I think she beat me) ...42.87!

Isn't this why you run? For the t-shirts.

That's what happened in my neck of the woods this week, what about you? Inquiring RHOK'in Housewives want to know! Grab the button, link up, and we will be over to visit!

♥Mrs. Hart♥