Running Cow

Got out to the park this morning for my first training workout for Couch-to-5K: Week Two. Last week went smoothly, so this was my big chance to move up to week two, day one… now with 50% longer jogging intervals! Whee!

Actually, it went well. Turns out that 90 seconds is only 30 seconds more than 60 seconds, did you know that? So I just turned on my iPod, hit “play” for the week 2 podcast, and listened to the cues for when to walk and when to jog.

As fate would have it, my second jogging interval found me squarely at the bottom of the Big Nasty Hill. But, I pressed on and slowly jogged up without stopping. [Yay, me!] By the time I came around to it again, I was at the end of my last walking interval, just before the very last jog. I figure that I just have to get used to it… there is really no way for me to avoid hills if I am going to walk or jog around where I live. In fact, training on those ever-present hills made a huge difference for me when I rode last summer in the MS150: Bike the Bluegrass. So I figure that learning to jog on hills will be good for me down the road. So to speak.

I don’t think I’ll ever get past the feeling of awkwardness when I run. I know that great runners are supposed to have long legs, not unlike those with which I have been blessed… but apart from that, I would say my physique is not exactly a runner’s physique. Talk to me again if I ever shed 20-30 lbs. Maybe at that point I will start to feel a little less like my self-given Indian name: “Running Cow.”

Still not a runner… :)

…but I did get through the first week of couch-to-5K without too much trouble. I did the workouts on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. [On Tuesday and Thursday I did one of my other favorite exercise programs, Jillian Michaels' 30-day Shred.] I am still not sure I will be able to make it all the way to running 30 minutes straight, but time will tell. Monday morning will begin the next level of workouts, with the jogging intervals increasing in length. I would love it if I had a nice flat jogging track to go on, but for now I have to settle for the beautiful one-mile paved loop at the park just two miles down the road. There are hills on that track, though… and the biggest one seems to always hit right as I’m pushing through my last couple minutes of exercise. Funny how that works out.

 

I am not a runner…

…but I play one in my head sometimes.

This week I officially started the “couch to 5K” training program, intended to get someone from inactivity to running a 5k in about 9 weeks. At this point I cannot imagine being able to run 3 miles without stopping or slowing to walk, but we’ll see how it goes!

The first week is 3 workouts where I do intervals of walking 90 seconds and jogging 60 seconds for 20 minutes, plus a warm up and cool down walk at either end. I have two days completed as of this morning and so far, so good.

You can read more about the program here.

Twenty Years Ago…

Twenty years ago this past May, I graduated from Milligan College.

Twenty years ago this past week, I packed my brand new Celica to the gills with all my belongings and headed for uncharted territory in Kentucky.

Twenty years ago, I had no idea what was ahead for me.

Twenty years ago, I thought I’d NEVER fall out of touch with any of my college friends.

Twenty years ago this past summer, I raised a nest full of blue jays who had been abandoned at our lake cottage.

Twenty years ago today, I had no job… and no idea what job I might ever find. And it didn’t really bother me.

Twenty years ago, I could fill up the gas tank in my car for about $16. And drive forever on it.

Twenty years ago this fall, I remember that it felt wrong not to be driving back to Tennessee for another year of school. My first time coming to grips with the concept of growing up and moving on.

Twenty years ago, I still tended to keep all my possessions in one room. (“Dorm Syndrome” I call it.)

Twenty years ago this month, I met the man I would eventually marry. At church in a small town in Kentucky.

What were YOU doing 20 years ago?

“Time Will Tell” Overture

School started in Fayette County about two weeks ago. Whee!

A day or two into the new session, Aaron (almost 11) came home excited about playing in the band at school. He played violin last year in the 4th grade orchestra, and seemed to do okay with it, but I think he was in it more because some of his friends were playing than anything else. Let’s just say that no tears were shed on the day that we took that rental violin back to the music store.

Well, this year the school is offering band in addition to orchestra. So Aaron came home one day thrilled that he was going to play trumpet. Yes, he was convinced that he wanted to play trumpet. I am pretty sure that, once again, a great deal of this decision is based on a couple of his friends who are also going to be playing in the band. I read through the paperwork about band practices and what the students will need to do in order to participate, and Glenn and I agreed to encourage him to try.

A few days later, Aaron came home excited again, because that day at school they had all had the opportunity to try out some different band instruments to see which one they were most interested in playing and/or see which one the band instructor recommended for each student.

Aaron told us he was going to play trombone.

This dismayed Glenn a little bit (Glenn played some trumpet when he was younger).

We asked Aaron why the switch to trombone, and he said that he “didn’t have trumpet lips” and that the trombone would work better for him. I have a feeling there might have been a little more to the story than that, but… whatever.

Every day since then, Aaron has come home asking if we can “go get his trombone now.”  When will we get the trombone? Can we go get the trombone? How about that trombone?

We still haven’t figured out exactly where we might end up renting a trombone from, but today we were able to go to a friend’s house and borrow a trombone, at least for a little while. And how lucky are we? Because how many people do you know who have extra trombones laying around?

So the trombone came home, and Aaron immediately got it out of its case and started  to assemble it. I came up from my office and walked through the living room on the way to the kitchen, and Aaron said “it’s going to get loud in here!”

Oh, dear.

A few minutes later, Glenn and I were standing in the living room watching Aaron put the trombone together. We were there in our living room, just the three of us and our dog. Our wonderful, energetic, young, high-strung dog, Brody. You know, Brody? The dog who was just lying on the floor of the living room minding his own business? Yeah, that dog.

So we were all there when Aaron put the instrument up to his lips and suddenly… I don’t know how to spell trombone sounds. How about…

PAAAARRRRRP!

Close enough, I guess.

And immediately upon hearing this strange new un-spellable sound burst forth from the midst of our living room… our poor, unsuspecting dog FREAKED OUT.

So the next 10 minutes went something like this:

Aaron: PAAARP!

Brody: BARK! (sits. lies down. stands. spins.) BARK!!

Aaron: PAAARP! PAAARP!!

Brody: BARK! (sits. stands. stand on hind legs. attempts to eat trombone) BARKBARKBARK!

Aaron: DA DA DA DA DA DA DA DAAAAAAAAA (Now playing the trombone like a kazoo. I didn’t know this could be done. Did you?)

Brody: BARKBARKBARK!  (sit. stand.) BARK!      (lie down. stand. chase tail.) BARK BARK!!   bark.

And so it went.

And if we had any doubts after this impromptu performance, of how this school year is going to go? It was all summed up by Aaron himself, in a voice simultaneously tinged with thrill and awe, as he put the trombone back in its case and said:

“I’m not going to be good at this for a long time!”

5th grade, here we come.