Fast forward to week 9

Training has taken a backseat to life. I'm still training but it is not my top priority right now. We moved out of our house July 31 and into my in laws for a week then to an apartment for two weeks and finally this weekend Aug 22 we will move into our actual house. The kids start school Aug 24 so training and unpacking will be my sole focus! 

I'm so excited for the kids to go back to school. The obvious reason is so I can finally have some quiet time but the real reason is so they can have some normalcy. All the moving and being in close quarters at the apartment is taking its toll. We all need our space and the kids need a routine. They are excited to start at a new school and meet new friends. 

I'm stressed and tired and cranky and emotional but I just keep moving along for the kids. I'm ready for some routine as well. I want to run everyday and actually grocery shop! Living in an apartment has been fun but I want all my stuff back. 

Until next time...

Welcome to week 3

Marathon training week 3 is here and I started it with my first day off since Memorial Day. After completing the runners world running streak I decided to take an official rest day. I still cannot decide if it was beneficial or not. Today was track Tuesday and I was tired and really didn't want to run so I didn't put that much energy into it. 

Week 2 was great but I can tell that I was getting tired. It may also be all the other things going on around me. I have been cleaning and throwing out things that we haven't used in years. I am also trying to sell a bunch of stuff we don't need or won't fit into our new house, if we ever find one. I feel stressed and lost.  In a couple of weeks we officially will be homeless. Not sure what we are going to do and it's hitting me really hard this week. I'm tired, cranky, it's raining and I have a million things to do but all I want to do is lay in bed and sleep. 

I am taking an extra rest day this week so instead of training 5 days I'm only doing 4. Tomorrow is an easy 5 miles then hills on Thursday rest Friday and Saturday and then 12 miles on Sunday. Hopefully I will be "feeling" it by then. 

I also hope this lost feeling goes away. I know moving is a stressful time in everyone's life. I'm just ready to be done and settled before the kids start school and I start job hunting. 

Week 1 Done

Week 1 of marathon training is complete. It feels great to say that. The hardest parts are yet to come but this week was fantastic. I tweaked the plan a little bit and my long run was longer than it needed to be but I didn't want to go backwards in my training. Speed work, hills and a long run plus a couple of 4 milers made for a week full of miles, 31 actually. I'm at 108 miles for the month and on day 35 of the runners world run streak. 

Running has been great this week and we have looked at more houses. We still have not found one but we better get to it. We close and have to be out of our house on August 3!!  I've started to clean out closets and drawers. We have accumulated a ton of stuff over the years and it is time to purge. 

Marathon training day 1

Today my 16 week adventure to the Chicago marathon started. On my schedule was a four mile easy run but I only had time for three. Great I'm already starting out on a bad note!  Well think again... I have basically been training for the last year and I have been participating in the runners world run streak for the last 29 days. I am already at 10 mile long runs. I am making myself stay true to the weekly mileage goals of my training schedule though so I will make that mile up sometime this week.

Besides marathon training we are in the process of selling our home and purchasing a new one. Our current house is under contract so now we must find somewhere to move. It hasn't been that easy. We have a very specific area and lot type we want. There are not too many options that meet our requirements. We will find one it is just going to take some time. Or the perfect house may show up on the market tomorrow one never knows. 

Tomorrows training calls for a 6 mile speed workout. 1 mile warm up then 3 minute fartlek intervals for 3 miles and a 2 mile cool down. Sounds fun!!

Changes

Holy moly I forgot I had a blog!!  A lot has happened in the past four years. Everyone has gotten older and wiser, both my kids are in school full time, I was home alone for two seconds, I got a job, I started running (a lot) and we are in the process of moving. Lots of changes and lots of fun in our future.

The boys are growing up and they don't need so much of my time so I find myself doing my own things. I found a wonderful group of ladies who love to run and we meet at least once a week for a run or group therapy as we call it. I have become such a crazy runner that I am now training for the Chicago Marathon!!

I hope I can keep blogging and document what it takes to train for a marathon while raising two kids and trying to move all at the same time. I hope you like it or not, this is not for you it is for me.

Hopefully I don't forget to blog it may be boring at times but I want to share this journey.  Until next time...

Getting "MY" life back

Well both of my boys are in school and I finally have some "me" time.  You ask "what have you done with your free time"  I answer "watch TV".  Seriously I was so behind on some of my favorite shows, so I took the first week of school and watched my shows.  Now I am all caught up and am looking for something new to do.

In the midst of looking for something to do I was talked into running a 5K with some friends.  I did it without much thought or any training.  After all I ran in high school and college and in my mind I have not aged a bit (haha).  So I started my first 5K in 13 years with no hopes of even running the whole thing let alone running it well.  I ended up running the whole thing and finished it in a little over 29 minutes.  Pretty good for someone who has maybe ran 20 miles in the last 10 years.  At the finish I felt it, I felt what I have been missing all these years.  I felt that sense of accomplishment that sense of doing something all by myself.  I did that alone, no kids, no husband, no one!!

There was a point in the run that I even unplugged my ipod and just ran, listening to my breathing and my footsteps.  It was wonderful, powerful, freeing and so many other feelings that I cannot even put into words.  I felt free and I loved it.

Now I am planning on running more 5K's and running regularly throughout the week with a running buddy.  I feel like I have a piece of me back.  A part of me that has always been there but I ignored it or maybe I just forgot about it.

Early Detection

I am not writing this blog post to get sympathy, I am writing this post to raise your awareness. 

On August 11, my father had a colonoscopy.  He is 53 and the doctor felt that it was time to have one done.  He was getting an upper G.I. anyway and the doctor just basically said "since you are already going to be there..."  Well that basically saved his life.  While conducting the colonoscopy the doctor removed a polyp.  The polyp caused extensive bleeding which in turn caused the doctor to speed up the lab results showing him what he already thought - cancer.  So on August 12 my dad was informed that he had colon cancer.  On August 17 he had a colon dissection and had the cancerous area removed. 

In less than one week my dad went from having colon cancer to being cancer free.  The cancer surgeon said that if he would have waited even three months the polyp could have grown and required chemotherapy and if he would have waited 3 years the cancer would have spread. 

Today, August 29, I visited my doctor and scheduled a colonoscopy.  I know that I can wait until I am 43 (10 years before my dad was diagnosed) but why wait, why not get screened now and not have to worry about it for 10 more years! 

Early detection is critical in all forms of cancer.  Please get regular physicals and go to the doctor if you feel that your body is trying to tell you something.  It could save your life.