On the Road Again

This is not a recent picture. In fact it's almost 3 years old. My sister was pregnant with her 4th child in this shot and has since had her 5th child. I wasn't even married in this picture. So yeah, it's old. But it reminds me of training and races and running.

So, I think I had my first good post-pregnancy run yesterday. As I was running I thought about why I liked running after not always being a big fan. In high school I decided that since I had big calves I should run short distance track. I ran for a year and developed the worst shin splints EVER. I stopped running for several years as a result thinking that running was not for me. It wasn't until I was in college that I started running again here and there. I mostly ran when I was in a bad mood or needed time to sort things out. So, running became a way for me to think clearer and I rarely ran with music. Then in the MTC, with the other sisters in my district, we decided to get up early and run every morning around the temple. I would memorize discussions and practice conjugating verbs. I think we actually got up to 5 miles each morning. There was nothing else that could combat the heavy MTC cafeteria food like running. After the mission my oldest sister challenged me and another sister to run a 10K. I had done a 5K before, so a 10K seemed feasible. I remember being really sore after the race, but I realized that I like training for races. Then in February of 2004, I went a little crazy. When we found out we would have to wait a year to apply to get married in temple, I needed something to help time pass by faster. The first thing that popped in my mind was training for a 1/2 marathon. And it worked like a charm. Since registering for that first race, I have somehow convinced my wonderful sister to train for several races with me. We have done a 25K, 2 half marathons and a sprint triathlon and I did one 10 miler in there by myself. And we talk about our desire to train for the Marine Corp marathon in DC someday soon. Now, we're not fast runners. We run to finish and run to keep in shape, but never to win. We run to challenge ourselves and to prove we can do something that we didn't think we could. And I think that I love running because it has strengthened my friendship with my oldest sister. We're 8 years apart and running has made it easy for us to keep in touch. She's always game for runs whenever we get together, we run about the same pace usually and she somehow always agrees to my crazy ideas. I'll never forget when I emailed her about the sprint triathlon in Vegas. She responded that she hadn't swam in years, only really knew the breast stroke, didn't have access to a pool, and didn't own a bike. By the next day she had purchased a community pool pass and was looking into bikes on eBay. (I should also mention that she did the 25K, one 1/2 marathon, and the triathlon in varying stages of pregnancy. Yes, she's amazing)

So when she came up for the blessing of the boys she asked if I wanted to go running. I hadn't ran at all since the C-section. We went, and although I had to walk here and there, it felt good to get back into the groove again. I ran again yesterday and I hardly walked at all. So, although I don't have tons of time to train, I'm itching to register for a race. I had a friend invite me back in the fall to be on her Wasatch Back team. It's a good thing I admitted I was pregnant and admitted to myself that running a 24 hour race a few months after giving birth to twins was NOT a good idea. But, I think I can train for something... Any suggestions?

A couple of my odd running habits:
1. I used to hate carrying water so I'd run SUPER early in the summer so I could run before it got too hot. One morning I was finishing a 13 mile run and I was dying of thirst. Yes, I gave in and drank from some random sprinkler head.
2. If I don't know the mileage of my run I can only run for a few minutes without giving up and walking. I have to know the distance which is a little odd.
3. Except for my sister, I don't like running with very many people. Their either too fast or too slow. She should move up here so I can run with someone more often.
4. I don't know if I'll ever learn to run faster, but I do have the ability to add mileage quickly. We went from running 3 miles a day to running a 25K in 6-7 weeks. It's not the best way to train and perhaps that's why I got shin splints in high school.
5. I hate running on a treadmill. Seriously, I can run about 2 miles without wanting to shoot myself. I need to be constantly entertained on a treadmill to keep going. If the TV is on I can keep going as long as there are not commercials. I almost always walk when a commercial comes on... seriously, I'm pathetic.