3.1

I have started an informal mental bucket list. It's a work in progress, and so far there is one lonely item on it: run a half marathon.

It's hard to pull into the parking lot at the Y and see all the stickers that say 26.2 and 70.3 without feeling a little inadequate. I am not sure where one finds the time to train for a half, but I have been following a friend's journey from 0 to 13.1. I feel like it's robbed me of the right to make excuses.

In the spirit of "starting somewhere," I signed up for the Duluth Fall Festival 5K Sunday morning. You know what? For the first time in 30 362/366 years, I am not intimidated by the prospect of running 3 miles. I am even okay with the fact that the results will be forever preserved online.

A couple months ago, I was at the Y using my usual machine when someone near me gave us all a sample of the fragrance of his intestines, I assume inadvertently (my immediate assumption was that it was the person right next to me, but due to its intensity, I give him the benefit of the doubt. It very well could have come from across the room, so I try not to look at him sideways now). My machine was also doing an annoying clicking thing that was driving me mad. I decided I needed to get out of Dodge for the day.

I headed over to the track, which I thought was laughable considering my only run-in with the track was my 11.5-minute mile that I was able to eke out to fulfill middle and high school phys ed requirements. To my surprise, once I started running, I didn't stop. I ran a WHOLE MILE. Like, RAN it. I almost Facebooked it right then and there, but ran the "if someone else posted that, would I care?" test** and declined.

Ever since, I have been devoting 20 minutes of my workout to the cardio machines and 15 minutes to the track. The track is pretty brutal (17 laps to a mile), but the helpful thing is that the reflective glass allows me to check my posture and make sure I'm doing a good enough job holding in my belly. I can run about a mile and a half on there before I lose my mind with boredom. I think my route in my neighborhood is about 2.8, give or take.

My one little hindrance is that my hip muscles haven't adjusted. It's been a couple months now, and you'd think I could leave a workout by now without being in pain for the next 3 days and walking like, well, you know. I read a couple websites on running posture. I had to make a couple adjustments, mostly to my upper body, but there doesn't seem to be much improvement. I hope I can overcome because that would be the one thing that would keep me from checking that item off my bucket list. Well, that and the prospect of running lots of miles several times a week.

Regardless, here I am. Thanks to a gut bomb and a clicking machine (okay, and maybe a little credit to cute work-out clothes), I feel better than I ever have. I know a 5K isn't much to write home about, but it's something I never thought I could do. Hopefully one day I can say the same about 13.1!

Hold me to it?


** I ran that test for this entire blog post, and it did not pass. However, I am writing it anyway because I have motive (breaking my blog slump) and opportunity. Did I mention that I am reading another crime novel?