A Trip Down Memory Lane

 Now that I'm off of work for a few weeks, I've been working on shoveling cleaning out parts of my house that seem to get neglected.  I've found tax returns from 1997, Home Depot receipts that aren't faded because they hadn't started using that ink that fades within a week of purchasing an item, and even 2 checks that I lost misplaced for a couple of weeks.  I also came across this training log that I had from 2005 when I first started running.

I don't remember how I found out about this training log except that I think it was on a scrapbooking website/blog... Stacey Julian perhaps?  I do remember clicking through the link and realizing that there was something made for moms trying to run and went and plunked down my credit card and ordered it as quickly as I could.

From the looks of things, I was not very into writing down many details in this log, but it does make me look at where I am today and realize that I have come a long way from those days that 3.88mi was my long run for the week!  I really have no excuses anymore!

I do remember when I finally ran my first 5K, I emailed that lady that wrote this book and told her thanks so much and what I had done.  I was pretty much telling anyone that would listen at that point.  She sent me a water bottle and a handmade "congrats" card.  I kept the card on my backroom bulliten board for a looonnng time, until it finally disintegrated into almost dust. 

I just went and looked and it appears that she still has her website... maybe I should email her and let her know about my marathon...

Thanks to Jill  for hosting Fitness Friday.  It's a highlight of my week!

Hiking aka Cross Training

In my never ending quest to get in all my cross training days and also do something I enjoy, I've been hiking every Monday with a group of people that have been hiking together every Monday for something like 15 years.  Kudos to them.  To accomplish this task and not end up as a headline about another hiker that died of heat exhaustion (why do summer visitors feel the need to go hike at noon with 12oz of water??  I don't even want to walk to my car at noon, much less go out in the desert to walk!), it's been 4:30 and 5am starts for us.  I actually am quite jealous that work will start again next month and they will continue to hike on.

Hutch's Pool.  The water is really low, but there is still water!

Pima Canyon and a view of the city.

Through the window of a old stone house along the way.

Believe it or not, though the southwest is in extreme drought conditions, there has been water at most places we have gone to.  The water may be low, and the waterfalls that are supposed to be along the way are not running, but, it's amazing that there was water there to begin with!

Shortest hike so far: 6 miles
Longest hike: 16 miles

And yes, I was dead tired when that 16 miler was over.  I think a lot of it had to do with me being nervous about us getting back before it got too hot because it ended up being a much easier hike that I had anticipated, we just had to walk quickly.  I felt like I had accomplished great things, but I went home, showered, and slept. 

This cross training thing is already proving it's worth.  I'm getting out to do something I like that I get to do only a couple of times a year to do, and, I'm claiming it's marathon training in the process.  Double win!

If this blog was my boyfriend...

He would be asking for his stuff back. Actually, he would have already asked for his stuff back. And I probably would have said "Oh yeah, I'll get to that" and not thought about it again until now when I finally get around to it and find out it's been so long that he really doesn't want his old sweatshirt and cds back. It's been so long that he's moved on to a new sweatshirt and likes different music now.

I guess that boyfriend didn't get what it was like to have a demanding full time job, 2 busy teenagers, 1 cute husband, 2 dogs, and 9 chickens. Oh, and throw in marathon training on top of that, and you have the perfect recipe for me to ignore my blog for, um, has it really been almost 3 months?

Marathon training? It's going great. My biggest challenge so far has been the making sure I not only run, but get in the cross training days. It takes up a lot of time and planning ahead has been essential. I even managed to go back to the rock climbing gym after not having gone for almost a year. Yes, another boyfriend ignored. So ignored I had to fill out a new waiver. Kind of embarrassing when this place is your cute husband's second home!

Tomorrow I'm up to running 10 miles. At the least likely to melt me to the sidewalk coolest part of the day... 5am. This is Tucson and it is June. If I had been smarter I would have chosen a February marathon. Then as my runs they got longer, they would have not involved carrying more water than my actual body weight. Ahh - the joys of desert living. Yes, I might be a tad jealous of those of you who run at noon, have rain on a regular basis, and grow something other than cactus in your front yards.

My cute husband made sure I was well stocked in the endurance food as well. And he got extra points for making sure it all matched!

Thankfully, my cute husband made sure I was prepared for this running weather and bought me a hydration bladder to put in the vest I bought at the REI garage sale a couple of months ago. It had been barely used. Someone else must have decided that running in hot weather wasn't all that it was cracked up to be.

So dear blog, I hope to be more attentive in the coming months. This is the only way I will be able to remember what training for my first marathon was like when I'm 90 because I'm sure the heat will have melted my brain by then.