13.1

I have made a commitment and, like most responsible adults, when I make a commitment I take it pretty seriously. This one was no different. I was afraid to even speak it out loud until I knew I really wanted to do it. I have pondered "the idea" for sometime now but actually committed to it about a month ago. Here it is.....drumroll please: I am going to run an official 1/2 marathon on December 5.....yep 13.1 miles in Shanghai, China.

Stan completed a full marathon in January of this year and I was so proud of him and the accomplishment. I told him several times during his training that I admired his willingness to do it but what I most liked was that he had this "goal" that was out there and he was physically working towards it. It's actually a joke between us that if he doesn't have a goal then he is miserable.....as long as we've been married he's always been working toward something. I'm grateful because those goals have taken me to some pretty amazing places and afforded me a lot of great experiences. Anyway, that is what appealed to me personally.....having that goal and testing my self discipline to see if I could really do it. Not just the race on race day but the grind of training for it. So here I am and I'm letting all of you in on my journey of personal growth (blah blah blah).

Now I would like to give you a little background here. First of all, I do not like running. I'm fairly certain I never have enjoyed running. Some of you that knew me "back in the day" may recall a few successful events I took part in that required some running and the passing of a baton amongst some other young ladies. They are actually some of my fondest memories and to this day I can think about a race and literally get butterflies. It was so much fun. However, I decided a long time ago that what I enjoyed was not the actual running......it was the winning. Oh how I love to win and we actually did it a lot. We were blessed with talent, were coached well and we worked hard so we won. What made it more fun is we were very unlikely winners......4 (some would say scrawny) girls from a small west Texas town with a combined weight of 375 pounds (maybe).......when we were soaking wet.

Anyway....I say all that to say that THIS running is much different. I'm now running for myself. There aren't any teammates or coaches to push me along during the training, there aren't any fun track meets each weekend where medals are awarded and my efforts praised, no opportunity to win a big race to qualify for a bigger one. Nope.....it's just me, my tennis shoes and my iphone heading out and returning for these runs in preparation for the big day. I don't think I had ever run further than a mile in my whole life until I started this training and I'm not gonna lie to you....I fully anticipated hating every single training run (which is why I thought long and hard about the commitment). BUT, I've been pleasantly surprised at how much I've enjoyed the runs and actually look forward to getting out the door and beginning. I've gotten up to 5 miles thus far and it felt good. Sure, my knees hurt a bit and I'm ready to stop when it's the end but overall, I enjoy it. I'm following a training schedule that I found online and I'll get up to 10 miles before the actual race. That sounds completely impossible right now but then again the thought of running 5 miles a month ago was absurd to me as well.

I think one of the things that makes it so enjoyable for me is the music that I listen to. In the States I had quite a bit of car time and that was when I really got my fix of the music I like but since we've been here in China that has been missing. I didn't anticipate that being a big motivator for me but it is. I get to listen to everything from praise and worship, country and a little pop -all as loud as I want and without any interruptions. I have gotten a few funny glances when I'm apparently singing out loud as I run past some locals but oh well- they are going to stare at the foreigner anyway. :)

So there it is....it's out there.

And 8 weeks from this Sunday I'll be out there too!

Chat with ya later-