Here we go...

So I had planned on running about 6.5 miles a day, but I haven't been able to get off to quite as good a start as I had hoped...

I was out at MRT for 3 days last week (Medical Readiness Training - where I go out in the field and do deployment exercises with mannequins and triage and all that good stuff) and for our big exercise, I was originally on the manpower team - having to tote the mannequins on the litters and bring them to the plane, chopper, ambulance, or field hospital - but ended up being the "runner" for the MCC. My job was to run back and forth with all my field equipment, rubber duck (pretend M16), gas mask in MOPP 2, back and forth to the different places that the commander needed me to go in order to get his questions answered. It was hot, and there were IED's and shooters and gas being thrown everywhere, but I guess I don't have much to really complain about as it was just an exercise and not real-world.

So back to my plan...I had planned to do 6.5 miles a day. This would bring me well over my goal, however, things sometime look better on paper than in reality.

So I get out of the field on Thursday and head over to the YMCA to do some core work. The push-ups kicked my rear-end on our last PT test, and I don't plan on having to deal with that again, so core work is a must. I finished at the Y and then stopped at Target to purchase myself a little watch so I could keep track of my run times (not that the time matters, I just want to see how long I'm out there). At this point, I still had not eaten since I did not want to eat before the exercise and did not want to eat before the run - oh well. I got my little watch and then headed over to the parking lot where I am doing all of my runs. The parking lot is exactly a 1/2 mile course, and it's somewhat close to the house - just in case I need to run back home for something.

So I start running and it is HOT! I'm not saying that the temperatures were all that high, but when you have been in the field all day long and then a workout at the Y, and then a run...on asphalt, well, 80F feels high!

When I got to 1 mile, my right foot started hurting. I pressed on.

When I got to 2 miles, my left foot started hurting. I pressed on.

When I got to 2.5 miles, I decided I would do 3 and call it a day.

At 3 miles, I figured that I was over half-way to 5, so I might as well do at least 5.

At 5 miles, I thought about doing an even 6.

At 5.5 miles, I decided that 6.5 was totally do-able.

At 6 miles, I knew that I would be okay to do 7.

At 6.5 miles, I thought I could make 8.

At 7 miles...I got in my car and drove home! Eight miles was not going to happen.

I was exhausted, hot, nasty, and HUNGRY!! It was after 1600 and I had yet to eat. Call me lazy; call me out of shape; call me a dirt-bag; but I was ready to call it a day.

My family was out of town on Spring Break, so I went back home and cleaned up and then ran some errands. I called up a co-worker and he and his wife and I went out to eat at BJ's Brewhouse. I got a pizza and then splurged on an Oreo Pizzookie (this amazing warm cookie with ice cream on top)! It was great.

So Friday comes, and my family gets back into town. I worked a regular day and got off around 3pm or so. I knew running 6-7 miles was out of the question since we have symphony tickets and there was a concert that night. Needless to say, I missed my entire run on Friday.

Saturday found me sleeping in later than I should have, but I knew that I needed to get up and get out there before we had to take the kids to swim practice at 1200. My son wanted to ride his bike next to me while I ran, so we got his tires aired up and headed out to the parking lot. We walked there since it it pretty close, however, I had to carry my son's bike since he is not very proficient at riding it yet, hence him riding it next to me in a very vacant 1/2 mile parking lot.

So long story short, my son decided that he really didn't want to ride his bike after all and I had to turn around after 1 lap and carry his bike back home. Swim class lasted longer than normal and then I was unable to get back out there and run.

Sunday I took off (I think I will take off one day a week just to re-coup and rest, which means that I will have to up my daily milage to about 7.2 miles).

Monday I woke up and got my clothes ready. I went to work with all the intentions to running after work. Things got busy with patients and then, after adding on a few extra patients, lunch ended up being after 1330 hours...not exactly ideal when you plan on going run at 1500! I changed into my workout clothes and headed over to the parking lot. I called my husband to let him know that I was leaving work and he told me that our 6 yo daughter Zsa Zsa wanted to run with me. I headed home to pick her up only to discover that she was not done with her homework, so I went over to the parking lot alone.

I got over there and started running. I was tight and just not feeling it. My lunch was still sitting heavily in my stomach and it was now about 83F. I managed to get 1.5 miles in, so not at all what I wanted...

So here we are - 5 days into this and only 9 miles to my name...so far behind where I should be. I should be around 30.5 or so, which means that I will have to make up those miles by tacking them on somewhere. I figure that I can add a mile or two on per day for a while (provided I actually get myself out there to run) and if need be, I can do some long runs on Saturdays like we did when we (my husband and I ) were training for our marathon or I could even do some 2-a-days if the schedule permitted. It is certainly proving to be a challenge, which is really a double-edge sword, but I know that if I apply myself I can do this...for Ethan and Reid.