This blog entry is another one that appeared first at Jen's Journey to 40.
This is inspired by the entry of the same name on Coach Jenny Hadfield's blog.
In no particular order:
1. The Nike Women's Half Marathon. I was sick and I was six months post-surgical and I felt awful during the race. But I did it - all 13.1 miles. And I actually felt really good afterwards - especially compared to how I felt the previous year.
2. Sunday Mornings. The aforementioned Jen and I have established quite a routine of Sunday morning fitness and coffee. I love it. It holds me accountable to getting out and doing and it is so great to have "girl's time" at Starbucks after.
3. Biking to school. With my change over to Bell View I am close enough to walk and/or bike to school. Most mornings we drive since it's the boys and I and all our stuff, but for those days before school started it was great to hop on my bike and ride over to work.
4. January long walk. In January, before the whole bad pap thing, I was out for a long walk in the cold. The weather was icky. Rest by Nevertheless came on my iPod. It really spoke to me and I cried and pushed myself physically and had a great mind-clearing workout.
5. The boxing gym. Finding a new workout is great. Finding one that my son likes, too, is even better. C needs a good off-season something to do. He's definitely got the "big boy" tendency like me and his dad - so if I can keep him active when he's not playing football it will be beneficial to him. It's a small gym so it's like being part of a community. The workout is fun and the time goes by fast and before I know it I'm soaking wet with sweat!
6. Katherine. At the Nike WHM I was ready to give up at the 10 mile mark. If someone had asked me if I was ready to quit I would have said yes. Then I got a call from my friend Katherine who had finished and was walking back along the course looking for her mom and friends. She came out and found me and walked me a good mile or so - enough to get me over the hump and ready to finish. They were all there at the finish line, too. It was so wonderful having support - especially since I was having a total pity-party about not feeling supported.
7. New running shoes. I'll spare you the long story, but let's leave it at this - I am SO glad to have a new pair of running shoes and to discover that the reason my old ones felt small was not that my foot had grown or that Brooks had changed their pattern. (Yes, my shoes were the wrong size.) It's great to start 2010 with happy feet!
8. Ventura Beach, CA. So, I was pretty hammered when I was at the beach with the boys in July and spent most of my time just sitting on the beach blanket. Why is this a moving memory then? Because it inspired me to NOT be that person next year.
9. Cycling with Sherri. A teacher friend and I met up a few times to ride our bikes together. I especially liked the time we rode along the Jordan River Parkway and stopped at the Naborhood Bakery after! It was fun to do something other than the "out to lunch" thing with someone.
10. Being the person that other people ask for advice. When I look at myself in the mirror and see the reality of the extra pounds, it astounds me that people ask for my advice about fitness related questions (e.g. bike trails, gear, training programs, race advice). In my life after teaching (20 years from now), I would love to be a wellness coach or something like that. It is really rewarding to help people find fun in activity!
Monday, October 25, 2010
Sunday, October 24, 2010
the start of a blog
This post originally appeared at jensjourneyto40.blogspot.com. But I ended up abandoning that blog when my training became, uh, shall we say "compromised"?
It always feels so strange to start a new blog. It's like back in the day when I was growing up and would get a new journal for my birthday or Christmas. I always felt that there was some sort of obligation to introduce myself to the new pages before delving into the nuts and bolts of typical every day. So I guess it makes sense to start this blog in the same way.
I'm Jen and this is the journey to my 40th birthday.
I don't know where to start my biography but it seems like admitting to being an "adult-onset" athlete is a good place. Growing up I played tennis and swam, but in high school I turned to the arts, and in college I turned to slacking off and gaining lots of weight. My senior year in college I learned to love exercise - mainly things like aerobic classes and walking on the shoreline trail near the U. campus.
In 2003 I discovered running and threw myself into it, no matter how many times I read the cautionary tales in John Bingham's "No Need for Speed" and other similar books. This resulted in pretty much every overuse injury there is (except a stress fracture, thank God), including a year-long stint with plantar fasciitis during which I regained the 100 or so pounds that I had previously lost.
My feet have been in pretty good shape for the past 2 years. I walked the Nike Women's Half Marathon in October 2008 and 2009.
I am easily 100 pounds overweight.
It will be no small feat to get from here to the Top of Utah marathon starting line (much less the finish line in 6 hours!). But, for the past two years I've telling myself that for my 40th birthday I wanted to be in the best shape of my life. When I discovered that the Top of Utah is actually ON my 40th birthday, I decided to take the plunge, make the commitment and GO FOR IT!
It always feels so strange to start a new blog. It's like back in the day when I was growing up and would get a new journal for my birthday or Christmas. I always felt that there was some sort of obligation to introduce myself to the new pages before delving into the nuts and bolts of typical every day. So I guess it makes sense to start this blog in the same way.
I'm Jen and this is the journey to my 40th birthday.
I don't know where to start my biography but it seems like admitting to being an "adult-onset" athlete is a good place. Growing up I played tennis and swam, but in high school I turned to the arts, and in college I turned to slacking off and gaining lots of weight. My senior year in college I learned to love exercise - mainly things like aerobic classes and walking on the shoreline trail near the U. campus.
In 2003 I discovered running and threw myself into it, no matter how many times I read the cautionary tales in John Bingham's "No Need for Speed" and other similar books. This resulted in pretty much every overuse injury there is (except a stress fracture, thank God), including a year-long stint with plantar fasciitis during which I regained the 100 or so pounds that I had previously lost.
My feet have been in pretty good shape for the past 2 years. I walked the Nike Women's Half Marathon in October 2008 and 2009.
I am easily 100 pounds overweight.
It will be no small feat to get from here to the Top of Utah marathon starting line (much less the finish line in 6 hours!). But, for the past two years I've telling myself that for my 40th birthday I wanted to be in the best shape of my life. When I discovered that the Top of Utah is actually ON my 40th birthday, I decided to take the plunge, make the commitment and GO FOR IT!
a goal
Christmas Break 2009
Still trying to decide what the theme of 2010 will be. Realizing that I can make the whole entire year be about turning 40.
Half marathon? Have already done 2.
Triathlon? I would only want to do a sprint length and that doesn't seem particularly momentous.
Lose 100 pounds? I hate dieting and focusing on the scale.
Surfing the internet I stumble on the Top of Utah Marathon.
To back pedal a bit, accomplishing THE MARATHON has been in the back of mind for easily 20 years now. Just kinda sitting back there. Once in a while it gets up and dusts itself off long enough for me to realize that I really can't fit training for a marathon into my life.
The Top of Utah Marathon is a fall marathon. I teach on a traditional schedule now, so I'd have the whole summer to prepare. Hmmmmmmmm.
The Top of Utah Marathon is being held on SEPTEMBER 18.
Done. Did. Deal.
2010 will be the year of the marathon.
Still trying to decide what the theme of 2010 will be. Realizing that I can make the whole entire year be about turning 40.
Half marathon? Have already done 2.
Triathlon? I would only want to do a sprint length and that doesn't seem particularly momentous.
Lose 100 pounds? I hate dieting and focusing on the scale.
Surfing the internet I stumble on the Top of Utah Marathon.
To back pedal a bit, accomplishing THE MARATHON has been in the back of mind for easily 20 years now. Just kinda sitting back there. Once in a while it gets up and dusts itself off long enough for me to realize that I really can't fit training for a marathon into my life.
The Top of Utah Marathon is a fall marathon. I teach on a traditional schedule now, so I'd have the whole summer to prepare. Hmmmmmmmm.
The Top of Utah Marathon is being held on SEPTEMBER 18.
Done. Did. Deal.
2010 will be the year of the marathon.
so it begins
September 18, 2009.
My 39th birthday.
And the beginning of the percolating of ideas about my 40th birthday and everything I wanted it to be and to symbolize.
I am a birthday person. I like to hear "happy birthday", I like to get birthday cards, I like cake. I like that my birthday is the same as my favorite aunt and my grandma because they are/were both wonderful, strong women. If they were my age, and both still alive, we would totally be an unstoppable trio of friends.
Birthdays are a big deal.
Decade numbers are a big deal.
How will I mark this occasion and set the tone for the NEXT 40 years?
My 39th birthday.
And the beginning of the percolating of ideas about my 40th birthday and everything I wanted it to be and to symbolize.
I am a birthday person. I like to hear "happy birthday", I like to get birthday cards, I like cake. I like that my birthday is the same as my favorite aunt and my grandma because they are/were both wonderful, strong women. If they were my age, and both still alive, we would totally be an unstoppable trio of friends.
Birthdays are a big deal.
Decade numbers are a big deal.
How will I mark this occasion and set the tone for the NEXT 40 years?
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