I am not a runner: my insecurities and excitement about completing a full marathon

I am in disbelief - I just signed up for a full marathon.  I feel excited, scared, and a little crazy!

Aaron and I completed two mini marathons last year, and I LOVED them.  I am not at all the type of person who would say she loves to run, but the race atmosphere is so much fun, and it feels great to complete the race. 

It's also a lot of fun to see how you change and improve during your training.  A transformation also happens in your attitude: the beginning of training can be tough, but you start to look forward to your workouts and feel excited to beat your prior times.

I am the type of person who LOVES goals and to-do lists.  I constantly need something to work towards to push myself because I crave challenge and new experiences, so doing this marathon is right up my alley!

I have been training for several months already to get myself into shape prior to the REAL workouts, and I promised myself that I wouldn't sign  up for the race or buy myself a new pair of shoes until I really started to look forward to my workouts.

So, last week, I bought myself a new pair of shoes and retired my old, ugly, worn out pair.  I chose the Saucony Kinvarna 2 shoes.  Aren't they beautiful?  They feel great!

I also signed up for my race (tonight!), and while I am SUPER excited, I am a little scared.  Of course, I am afraid of moving beyond my comfort zone and doubling the race length that I've done in the past, but I am also worried about my time.

I am planning to run most of the course, but I am not so competitive yet that I am unwilling to do a little walking.  I am afraid I will feel embarrassed about my time because I am "not a real runner."

Certainly, just finishing is an accomplishment in itself, and I must remind myself of that.  I am going to join a running group like Blue Mile to improve my time (I am very competitive and anticipate that I will push myself harder in a group setting!). 

Reflections and Intentions

Let's review June!   

1) Stick to the workout goals I set for myself:
I did a terrible job - I skipped an entire week of running.  I got a little burned out on running from doing so much, so I started throwing in other sports into the mix to keep it interesting.  So far, so good!

2) Plan a creative date night for us:
For Christmas, I promised Aaron a monthly surprise in 2012.  Instead of a date, I bought him a book about cycling.... that I ended up reading too : )

It's a great read about a guy whose life was changed through cycling: http://www.amazon.com/Heft-Wheels-Field-Guide-Doing/dp/1400052416

3) Finish the art project (that we already started) for our spare bedroom:
I made progress, but it's not done.   Will post pictures when it's completed!

4) Survive living with 4 dogs in our house for a week:
We watched my parents' pair of chihuahuas while they were on vacation.  One of them is pretty unruly, but he turned out to be pretty fun.... except when he darted out of the house late one night, and I had to chase after him in my pajamas and flip flops.  Hello neighbors!

Here's a cute video of him playing with Angel (never mind my laughing!):


Aren't the sounds he makes hilarious?

5) Get mulch for the flower garden:
The weather decided to turn 100 degrees all of a sudden, so this may be a fall project....

6) Create a proposal for the Indianapolis Animal Welfare Alliance board to involve other groups' volunteers for the food pantry:
SUCCESS!  I presented to the board about getting all of the member groups involved with providing the food pantry with volunteers, and they were very supportive of the endeavor.  One group has already helped with providing volunteers.

More about the Alliance here: http://indyanimalalliance.org/

7) Make headway on a large and exciting project for the pet foo pantry:
I made progress on this goal, but I am not quiiiiite ready to share details!

Ok, now for July intentions (a little late now that we're halfway through the month!): 

1) Finally finish that stinking art project!!!!
2) Work at least 10 - 20 minutes of Spanish practice in 5 days a week
3) Translate several documents at work into Spanish (this can double count for #2!)
4) Get up to 10 miles like my running training guide says (this should be fairly easy as I've already completed several 9 mile runs in the past month).
5) Clean out my car