See Diva Run

Now that I have survived the half marathon in San Antonio (which I will tell you about some day), I have not been able to get the idea of the Lake Tahoe Triple Marathon out of my head. I know it is crazy, but I need to get back on a regular training program, so I might as well have a goal. I’ve run 5Ks, 10Ks, half marathons & marathons. I need something different, and this is definitely different. Mr Diva is on board, but he probably won’t train, and he will be mad at me if I leave him behind, so I don’t need to put much effort into speed work. I just need to work on my endurance. My plan is to work on distance for now. Once I can run a slow 15-20 miles, I’ll start adding long walks the next day. When we get closer, I’ll follow the long walk with another long walk/run. Once my endurance is a little better, I’ll add a day of hill work during the week. I’m hoping this plan will lead to lots of hiking and trail running next spring and summer.

It was a perfect day for running. Clear skies, cool temperatures and a light breeze, and yet I opted to start the journey to Lake Tahoe on my treadmill. Why? Because my best friend and former running partner, Jasmine the Dalmatian princess gets stressed out when I leave her for too long. The treadmill sits in front of the patio door, so after a little doggy jog up and down our block, I tossed her a pig ear, opened the door and started jogging slowly toward the trees in my back yard. 56 minutes later I’d covered 4.5 miles but was no closer to the trees than when I started. It was getting very warm inside, so I finished with a jog/walk around the block, for a total of 5 miles, plus a little extra walking. The air was fresh and crisp. My legs were starting to go weak, and things were a little achy, but it was perfect. There is more to life than sitting in your comfortable chair. It’s like John Mellencamp said, “Just because I’m middle-aged that don’t mean I want to sit around my house and watch TV.”

The first 5 miles are done, but it will be a long slow journey to Tahoe. I’m excited about it today, but most journeys include a few bumps in the road. For now, I’m training as if this were a done deal, but I haven’t registered, or reserved a room yet. This gives you time to talk me into or out of it.

Jasmine was still chewing her pig ear when I got back from my lap around the neighborhood. We went back out for a little walk with the camera, to share with you the glory of fall in the Northwest, when the sky is clear enough to see it!

[Show as slideshow]

Speaking of journeys, I need your help with something. The Pink Envelope Project is a fundraiser for the Making Memories program, which grants wishes to women who have been diagnosed with stage 4 (usually terminal) breast cancer. If you know me well enough to be on my Christmas card list, you can expect a pink envelope. I’m also passing out pink envelopes to my friends and family, and asking them to contribute instead of buying me a birthday gift. I have everything in the world I could possibly want: a wonderful family, good friends, and good health. A young mother in Oregon just wants to take her 2 young sons to the Magic Kingdom while she still can. It might be the last happy memory those little boys will have of her. I know times are hard, but if enough of us can scrape up a dollar or two, we can make this happen. Use this link if you would like to help.

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 23rd, 2008 at 3:11 pm and is filed under Training. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.