No Excuses

This morning when I woke up to a crying baby, I knew it was going to be a long day. After my grocery shopping trip yesterday afternoon which included lots of healthy snacks and all the crude junk food gone, today was a new day. Instead of going back to bed like I normally do after I feed Connor his early morning bottle, I woke up, had some breakfast and water and got myself ready for a run. I knew Connor would be up for good at 7:00am. and if I was 100% ready to go when he woke up, I had NO EXCUSES! It was the longest run I would have ever done today, I would cut close to Connor's breakfast, I would start getting hungry myself.....I wanted to eliminate every possiblity so I had no excuses to quit.

At 7:00am. on the dot, we were off for my longest run in 4 months. Maybe this was going to be the edge of the plateau I was on and I was about to head up yet another mountain of accomplishment. I did 6 sets of 5X1's with a 4 minute warm-up and whatever was left over from the 6 sets to walk home for my cool down. I finished in 41:06. Not so much the time or distance, but I was really proud! I totally pushed through and still felt great.

I am going to switch it up a little from now on to give myself that extra little push. Mondays are my easy day, itwill stay my easy day. Wednesday is always my challenge day, it will stay my challenge day. Friday was a medium day. It builds to 36 minutes and then maintains there for the remainder of my training weeks. Instead of doing 5X1's on the Friday run, I think I am going to do one 5X1, run continually for 15, then finish with two 5X1's. I will try this little extra challenge for a few weeks and see how it goes. If I feel like I need to be pushed a little harder, I will keep taking out the 5x1's and then start adding 5's.

In terms of diet.......that's my downfall. I am under the poor assumption that exercise alone will bring me to my final goals, but it won't. I need to keep my diet under control as well. By managing food and calorie intake, I am helping to reinforce the exercise work I am doing and promoting healthy living and quite honestly, that is my end goal here.....to live healthifully.

Back to the grind

Yep, that's right. After our "mini-vacation" I am officially back to the grind today. This includes both exercise AND diet. I realized how lousy I felt after eating all the food this weekend. Well, let me rephrase. I felt AWESOME eating it, felt lousy digesting it. It's amazing how much your diet and water intake affect your ability to produce results. I was slower, more lethargic, cranky and noticed the more junk I ate, the more junk I craved. I was going to try to cut cold turkey today with all the junk, but that didn't work. Tomorrow is grocery day, so with more healthful options and less junk available, I hope to start losing pounds again. Recently, I have plateaued in my weight loss. HOWEVER.....

I have kick started my running. I had so much energy this morning on my run and I know I am burning seconds off my miles per minute. I know this because I did my 5/1 this morning. It was a total of 5 times and I did 2.7 miles. With a 4 minute warm up and a 4 minute cool down, I still did my run in 36:16. This Sunday (if I can find the time with the crazy weekend schedule), I am curious to try and run a times 3-miler. Just to see where I am at. Again, with this crazy weekend schedule, I may do it just to get out of the house and destress!

A New Week

This morning after being very lazy and putsing around the house, Ben and I went for a run around the Floridian neighborhood. It was a little bit of a workout because there are slight up and downgrades around the 3-mile loop. We were tired because of all the walking we did yesterday, but still managed a 2.5 run.

It felt good to start a week fresh and ready to attack this new week with new determination and work hard.

Happy Place...more like Guilty Place

That's right....feeling a little guilty. On Friday night, I originally thought that maybe I would go for a quick run since my Friday morning run was lousy. I didn't quite so guilty that I didn't get that run in on Friday night, we were exahusted by the time we got to Orlando. The drive was fine, but there was heavy traffic through all of Orlando until we got to our exit, but it had been a long day otherwise and we were soooo whipped.

Saturday, we walked well over 6 miles around the park. It wasn't particularly busy and we had already been on a few rides with Connor so Ben and I enjoyed each other and walking around the Magic Kindgom a ton of times. It was so nice to not rush anywhere but just enjoy the gorgeous day and each other. THAT was the high point.....diet wise was a complete and utter bust. A bagel in the morning, coffee cake at the Main Street bakery, chicken nuggets and fries at Pinocchio's, a strawberry ice cream stick, shared some of Ben's cookies and cream ice cream from the Main Street ice cream parlor and, of course.....a turkey leg. Oh, and PS, I still had room for dinner when we got home! OINK! OINK! I couldn't believe I had so much to eat. I am hoping all the walking helped when I decide to step on the scale this morning.

With any luck, we will go on our 3-mile run today because we are going out to lunch and I know I am planning on putting it away today as well. This weekend is, almost been, an all and out failure. The best redeming quality is the time together and that's the best gift ever.

Lesson learned....

This morning was, for sure, an odd morning for this house. Connor woke up at his normal time and lately, I have been getting up after I put him back to bed to have little bit to eat, get some water and get ready for my run. Connor will normally wake up for good an hour later and then we go immediately for a run. This morning, I was so tired I fell back asleep after I put Connor back to bed and woke up at 7:00! Holy cow, this can't happen this morning. We have a ton to do today and not enough time to do, I can't believe I slept past my normal run start time.

So, Connor was up and we were out the door in 15 minutes. BIG MISTAKE!! 2.5 cycles into my 5/1's, I had to go to the bathroom....BAD! Oh....this is not going to be good. I finished my 3rd 5/1 and couldn't run any longer for fear of exploding. I did make it home, but I need to make sure I am taking care of myself when I go for a run. This includes water intake, food intake, stretching, warm-up and cool down. I am not doing myself any good if I have to cut runs/workouts short because I am not taking care of myself.

This afternoon we are leaving for Orlando for the weekend. This is the first schedule twist since I started my mini-marathon work. It will be a test to see how I do in terms of meals, keeping up my momentum, my attitude. Since my run was miserable this morning, I am hoping to have the energy to try again, re-energized by being in my happy place.

Warm weather ahead

This morning we went to the gym and did another day of water aerobics. What a good workout today! There are these foam blocks you stand on. They are flat on one side for your feet and rounded on the other for the bottom of the pool, so you are standing in the water on a stability ball!! Core workout to the extreme. My time was running out when they pulled out the bands and started working with those. I am so frustrated that I have to pick up Connor before the class is over....but like I said before...better to do some than none at all.

I didn't go for a walk today. By the time we got home, Connor took a longer than normal nap and slept through lunch and by the time he got up and taken care of, it was sooo hot outside, almost 90! It would have been too warm for us, so I will pick it up tomorrow for my last run of the week.

Enjoying Earth Day

Happy Earth Day! What a beautiful day it is here today and a great day to remember why we celebrate Earth Day at all....running this morning I tried to take it all in. I took off my headphones and listened to the sounds of the birds, the rustling of the leaves, the warmth of the sun as it was coming up...moments of clarity and a clear head are both reasons why I am realizing I love to run.

I did get up early this morning and do a FitTv stretching program. It felt wonderful. At least the 15 mintues I was able to do before Connor was ready to get up for the day. On Friday when I do this particular routine again, I may get up a little earlier to get the stretching done so we can be out the door on our run by 7:00am. That seems to work really well for us. I was thankful for the little bit of stretching I did do before my run because I felt great. I wasn't winded, no stitches in my side and my legs felt so refreshed. We did the same 2.5 mile route with the 5 min run/ 1 min. walk for a total of 5 times. Add that to the walking warm-up and cool down and I finished in 33:10.

I also updated my iPod this morning. I added in a beginning and end song for my warm-up and cool down and rotated a few for variation. It was time to switch it up a little.

Water Baby Once Again

Hooray!!! I finally got back to the pool and did water aerobics as my strength training again! I couldn't be more thrilled to be back in the water. A pool for me is like sanctuary. I have always been so comfortable in the water. I remember when I was a little girl swimming underwater with my feet together pretending I was a mermaid...I think I would have rather been a mermaid than a person somedays :)

Anyway, there is some time discrepency between when the class ends and when daycare shuts down so I end up missing the last 10-15 minutes of class so I can get out and showered, dressed and get Connor from childcare. It's a little frustrating, but I figure 90% of a workout is better than none at all. We worked arms today and man oh man, I got a workout!!! We use dumbbells underwater against the resistance of the current and it burns! But it's such a good thing!

This afternoon, I walked 3 miles in 47 minutes. Not too bad. That is a hair over 15 minute miles. Maybe sometime, Ben and I will walk 12 miles...just to see if I can maintain the 15-minute mile pace. If I can do that, then at least my head knows I can complete the half.

PS: As a side note, I am not adding in the miles I walk on my "off-days." I don't consider it actual training, I am only walking as something to do and to enjoy the weather. I am only counting mileage on my training days.

Day 1

What a great training day this way today- I feel great!!! We went out early, the weather was still on the cool side, sun was coming up and off we went. Today was the beginning of the "endurance/maintaining" portion. I did a 5-min. walk/warm-up and then did 5 sets of 5 min. runs/1 min. walk. I followed up with a 2-min cool-down. I had certainly worked up a sweat by the time we pulled into the driveway. I learned that I need to re-program my iPod to accomodate the warm-up and continue to add songs for the minutes I continue to add to my total time.

Changes are a-coming

Sunday....ahhhhh, the proverbial day of rest. My mind is wide awake...my body, however, feels like it is still asleep, like I am living inside the body of a 50 year old woman (no offense to those over 50....but the aches and pains and slow moving until I get everything actually moving...oi!) Needless to say, I am enjoying the day off and getting mentally prepared for the next 25 weeks of building for endurance.

You probably have also noticed an addition to my blog. I have added my current race and time as well as miles logged and time clocked. That will be my daily miles and how much time it took me. After that is total mileage. I am so curious to see, after all is said and done with the half marathon, how far I have actually gone. Periodically, I am going to calculate, hypothetically, the destination I would have arrived at if I actually would have travelled that many miles. Kind of cool to know that possibly...I could have run to Kentucky and visited my amazing sister and HUGE motivator :)

Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure 5K

Today, I ran my first race. As I woke up this morning, I had a horrible feeling in my belly. What was this?!? Nerves had sunken in. I was so nervous!! All this training and hard work and I was finally going to see what it all was for...in a matter of hours. We got on the road and met up with the 13 other amazing Ranger Ladies that were running it with me. What an inspiration. "Rangers love Ta-Ta's!"

We got down there and were at the starting corral, waiting to go. By the time we actually passed the start line, it was already 3:30 into the race! We were running the streets of Savannah with 3000 of our closest friends. My original goal was to run the whole race. Actually, as Ben reminded me, my original goal was to finish the race. When I started this mess a few months ago, I don't know if I would have actually finished.....anyway. A secondary goal was to finish in 30:00.

Well, I didn't reach either of the goals, but it was a learning process despite my overwhelming dissapointment. I started off so fast that I was really struggling at the halfway point and ended up having to walk for 1:30. Even with walking and all the other distractions, I still finished the race in 32:00. Not bad!

Even though I didn't run the entire thing and I didn't finish in 30:00, I did learn a lot of valuable lessons throughout. Point of reference is tough....all these people were flying by me and I cuoldn't really tell how fast I was going...I shot gunned it the first mile! I hit the #1 mile marker at 8:30 and it was then I realized how fast I was going and needed to slow down my pace. I learned that I am not racing AGAINST other people. I am running for me and I am racing my personal time.

I also learned to be VERY careful running in large groups. As I tried to pass the people walking or who have a slower pace than me, I would pick up the pace to pass and then slow back down to my normal pace. I was, basically, doing sprints throughout the entire race. What a smoker!

Despite being disappointed that I didn't run the whole thing, I understand why and I know that I can. I learned a ton of lessons and am proud of all my hard work....AND, the best of all, I finished knowing that I wanted to do it again- SOON! We are looking into a 5K at the end of May. I guess after all is said and done, I still run like a girl!

One day to go

This morning I picked up all the team materials for the 5K tomorrow. I was so excited I almost started crying as I stood in line. I am pumped! I hope this energy lasts through to tomorrow morning!!!

New Quote of the Day

"Discipline weighs ounces; regret weighs tons."

I received this quote as a part of my 42 daily emails from FlyLady. Well, it's not really 42 daily emails...but some times it feels like that many. I can't complain. FlyLady is a God send! Between FlyLady and Motivated Moms, my home is always clean and company ready, my laundry is always cleaned and never piles up, the toilets are always spotless, the sink is always shiny (you have to FLY to understand). With the thousand things going on in my life, I have found an amazing method between the two to help keep my life in order. When my house is in order everything in my life, typically, runs a little more smooth.

Anyway, I digress....I received this quote. The idea behind it was to remember that putting things/chores/ etc. off around your home will only lead to regret when you go to spend days on your house because there is too much to do in one day. It got me to thinking about applying this to, well, everything in my life.

How many times have I jumped down Ben's throat only to realize afterwards that I overreacted prematurely? How many times have I yelled at Connor only for him to look at me with his HUGE eyes and I understood that he didn't understand me, why I was upset or what he had done to cause it? How many times have I gone out on my run to give up mid-way and walk? How many times have I not gone out at all?

Now granted, I know that there are going to be times when the yelling overtakes, the laziness is stronger than the will to run in the rain, the misunderstanding leads to miscommunication....but the quote puts it into perspective. The guilt of hurting my husband's feelings, my son's feelings, my own feelings....that is heavier than the power of discipline. (Something I, obviously, need a lot of practice on.)

Here's looking up

Okay, so I woke up this morning exhausted. I literally had a mental debate as I heard Connor fuss and groan around in bed as to whether or not I was going to be motivated and do this. I had company coming around 10:00am. and I wasn't sure how long we were going to spend with or what the rest of the day held. I had my breakfast, took a deep breath and said, "Okay, let's do this, get it over with and get one GREAT run in. This is my last one before the 5K...I need to do this." Did this, I did! I started out slow but with a positive attitude and before I knew it I was 15 minutes into my run and picking up speed as I went. I felt so optimistic and happy at the end, I knew I had made the right decision. Not particularly important, I ran 2.5 miles in 29:50. Not great...but the awesome mood that came with it made the time seem insignificant.

Blah Blah Blah

That's the weather, that's the mood.....Every best of intention today was met with an equally fabulous road block. It made for an incredibly long day. Originally, the plan was to go to a Spouses' Club luncheon, pick up Connor from daycare, come home to let him get a nap and then get a good 35-40 min. walk in. Missed the luncheon because I needed to take Connor to the doctor....plan still intact. Leaving doctor, all service lights come on in the car...need to take care to the shop for diagnostic tests....2 hours later am leaving the shop, Connor hasn't had a nap all day and errands need to be run in the evening with the DH (dear husband). There are zero minutes left in my day...plan has failed. I feel completely disappointed but oddly relieved that it isn't one more thing I need to squeeze into an already stressful and overwhelming day. Although, a nice long walk would probably help to clear the mind and provide some stress relief. Maybe after dinner I will take a walk, just my dog and I...meditate a little. Find some therapuetic remedy for high stress.

Loving the cookbook

I did go out for an easy run today. A quick 25 minutes this morning and we were done. I was so unmotivated, but I got out and did it. I have one more run this week and a few walks around the neighborhood and it will be time for my very first 5K!!

The title of my blog....yep that's right. I found a cookbook that I am obsessive over. It's the Biggest Loser cookbook. We eat almost every meal every night from something in there. We have found so many fabulous meals that we love normally for half the calories, less fat, less sugar....more protein and tons of deliciousness!! Tonight, spaghetti and meatballs. It took me 20 minutes to make the entire meal, including homemade meatballs and it was only 400 calories for the whole meal!! So yum!

PS....it even gives you permission and recipes for dessert!! How can you beat that?!?

Maybe it's the weekend

So, I think there is a pattern forming here. Each weekend I seem to be such a slumper. Please keep in mind, I only run one day of the weekend. This shouldn't be that big of a deal and for some reason, I can't seem to get there. Now, I think I have figured it out but still here I sit, with a poor run under my belt. I think that I run poorly on the weekends because if I don't go first thing in the morning, then I don't want to give up my precious and usually limited family time by going on a run. I know it's only 30 minutes and I know that it is something Ben and I both enjoy....but I would honestly much rather sit on the couch for 30 minutes with him watching underwater basket weaving than going on a run. However, if we do it first thing in the morning before our day gets under way, it's a completely different story.

I don't know...maybe I'm just trying to make excuses for a poor run. My fault and my fault alone for lack of motivation.

Day of rest

Quite literally, today was my day of rest and is you take out the grocery shopping trip, rest is exactly what I did. It actually felt great to not do anything! Since I have absolutely nothing to report on, I want to share some parts of my training book with you. I started it last night and found myself to inspired and motivated to do this. I have decided I am not just doing this for myself and for my health but because of my health for Ben and Connor too.

Here is what Jon Ackland, who wrote Beginner's Half Marathon Trainer, said that had me so inspired and reminded me it was much more than running.

"...here is another way to think about the meaning of life: life will only be meaningfull to you if you do (or experience) meaningful things. As we get older, it is easier to let our horizons shrink, our boundaries contract and our limitations multiply. In short, we do less, feel less, experience less. When you decide to do something like a half-marathon , for a lot of you it's going to be way outside your current limits. And to go there, you have to go into the territory of fear and uncertainty. Don't let this worry you- that's what a big challenge is all about."

Two days at a time

Apparently, I can't get my act in gear to update everyday, so I am updating every other day. Yesterday, we went for a 45 minute walk. It was awesome and everyone behaved the whole trip. I drank a ton of water and ate well but didn't do anything other than the walk.

I have decided to hold off on strength training until after the 5K. After my Supersets workout with Kathe on Wednesday, I felt that trying new strength training routines would only hurt me as opposed to help me. My muscles can't recover that quickly yet, but I am anxious to start a new weekly routine after the run next Saturday.

Today, the whole family went for a timed run. I am little over a 10-minute mile pace and holy mackeral, we were cooking to keep that pace. It will be interesting to see how the miles/minute progresses as I add in miles and increase my endurance.

Playlists

This is an update from the last two days since I was down yesterday. I finally did run my 3 miles in 30:and some change. I couldn't believe my eyes when I check my stopwatch at the 2 mile mark and saw I had a little more than 10 minutes to go. I pushed it so hard and was in so much pain, but the joy of the accomplishment was well worth it. The rest of the day was push and pull. Connor had a rough day so it ultimately affects my day. I tried a tivo'ed workout from Fit TV and had my @$$ kicked. Supersets with Kathe was rough. Thankfully, I sold my handweights a few months ago and *shoot* couldn't lift with weights, only some soup cans and it still made me work. I felt awesome yesterday! Between the run and the strength training (kind of), I felt the best I have in weeks.

Today was an "off-day." I walked for 45 minutes in the morning. The weather was beautiful so the walk felt great.

The subject line is in response to something Jo had said about needed music while she runs. I live and die by my playlist. I need my music to push me to the next level when I feel like quitting. My walking playlist is just music that makes me happy. Typically, 70's and 80's music, oh, and a lot Dolly Parton....she is fabulous.

My run playlist is a mix of songs that has taken me months and months of trial and error and finding what worked for me. It had a few requirements: it had to inspire me and it had to be upbeat. It starts out a little slower (when I don't need to boost) and then by the end, I am rocking full out!

Tearin' It Up Garth Brooks
Bring on the Day Charlotte Martin
If I Ever Leave This World Alive Flogging Molly
The Cup of Life Ricky Martin
La La Ashlee Simpson
The Champion in Me 3 Doors Down
Champion Queen Latifah
Smooth Criminal Alien Ant Farm
Don't Stop the Music Rihanna

Better days are here again

I am getting back on track again. I took it fairly easy today. Drinking a lot of water, eating well and re-energizing for another run tomorrow. Connor, Dakota and I went for a 45 minute power walk this afternoon. The sun was out and it was a balmy 55 degrees but the wind was incredible! I bet Connor and I will both have wind burn on our cheeks. Walking that far felt so good. I was really concentrating on body position and a strong engaged core and glutes....well, the glutes is duel purpose. One, to get a better workout and two, hopefully put my butt up back where it belongs.

Also, as a major bonus, I found Fit TV today and was able to tivo a few circuit strength training programs and a stretching yoga program. This afternoon, I really want to try the yoga program and will postone the strength training until tomorrow so I can continue to strength train 3 times a week. I am so happy to have found two very different television programs. I now have three programs (one I was already doing on my own from Paulette) and have the ability to rotate each program. This is the most exciting thing for me because I will 1) not get bored by doing the exact same thing 3 times a week and 2) keep challenging my body and muscles.

Tomorrow, another 30 minute run. I hope my positive attitude and feeling great about physical fitness continues. Maybe the mind will overpower the body and bright and early tomorrow morning I feel light and knock this run out of the ballpark!

Another bummer....

Yep, today was another bummer day. I don't know why I am feeling so heavy lately. There are a couple things I know I can do for myself to make it better, but I am still uncertain as to why my legs feel like they weigh 50 pounds each. One thing I need to get much much better at is my water intake. I should be consuming 3 liters a day and am no where near that, even though water is the main beverage I have....after I drink my 2 cups of coffee in the morning, which could also be a part of the problem.

I did get my training book today and was a little disappointed. I guess that is one of the downfalls to ordering a book online and not being able to peruse it like you would at a bookstore. I really like the information in the book and I know that, overall, it is a good purchase and will provide a lot of help in areas I was unsure about, particuarly reminding me that this is more than just running. There is a lot more I need to do, conditioning wise, than just getting out there a 3-4 times a week and clocking miles. What it didn't have that I was a little bummed about was that there was no week by week sample training schedule to follow. I am going to have to do more research to find something that works for me to start increasing my overall run time to 45 minutes 3 times a week. At least, that's where I think I want to be.

On a very positive note, my food intake was MUCH better today than it was this weekend. High fiber cereal for breakfast and after my run I had a banana sushi (recipe below ladies: high fiber, high protein, high potassium, low calorie....perfect pre- or post-run snack!), lunch was marinated grilled chicken and fresh fruit, had yogurt with whole grain granola and for dinner had ravioli with Connor.

Until the race, I am running M, W and F for 30 minutes. Hopefully, I can keep pushing closer to my 10 minute mile pace but Ben gave me an excellent reminder last night as I was continuing to complain about my run yesterday. He reminded me that my goal for the 5K was only to run the whole thing. It was only AFTER I knew I was able to run the entire 3 miles that I changed my goal to try and complete in 30:00. Running 11 minute miles, having gone from virtually not being able to walk 3 miles without getting winded in less than 3 months is an accomplishment in and of itself. However, I keep pushing. On T and R, I will power walk 45 minutes with Connor and on this Sunday is my last distance run. I stop completely on Wednesday with my last 3 mile run and then I give my body the break and recovery until the 5K on Saturday morning.

Here is the banana sushi: whole-wheat flour tortilla wrap, 1 banana and 1 Tbsp. all natural peanut butter. Spread PB inside the wrap and cut the banana into lengthwise slices. Roll up and enjoy! You'll be surprised how quickly one "sushi" roll will fill you up!

That sucked

Word to the wise....don't eat more than your fair share of crap food and except to not hurt the next day. I went for my run this morning after church. In all fairness, I should have also had more water and eaten something small before I went, but I felt like I weighed 492 pounds. My head was in the right place and I knew I had to keep going...but I seriously thought I weighed a ton, just in feet. I was dragging....but I pushed through and still ran 3 miles in 33:36. 11 minute miles, I shouldn't be upset about it. But I'm not going to lie....when I looked at my stopwatch as I was finishing up, I was mildly dissapointed. I really want to run the 5K in 30:00 and there is no way I can shave 3 minutes off my time. It's a little frustrating to have worked so many weeks and know that I am not going to reach this goal.

Tomorrow I run again. I only run 30 minutes so I am going to start slow but push hard and hopefully clean some time per minute from my race time. It will be a tough body day because I also have my circuit training tomorrow. Tuesdays are always rough because they are recover days from two back to back running days and an intense circuit.

Oh man.....

Well, I guess I took too much advantage of my off-day from running. Ben and I were doing great and since I wasn't going to run, we decided to take a 2 mile walk down to the corner store and back in the afternoon. The MSU game was about the start, I didn't feel like cooking so we went out for Chinese and trust that I ate nothing healthy from the "eat smart" menu and to top it off, yummy cookies and cream ice cream. This is not going well. I am going to have to kick it up and kick ass tomorrow and not only run 3 miles...but run 3 miles in 15 minutes to burn off what I have had today :) I guess it all starts again Monday!

Day 1

I know I am copying you Jo....but it seemed like such a great motivational tool to continue to remain motivated and focused on my goals.

So even though I am already running, I still feel like I am ages away from being prepared to do this. I can't even get my head around the fact that I am doing this. The whole purpose in my wanting to run the 1/2 marathon is because I wanted to say that I did it. I want to feel that feeling of accomplishment because quite honestly, I don't have a whole lot of faith in myself that I can actually do this.

I have a SEVERE love/hate relationship with running. I hate getting out there and sometimes I hate being 1/2 way through my run and still so far away from going back home....but I always love the feeling when I am finished. I love the sweat rolling down my face and that overwhelming sense of "wow." My favorite still is running the entire 3 miles (it's my biggest challenge so far).

Tomorrow, I run 3 miles and am trying to complete in 30 minutes. We'll see how it goes.