wogging

a few days back I told you about my attempts to run. I smile as I type that, because it's really not running at all. it's barely even jogging.

however, I am proud to say that I have passed a hurdle with the whole thing. (I know I use this word a lot, but I cannot find a better one to describe what I'm thinking of.) there is hope for me yet . . .

my brother and his family live in a great part of fort worth close to the TCU campus. the streets roll just a bit, and have great stretches of flat. there are trees absolutely everywhere, trees that birds hide in and chatter at each other. the lawns are expansive and lots are huge, and there is also a great trail to run/walk/jog/bike on that stretches for miles and connects parks. so I had a perfect opportunity to work on my I Wanna Be A Runner goal.

the screaming quads didn't stop: they kept yelling at me throughout the long weekend. but I persevered, and on saturday

I RAN AN ENTIRE MILE WITHOUT STOPPING!!!

okay, for those of you who run, I know this is Not A Big Deal. but for me, who probably hasn't done this since college, IT IS A BIG DEAL!

again, it's more mental than anything.

now I can hold it in my mind that I CAN do this, I am able and capable. my knees survived it, my back survived it, all of me came out of it whole.

as I came close to the mile-marker, I raised my arms in a Rocky salute and cheered myself: it was great. no one was around, and no one cared except me, but I cared a great deal and that was exactly enough.

today, back home, I decided to try to repeat myself. could I do it? I wanted to do it soon enough again so that I don't have to go through this excruciating muscle thing again, and so this afternoon I set out to repeat my milestone.

and I did it; I even went a little past a mile.

can you hear the Rocky theme music playing in the background?

as I said, what matters most is that now I know I can do this. so I will do it again, and I'm sure I'll want to keep extending the length of my jog, and before long I'll probably be tracking how many miles I run, just like I do with biking.

scary, isn't it?

but for now, I am just glad that I pushed and overcame the part of me that said I can't do this.

we all have one, and sometimes they're darn loud. but I'm learning to talk back to it.

john says next thing you know I'll be in a swimming pool, then signing up for my first triathlon . . . and I say---and you have this here on the record---if that ever, ever happens, you have the right to have me certified and thrown in the loony bin.