I said I was taking a break, I think I lied!

Training for the Tinkerbell Half-Marathon kind of took over my life for a while.  I was constantly trying to squeeze in more training, shopping for the right shoes, worrying over whether my feet would make it, creating ipod playlists to get me through the pain....thinking, plotting, planning, worrying...

I was finally able to complete my 13 mile training walk, but I was way behind the pace required by Disney, so it was not a big surprise to me when I was re-routed on race day and unable to complete the entire race.  I still had a GREAT time and I loved every minute of it.  I am so glad I did it.  It was a very empowering moment when I finished my 13 miles on training day.  I was also thrilled to realize that my time for my first 4 miles on race day was a personal record for me.

Sandy, Valeri, Me and Amie

Look how many crazy women were lined up in the dark!!

There were wings every where!  Maybe that's what I did wrong. 

 I should have worn some wings!

Had to take a picture of the Castle.

As soon as I was done, I felt a huge relief lifted from my shoulders.  I no longer had to worry, stress, train... I could let my poor flat feet rest... 

And so I decided I was going to take SIX weeks off.  I was going to get back on my bike, go back to spin classes, maybe hit a few Zumba classes, and cut back my walking to just my dog walks....

and then....

They started a wellness program at work.  Volunteers were leading hikes, bike rides, mountain biking, walking, jogging... I looked over the list of options and the times they were available.  Bike rides at 12:15pm were not going to work for me, but that jogging class fit my schedule perfectly. And if I'm going to attempt Tinkerbell again, I need to pick up my pace....so I decided I would at least try it.

We meet twice a week and have to complete one more run on the weekends.  It's kind of a couch to 5k program so we do walking/jogging intervals.

Day 1 - I thought I was going to DIE!!!  Honestly, I finally had to skip one of the jogging intervals or I was definitely going to puke. I chose to walk.  Somehow that seemed less humiliating. 

Day 2 - I jogged all of the intervals, but I consistently found myself stopping about 5 seconds early.

Day 3 - (Homework) I used my ipod and my own timer and found that I was able to complete all of the jogging intervals.  I would look at the timer, see 5 seconds and push through.

Week 2

Day 1 - I'm repeating the same intervals as last week.  Not quite ready to move on.  I successfully completed all the intervals again and BONUS - I'm no longer quite as sore as I have been.  I'm starting to think there might be hope for me. (I did get lapped by the rest of the group that changed intervals though. LOL)

So.. I said I was going to take a break, but it looks like I lied...