ARE YOU CRAZY??!!!

On Friday I got a very interesting phone call from my sweet sister-in-law Brooke.  She challenged me to run a 1/2 marathon with her and her two brothers.  All of which are my husband's siblings.  My first and immediate response was(and I'm not kidding or exaggerating)  " HELL NO!! ".  Never in my whole adult, or adolescent life for that matter have I ever had a desire to run more then a 10k.  I did that a few years ago and it was tough.  Grant it, I ran it without much training, but I did it and it was rewarding.  I stopped running after that.  After that experience it boggled my mind how other people could even entertain the idea of running 13 miles.  My Mom was with me when I got the phone and was disgusted with prospect.  After talking with Brooke some more I asked if I could think about it.  She sent me a link to a training program and while looking at it I felt like this was something I should do.  I don't think it's coincidence that Brooke's call came the day after my fast.  I truly believe that this is something the Lord has thrown in my path on this journey to a healthier me.  I truly believe this will help me become that person I have visualized for the past year.  As I've told people about my new and outrageous goal, the only disappointing response came from my sister.  I was sadden by her lack of support but realized something very important; I'm not doing this for her, or for my Mom.  I'm not doing it for anyone else but me.  And really, it's not about the marathon.  It's about a lifestyle change and the training that it takes to get to the half marathon.
My friend Rich is a trainer and has trained for sprint tris, 1/2 marathons, and iron mans.  He told me that this is something I can do. He suggested that I heart rate train.  Which means I subtract my age from 180.  He also suggested that I use the run-walk-run method, which made a lot of sense to me.  This morning I strapped on a heart rate monitor and went out for my first day of training.  Let me tell you, it felt amazing.  This heart rate training is just what I need.  The goal is to keep my heart rate at 144.  Of course it goes a little high when I run, and that's when I slow to a walk until is goes just below 144 and then I begin to run again.  I went for 3.25 miles and it felt awesome.  I could have gone longer.  But hey, I still don't know what the heck I'm doing.  Again, I'm excited about the training.  I am excited to take back my life and change the way I live permanently.
Rich also told me it is possible to lose weight while training.  Of course, that is a huge hope of mine.  But losing weight comes with proper nutrition.  For me, I want my staples to be vegetables, fruits and whole grains with a little bit of protein.  This is going to be the more difficult part of my change.  But it something that I want badly and it will come.  I need to remember to eat those things that will help me feel light on my feet and good inside.  I know that vegetables are KEY for me.  I know green smoothies will help a ton and eating a lot of green salads.  I'm hoping to share my recipes with you here.
Today was not a super good eating day, but it wasn't horrible either.  I began my day with this Smoothy.

1cup kale
1/3 english cucumber
1 medium carrot- washed but unpeeled
1 orange
5 strawberries -leaves left on
1/2 mango
1/2 cup water
1 cup ice

I didn't add any agave this time, which would have made it taste better.  It was still refreshing and I enjoyed getting full off of a tall glass of cold green goo.

Another habit that I need to kick is eating out.  If I can just lose my desire for El Gallo Giro burritos, or Slab pizza, my life will get a whole lot easier.  But there are many natural man appetites that I have to over come.  Baby steps, I keep telling myself.  Baby steps.  And actually, eating out is probably one of the easier ones especially now that the kids are out of school and it's not so easy to pick up and go to lunch.  I need to take advantage of that.

So there it is.  I'm training to run a 1/2 marathon.  Hello talk about wanting to vomit with fear.  Despite my fear, I know it's do-able.  Wish me luck and if you have any happy thoughts or good advice please leave them.

Oh, and that's the reason for the name change back to Pounding the Pavement.  I'm back to pounding my way to a healthier me.