WELCOME TO MY NEW BLOG!

Hello Friends,

Let me start by saying that I am a hairdresser. Not a writer. I only went to one semester of college. And I studied German. So forgive me if you are offended by my ignoramus attempt at being a writer. English is my first language, but I never excelled at school. I'll be the first to admit that I was not interested. Looking back now, I know if I had put a tiny bit of work into studying I could have been a straight A student and gotten into UW-Madison. Well, we all know that didn't happen. And I'm glad it didn't. I believe I would never have gone to beauty school if I actually liked "real" school. I excelled at beauty school. Always got the top marks. I was born to be me! If I wasn't me, who would I be? Ok, enough of that. Let's get to the real reason I am here and why you are reading this nonsense.

I've decided to start this Blog to keep you all updated on my progress.
Two weeks ago today, Sunday March 28th, I went along with Howie (the husband) to the first of many weekly group training runs/walks with Team Challenge.
The meeting place: The Petitt Center (an indoor track around an Olympic speed skating training facility).
The time: 9am. I must be crazy. I like to sleep! 9 am on a Sunday morning. This better be good.
There I met a majority of my teammates that would be joining us for the Napa Valley Wine Country Half Marathon. We are all running (with some walking, for me) to support the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America. Howie and I have 2 honorary people we are running for. My brother-in-law, Pete, and one of my best friend's father, Paul, both have Crohn's. It's amazing to hear the amount of people who have been affected by Crohn's or colitis. They seem to be crawling out from the woodwork when I tell them about our cause.
The race is in July. Did I mention that I am neither an athlete, racer, nor a runner? Well, cat's outta the bag. I'm not. I can't think of another person less competitive than me. So my goal here is to finish this half marathon. I don't care about the timing. Howie on the other hand... well he was "a high performance athlete" (as he likes to call himself) during high school and the beginning of college. I didn't meet him till he graduated from college, so I cannot attest to this alleged statement.
Not to bore you with the details here, but here are the details from start to finish...

Day 1: 3/28- I did a combo of running and walking. I forgot to count how many laps. So I'm sure I'm overestimating my speed, but I logged in 35 minutes at 4.5mph. Ha. I'm a great estimater. Did I mention that I was recovering from a cold? And that running in the cold air of the Petitt center made me feel as if my lungs were swimming in water? Oh, I guess I forgot to say that. But that's how it was.

Day 2: 3/29- 25 minutes at 4.5 miles an hour.

Day 3: 3/30- 40 minutes at 3.5 mph

Day 4: 3/31- 70 minutes at 3 mph

Day 5: 4/1- 60 minutes at 3.5 mph. Do you care that I also gardened for 60 minutes and cleaned the house for 60 minutes? Let's call that cross training. It was so nice that day. Like 80 degrees.

Day 6: 4/2- 60 minutes at 3.5 mph (I'm a machine! 6 days in a row. Taking the next day off.)

Day 7: rest

Week 1 Total: 410 minutes of exercise and.......14.675 MILES for the week!!! Kinda free styled this week. Next week will be following the Trainers recommendations.

Day 8: 4/4- 60 minutes @ 3.3 mph (Group training at Lake Park. Woohoo! Walked and chatted with Dave. Nice guy. Teacher. Major success with weight loss and exercise. Said he gave up carbonation and started eating slowly. Who knew? Amazing! )

Day 9: 4/5- 30 minutes @ 3.5 mph

Day 10: 4/6- 35 minutes @ 3.4 mph

Day 11: 4/7- 25 minutes @ 3.6 mph

Day 12: 4/8- 26:50 minutes @ 4.5 mph (2 mile run/walk around the track at the JCC)

Day 13: 4/9- rest

Day 14: 4/10- 30 minutes cross training (cleaned the house. what? we were having an Open House the next day. what? you need a house? ours is for sale. check it out. http://www.4672ardmore.com/

Week 2 Total: 146 minutes 50 seconds ( yes, I'm logging seconds) and 10.55 miles Not too shabby! Next week should be interesting. We leave for LA on Wednesday night. But Howie and I will be bringing our running shoes on our trip. So don't expect me to slack. I'm keeping up! Mark my words! 2 weeks down....12 more to go. WooHoo!!!

Day 15: 4/11- 47 minutes @ 4.2 mph ( Group run at Lake Park. Gorgeous Day! Brought my headphones and I'm glad I did. Managed to run most of the time. And by myself. Listened to the Are You In? De La Soul Nike mix that pulled me through the run. If you don't have it on your iPod, go get it! )