Grave Mistake

I may have made a grave mistake.

As some of you know, and the rest of you can probably surmise based on the junk in this trunk, I am not a runner. This is illustrated by a statement I made while in the midst of giving birth to Zach (and I mean In The Midst Because There Was Crowning), I turned to my then-husband and said, “I would rather (pant pant) do this (hee hee hoo, hee hee hoo) than run (scream scream) two miles (push!! push!!) with you.” It wasn’t so much with him as it was the running itself.

Me : not a runner. I have these cousins who do these crazy races through mud and water and insanity….and I’m so jealous because I think that would be so much fun. If I had a body double to do it for me.

Early last year, I decided I would “become a runner.” I started exercising and was very faithful, getting up at 5am almost every morning, heading over to the clubhouse gym and running on the treadmill, adding a little distance every day. In the spring, I ran a 5K. The race was in Gunnison, which is just a little country town and luckily for me, the organizers weren’t very organized. So I started the race early, because I was there and I may as well get started, and someone kept my time on her cell phone. So it wasn’t very accurate and it wasn’t very humiliating – I finished first! Starting a full 30 minutes before everyone else was brilliant! I wanted to run a marathon but the summer didn’t work out like I wanted (in so dang many ways!!) so running went out the window altogether.

Fast forward to Christmastime. I’d been lax about working out for several months and that, combined with a new job, a new relationship (it’s over) and a new car (why run when my car is so awesome?!), I was fattening up like the proverbial calf. The Salt Lake City Marathon website was advertising a chance for 6 people to be chosen to participate in a Mentor Program – with the goal of running the marathon in April. I applied…and found out yesterday that I have been selected.

What? I actually have to run? Somebody is going to “mentor” me? Why does that sound like “make me run until I puke my guts out?"

In reality, I’m very excited about this opportunity. Based on my current “fitness” level (BWAH HAHA HAHA HA HA !!), my goal is to run the half marathon in April and then do a full one later in the year. I’d like to run the Bizz Johnson Trail Marathon in Susanville in October and maybe another one before that, if I’m ready.

The really important lesson here is for my kids. I don’t want any of them to struggle with weight and body issues. I want them to be as healthy as possible. There are several kids’ activities offered in conjunction with the marathon that we’ll incorporate into Family Home Evenings (topic: How to Be Not Fat) and Saturday afternoons. And I would like them all to run the 1K race that day.
So here are some pictures of us being active….at least as active as we know how to be right now. Hopefully it will all be very inspirational and I can violate my Number One Inviolate Rule (Don’t Be On The News) and get featured on the 10 o’clock sportscast as the Best Mentee Ever!