On Your Mark, Get Set....

Are you wondering what happened to me between July 2 and July 28? I'm sure it has really been keeping you up at night...imagining how I was spending the month of July. Here's a hint: I was not touring the town of Forks, hoping to stumble upon my favorite Cullen or locked in a cozy lakeside cabin writing the great American novel -although those would have been perfectly wonderful and acceptable ways to spend the month of July. I, however, had much more important things to do and I can't wait to fill you in.

Let's start with my amazing athletic ability, shall we? What...you didn't know I was athletically skilled? Was it the story about me falling down the steps at daycare that threw you off (while wearing a skirt and red underwear...let's not forget those important details)? Well, in my day (which was many, many days ago) I was quite the athlete. And yes...cheerleaders are athletes (I have a T-shirt that says so). My athletic talents did not include running, however, and I dreaded the day when our gym teacher announced the 1 mile run. But since I've gotten older, I feel a need to prove myself or to challenge myself (or to kill myself)? I'm not sure what it is, but I love the idea of doing something that I didn't think I could do and so I set out to run the local 5K. Steve and I started training (in my case, I use the word "training" loosely). I bought some cute new sneakers, a fabulous sport bra, and a hot pink shirt. Does that count as training? Seriously...I did run for a few months leading up to the race and I set a goal - to finish in under 33 minutes. I accomplished my goal (32 min. 28 sec., thank you very much) and I learned a few things along the way.

Exhibit A: I run like a duck (note the strange position of my feet compared to everyone else's). My very kind husband pointed this out to me, complete with sound effects. Nice.

Exhibit B: Lamaze breathing can be used outside of the delivery room. When I gave birth, I was in too much pain to breath. But thankfully, my breathing skills served me well on the home stretch of the 5K.

Exhibit C: My husband (despite his quacking sound effects) is the most awesome guy ever. He ran the race in 25 min. 38 seconds and then he came back to run the last 1/4 mile with me. He encouraged me and told me to pick it up and finish strong. I can't tell you how happy that made me.

It feels good to do something that makes you uncomfortable, something that challenges you. And that is how I started the month of July. Stay tuned, more July details coming soon.