S Club Mama

"Run to Overcome" is the new book by Meb Keflezighi. Don't know who that is? No worries, neither did I until I read this book! Meb is one of the best marathoners in America, in the world. This is "the inspiring story of an American champion's long-distance quest to achieve a big dream" (taken from the book cover). Meb's story is not an usual Cinderella story: a family emigrated to America (via Italy) from Eritrea , a very small African nation. Eritrea was a war zone so his father, fearing for his family's safety, did all he could (even being separated from them for years!) to get them out, to a safe country. From there, Meb did all he could to succeed - in the classroom and outside of it. He pushed himself from never having ran a race to being a champion in the mile to (with a lot of hard work and training) winning the 2009 New York City Marathon. Sounds like the American Dream, right? I love that this is not a running story. At least not JUST a ...

I have been thinking long and hard about running in the Lincoln Marathon in May. It's a fairly flat course and ...I just can't stop thinking about running a full marathon. I almost feel like God has placed it on my heart to run - is that silly? Would He place a marathon on my heart? I don't know. Since the thoughts won't leave my head (I dreamed about running last night a lot), I started to think about training plans. The one thing that scares me about running a full marathon (besides the 26.2 consecutive miles) is the training. It's such a time commitment; I know others who have much busier lives than I do that have trained, but I really like being with my husband and my kids. It's the 16, 18, 20 mile runs that are daunting - those are precious hours of my family time. How do you give that up? Something I've toyed with but am unsure if it would work is to sort of train every other week. On the "off" weeks do cross training and weight lifting...

Since I began telling everyone about running a marathon, so many have told me I "should" run a half before I run a full. It's probably true. It's probably smart. And it's most definitely true for me. Today I decided that a half marathon is much more do-able for me right now. There are various reasons. The price of the marathon vs. the price of a half marathon. It's not much of a difference but when you are just getting by (and you have two kids in diapers), that difference makes a difference. I'm also hoping that if we decide to do a full marathon, we can set some money aside easier if we wait awhile. The time commitment to getting the long runs in. I know that some women (and men) can work full-time jobs and train for a marathon (or longer runs). Not me. I don't necessarily want to take THAT much time away from my husband when I don't see him very much the way it is. I also have been thinking about Squirt's first birthday coming up soon;...

So...I didn't like Wordpress (and no one visited me there) so I closed down the blog I had there. And....now I started a new one here . It's going to be about my marathon training and runs, so I don't bore you all with details. I just want a commentary so when I look back I can see how sluggish I feel now (and hopefully don't then) and just how far I've come. A baby book for my running, I guess.

I have many weeks {about 21} until the marathon. I just spent about 1/2 hour researching marathon tips and marathon wardrobes, etc. I have NO IDEA what I'm doing! I don't know what the right type of shirt, short, shoe, jacket, hat is. I don't know what to eat before, during, or after. I have no clue what an energy gel is {ok, I have some clue but I've never seen these before}. I don't know what to eat during training. What's a Champion chip {I did pick up that this is a chip used to time racers}? How fast should I be running {as my plan is right now...to finish}. How much strength training should I be doing? I mean, I have a whole page of notes in front of me. I just feel kind of lost, you know? Especially when it comes to clothing for the big day. I don't know if I'll be able to run a marathon in the shoes I own right now; but I probably don't have a choice. Cotton shirts are all I have. I can't go out and spend money on Coolmax stuff {...

Since around Christmas, I've been talking about my workouts and getting in shape, losing weight, etc. It's time I spilled the beans and told you all what I'm really up to. The whole reason why I exercise (or try to) up to an hour or more per day (minus my lovely Sundays when I rest). I am going to run a marathon. 26.2 miles. I am only telling you all for motivation. You are my encouragers, my supporters, my friends. I will admit that I am scared to death of each one of those miles, but I know that I can do it (with much help from the Lord). I am not a runner, by any definition of the word, but I am determined to have this little slice of something all for myself. It's the Omaha marathon on September 26, 2010. So be cheering for me as I train and continue to stretch myself to my limits (and beyond). I will keep you up to date.