Kim and Lauren - Post #2

Kim and Lauren are a mother/daughter team, training to run the Disneyland Half Marathon in September of 2012. Kim, the the 50-something mom is vegan, and is training at the literally breathtaking altitude of 7,000 feet in Taos, NM. She has never been any kind of athlete before. Lauren, the 20-something daughter, is mostly vegetarian, and is doing her training in Seattle, WA. Running isn't new to her, but distance running is. This weekly blog, written by both of them, documents the journey, and hopefully, will inspire a few others to follow a dream, do something that's harder than they ever imagined they'd do on purpose, and enjoy the entire journey. Find all the entries by entering "Kim and Lauren" in the "search this blog" box to the left.


Lauren:

“There is a difference between interest and commitment. When you are interested in doing something, you do it when it’s convenient. When you are committed to something, you accept no excuses; only results.” – Kenneth Blanchard

I found this quote on Pinterest six month ago, about the time I had learned about the Disneyland Half Marathon.  At that moment I knew I was not committed to anything besides my freedom and fly-by-the-seat of my pants demeanor. Nothing would hold me back from having an amazing summer with my friends, not even exercise.

Fast forward to three months ago, I re-read this quote and began to really think about it. Could I ever be committed to something? Could I ever have the drive to make anything more important than my social life? Could I ever give up my anti-scheduling attitude to finally have a set routine? Then it hit me, if I wanted some sort of commitment, something bigger in my life I would have to work for it. This is when I decided that exercising would be my passion; I was going to lose weight.

November passed, then December, I went to the gym when it was convenient. I noticed I was losing weight so I would go, but then I felt great so I would stop. Then the holidays came around and life happened. I got lazy again and figured, “this is no big deal, I do it when I feel like it and I don’t when I don’t.” That was my mistake; I obviously wasn’t taking this seriously, it was an interest, not a commitment.

Now today, after signing up for the half marathon I have made the decision to take this seriously. I have made this my commitment. And I didn’t come to this conclusion because I wanted to lose weight. I tried that and clearly it didn’t work. I made the decision to run this half marathon, to try my best and feel something bigger for life.  I made the decision to become a runner, and the minute that clicked in my brain it was like something had changed, I felt different. From that point on it was a thousand times easier to get out of the house and go for a run. I will admit I have not started my half marathon training yet. I am currently working on a 5k, which is a stepping stone in the right direction. The most important thing is that even though I may not have started the hard training yet, I have made the commitment, no excuses, I follow my current training schedule just as I should and once I start the hard stuff I have no doubt any of this will change. I am excited for what is to come. I am excited to be an active happy person and share my journey with others. I am excited to be a runner. 



Kim:


I read Lauren's entry before starting this, and what she says about commitment really rings true for me too. I've started and stopped exercise plans all my life, and have always been distracted by something else "more important" after a few days. This time around feels different.

So far there have been plenty of obstacles that could have easily made me give up. Things like snow, mean dogs, lack of time, sore muscles, a cold, and the dreaded achy knees. All of these can be dealt with though, and rather than give up, I'm dealing. And I'm learning. I had no idea when I started all this that I would care a hoot about what it takes to be a runner. And now, not only do I care, I want to be a runner. That, my friends, is a very strange thing for me to hear myself say.

The knees had me worried, but then I remembered the book, Pain Free, by Pete Egoscue. I know several people who swear by this simple method of realigning the body to work properly, not only in sports, but in everyday life. And I'm happy to say that after only 2 days of doing a few seemingly too simple exercises, my knees feel better. It makes total sense that all these years of sitting on my butt making beads have rendered me somewhat out of whack. I'm glad my knees let me know about the problem, so I can fix it. And as I put myself back in whack, I'm changing my training strategy somewhat.

I was probably a bit too gung-ho last week, and I hurt myself, but only a little bit, and only enough to remind myself to ease into this and do it right. So for now, more walking and less running. In fact, no running at all until the knees are happy again. But I'm still "all in" on this thing, and snow and dogs, and even work are not keeping me from getting out there 3 days a week, and putting in the miles.

A supportive friend pointed out that my name ties in nicely with all this running stuff. She's right. Some days I feel like I'm "Miles From Nowhere," but the truth is, I have "Miles To Go," and I know I can do it. I'm committed. I imagine there are a few people who think I should be committed... and I'm not the tiniest bit interested in what they think.

Comments

  1. Sounds like you are doing good, having a goal helps. Ah yes, crazy dogs, the town I am in right now has dogs running around, following me on my bike, barking at me. I'm afraid they might bite my ankles.

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  2. I discovered Egoscue when I was taking of my late husband (he had ALS). I'm convinced that those exercises & a weekly massage kept me from hurting myself lifting a 200 pound man. I've sort of let the Egoscue exercises slide lately but you're inspiring me to start back!

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  3. Interesting thoughts about Egoscue- thanks for the info. Yeah, a successful life seems to be about goals and it is sometimes difficult to set a new one when an old big one has been achieved. You've both expressed this so well. Norine

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  4. It's really exciting to see both of you making progress on your Commitment. Lauren, I love the Blanchard quote and, Kim, thank you for the link to Pain Free - both have great significance for my Commitment - thank you!! Keep up the great work. This journey is going to be more rewarding than you can yet imagine. Sending lots of encouraging, energizing thoughts your way. <3 M-E

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