I ran a marathon- (not really)

On my facebook wall on May 24th I posted:
"I finished my first "marathon" 26.2 miles logged in the month of May! It's been hard getting up to go running everyday but I've done it!"

We had to send in a finisher photo.  Notice Olly's attempt to get his hand in the air, Abby was too cool for that.

I was worried that people would actually think I ran a real marathon- which is laughably not the case.  Anyone who knows me well knows I am by no means an athlete.  I am an anti-athlete, if that is a word.  It is one of the things I am most self-conscious about and have wished many times I could change.  Thanks to going to a small school I honestly tried 4 different sports but you can't overcome this much un-coordination with "trying harder".  I try to be healthy and I like to go on walks but sports are not my thing.  Let's just say I hope our kids are more athletic than I am.

Last year I found the Joggermom Marathon by chance on facebook.  Basically you have 31 days from May 1-May 31 to run the length of a full marathon 26.2 miles.  They pick the month of May because of mother's day that month- this is a chance for moms to do something for themselves, and because the weather is nice most places.  Anyone who is much of a runner does this every month (or week)  I'm sure.  Everyone who finishes, regardless of time, gets entered in to win some nice prizes (think $500 jogging strollers) . I was a little discouraged when the first person to finish this year was on May 4th.  Many of the people on there finished in 3 or 4 runs.  Go run a real marathon people! That is NOT me. 

 Last year I started out pretty well- but you're not supposed to walk, and it's hard to go from being a walker to a full time runner- even for 1 mile.  After a  few weeks, the stomach bug and struggling to get up early enough to run before I had to nurse the twins I had only logged 7 miles.  Plus you had to track it with some sort of GPS and I couldn't get mine to work.  Basically is was a BIG flop.  But I learned some things.  

This year I set it as a New Year's goal.   I was going to do this thing!  In April I started running every other day using one of the "couch to 5K" running plans that are prevalent on the Internet to ease myself into running instead of walking.  I found a running app I liked- endomondo.  I promised myself I would get up every single morning (except Sunday- I take the day of rest pretty literally).  I need to be very specific in my goals- I knew this would make me run more than I ever would on my own.

I am proud to say I did it!  I got up every.single.morning M-Sat to run until I finished.  Charlotte who usually wakes up at 7 started getting up at 6:30 and then 6 and then 5:30.  Maybe it was the sun coming up earlier but I think it's her 6th sense- she senses when I'm up and trying to do something without her.  She had no interest in watching cartoons at home with dad while I ran.  So I ended up pushing my 30+ pound daughter in my freebie single stroller with tiny wheels that veer badly.  Meaning I had to push harder with one hand so she wouldn't go off the sidewalk.  I only tipped her over once and it was in super slow motion (this is me running remember) but I still felt so bad.  I started to dream that maybe I could win one of those jogging strollers.  I felt like 1 mile with that stroller should count for 2 miles!

Getting up early really helps me to learn to love Mesa.  I struggle with the heat.  It's a lot easier for me to appreciate the beauty of the mountains, baby ducks on the canal, and nice lawns when I'm not sweating like a pig.  May was super hot- even before 7am some days.  Charlotte made a great cheerleader.  She'd pop into my room first thing, "Get up mommy!  Get up.  You going running today?"  Then if I tried to slow down, "Faster mommy!  You can do it!"

My sister Marti helped me get through a few longer night runs.  I don't like running at night as much, but having someone to talk to made it much more fun (and safe).  I wish I could find a running buddy who lives close who is as non-athletic as I am.  All these half-marathon or even 5K people put me to shame.  I am a tortoise not a hare.  I ran only 1 mile most days.  I had to run every day without skipping because I knew I wasn't up to "catching-up" by doing a 2-mile run.  At the end I was finally getting close to 2 miles- and feeling good- if I wasn't pushing the stroller and 3-year-old that is.  I won by consistency not my speed for sure.  I thought I would finish with 1 day to spare if I never missed a day of running my 1 mile.  But as my endurance increased I finished about a week earlier than that.  

My official time was 24 days or 21 days if you don't count Sundays.  A pretty bad marathon!  If you added up all my time actually running it was still darn slow 6 hours 15min 22 sec.  I guess the average for women is around 4 hours 45 min. and that's running it consecutively!

  I said I didn't do it for the prizes, but as I came close to finishing visions of jogging strollers or $100 Amazon gift cards started dancing in my head.  I wish I could finish this post by saying I won a prize, but I didn't.  I am pretty proud of myself for finishing- I think everyone in my family, and a few friends had to hear me talk about this.  I never had people come to all my sporting events and cheer me on- this is all I've got.

Q&A  

Am I still running Monday-Saturday?  No way.  I was exhausted by the end- staying up late and getting up early every day is a bad combo.
Am I still running a few times a week? Yes!  My endurance and my sense that I CAN do it has increased dramatically after my month-long kick start.  Basically I had to stop listing all the reasons I couldn't finish a marathon, and figure out how and when I could do it.  
Do I ever want to run a real marathon?  Ha ha. Never.  That is some special kind of torture.  I hated races in cross country.  I am trying to work up to running 5K (about 3.2 miles) now on my own.  
Am I glad I did it?  Absolutely! No one ever says, oh I wish I hadn't made that hard goal or exercised so much- I really regret it!
Anyone want to run it next May with me?  It's a nationwide thing, you just sign-up and pay your $10 fee, and start tracking your running- I didn't mind the fee because it made me feel more committed.  You won't regret it!

Here's a link to the finisher's video (our picture made the cut around 6min 50 sec)
And if you want a good laugh here's the link to the finalists for the funny running picture prize- chalk outline won- I'll have to be a lot more creative to win that contest!  They added my picture on after the voting for the finalists was over but at least I made the board!