For those who "TRI"

Even though I am not a triathlete I really enjoy following those that are. My husband started racing 8 years ago. When he first told me that he was going to try to do one I remember asking "you're going to do what?". Sure he was a strong biker and his run was okay but let's now factor in the swim. I am sure he was influenced by his friend Kim who had completed an Ironman. Well, he worked at it and he accomplished his goal. Kim is now training for her 3rd Ironman. Chief has been "training" with her by doing the long runs with her on the weekend. These guys get up at 4:30 in the morning to run 18 miles! I get crabby just thinking about it.

When we moved to this neighborhood, we pulled in the driveway with our bikes on the car. We had not met but one family and then down the street comes a woman on a road bike. She would turn out to be a triathlete. She had raced half-Ironman distances. We would become good friends with her and her husband. Eventually Chief and Karen would convince myself and Dennis to try a triathlon. Dennis learned to swim so he could do this! I thought we were all crazy!

My short career, my only triathlon was a sprint with the swim in a pool. I was so nervous. When I went to sign in they didn't have my reservation. THANK GOD! I told the lady not to worry, I would come back next year. My loving husband said she was going to fit me in and that was that, I was assigned a swim start. Actually, looking back the swim was the fun part. I remember it to be so rhythmic. I only breathe on the right so every time I took my breath (one the way down) I would see the crowd. Then came the bike. That was fun too because I think it was my strongest part. Finally, the run. The first part of the run wasn't too bad but being my first triathlon I didn't save anything. I just wanted to finish as fast as I could to be done! I ran and thought I was going to puke but I didn't. I finished the race. I even placed in my age division! It was hard and it felt good to be done.

Through the years I have met other triathletes. One of the toughest people I know is MJ. She truly has passion and commitment for this sport. I met Jennifer Garrision last year through Team LunaChix and I was so amazed at how humble she was. She is an Olympic distance USA National champion and she is amazing. I follow Bree Wee and Jennifer Harrison through their blogs. All of these people are an inspiration to so many others.

I don't know if I will do another triathlon. Maybe someday. For now, I will keep watching and cheering on those that do. As for Chief, he is still racing. He likes the sprint distances and maybe someday with some swim training we will see him do a half Ironman distance! I think Kim can talk him into it.

30/30

So, I decided that walk/run should be a good way to get me back. Hal Higdon has a 30/30 plan. It is simple 30 minutes of exercise for the first 30 days. The first 10 minutes you must walk. The last 5 minutes you must walk. During the middle 15 minutes, you jog for 30 seconds, walk until recovered, jog 30 seconds again. Jog, walk. Jog, walk. I think I got it! After this if no injury to the ITB I can look forward to his 5-K training plan!

I remember when I would run 3-5 miles before work everyday and now I am taking such small steps. It is really hard for me. Well, because of the ITB pain I don't have any options. I know if I go out full force I will be sidelined for another month.

On the bright side, my big Aussie JJ will love this program. When I started to run a few years ago, he was my "running buddy". He still gets so excited when I put on my running watch and it "beeps" to set the time. We would run every morning, even in the rain. As I became stronger and faster and gradually gained more miles, JJ became less interested. He has a mind of his own and he showed me. There were times he would "fake pee". Yes, he would lift his leg on a tree but would not pee. I swear he would do this and smile at me! That would frustrate me and so I would give him the 2 block no sniff, no pee penalty. He would counter that with just stopping and sitting on the grass and eventually would lay down. When trying to convince my 50 pound dog to move I realized that this wasn't fun for him anymore. He did his job. He got me started. He got me to run 3 miles without walking. It was his way of telling me he was done. I would still take him sometimes and when I did it was on his schedule not mine.

I can't wait run with my buddy again. Just like we used to. Slow and pokey on his schedule.

Introduction

Since this is my first blog I thought I should introduce myself to you. I am Toni. I am a wife, Registered Nurse, and mom to two Australian Shepherds. I am sure in the future I will be talking a lot about those guys. I decided to blog because I enjoy reading so many other sites and I thought this might be kind of a fun way to keep a journal of my progress.

There is nothing special about me. I work a lot. I have a great husband and friends. What I am missing in my life is running. I used to love to run. Too many injuries and too much weight gain have made this a bit difficult. Now, I am not nor have I ever been a great runner. Actually, I began running in 2005 and trained for the WDW half marathon. I completed it in 2:22 with a pretty bad ITB (Illiotibial band) injury that has never recovered. My sports medicine guy told me that I will never be able to run that distance again. I guess it was hearing him say that and the pain that caused me to quit all together. The thing is I don't want to quit. I want to run again. So, my blog is about me re-learning to run. Don't worry, I will throw other stuff in as well.

I have a lot of books about training. My friend LT told me to stop reading them and to start running. I am taking her advice. I am ready to shed this weight and pick up my feet again. So, with that I am hoping you will See Toni Run.