Who Knew?!?!

Okay, think you get the picture that I've never been a runner, nor have I EVER particularly enjoyed it. I've talked about running for a while and made mention of it in two blogs:

1. Here: this is when I went to my first Houston Marathon as a spectator and actually wanted to try it!
   
2. Here: this is when I gave up on my training.

Since then, I got into an argument with a friend over running v. not running. It was RIDICULOUS! I've gone to cheer more friends at the Chevron Houston Marathon. I actually WALKED 5k in April in less time than I expected. And I've been training...like seriously training to RUN a 5k in August.

Ironically enough, I've gotten past the stage of dreading it. Okay, honestly the first 5 minutes when I get out there really suck but I LOVE IT and I wish I had started this sooner!

I'm so thankful for my friend Regina who jogged the last I don't know how many yards of the 5k in April. I told her then that I LOVED the atmosphere of a 5k, I loved how the self competition kicked in full gear when I was there, and I loved the challenge. I told her that if I could do a 5k I could do a half marathon. While I was mostly joking, she took me seriously and she said - Okay, let's train to actually run a 5k and we will go from there.

So here's the progress. In April I did the 5k in 47 minutes! Not too shabby for someone who didn't train. Okay - so I train on a track that's 2.88 miles and on June 1 I went around in 43 minutes and it was more walking than running. On June 18th, I did the loop in 40 minutes 6 seconds. 24 minutes of jogging and 16 minutes walking.

I write this not to boast and say LOOK AT ME! I write this because I didn't know I had it in me. And the things that have really helped are the following:

1. Accountability (insert Regina and this blog post)
2. SCRIPTURE starts flowing in my head. I wish I could quote it right now, but I've gone blank...I'm not running right now. I'll post in a future blog the scripture I use.
   
3. Prayer! OMG! Regina knows when I start getting tired or when I'm about to and she tells me - Okay, Mimi this is when you should start praying if you haven't already started!
4. Subscribing to Runner's World! TIPS GALORE!
   

I'm actually going to RUN a 5k August 7!

This is a bit of a selfish prayer request and a bit more personal than I like to get on a blog, but I'm going on a mission trip to Guatemala for three weeks. When I travel, I tend to gain weight which tends to make me blue. So, please pray that I can keep this up while I'm away. I really don't want to lose this progress. It really makes me happy and I actually DO enjoy this!!