Ask and you shall receive...

I have been praying for a running coach. Mark, my husband, keeps telling me I need to run faster and I really want to stuff his mouth with a sock when he says that. I like being slow. I like the fact that I can run for 10 miles and not even hardly feel winded. I LIKE not pressing forward and pushing on. Or I did until I ran my 1/2 marathon in November and then I was bummed all week because I didn't have any goals to work toward. All of a sudden my running was boring! So, I had a choice, I could stick to my guns and just be slow and probably quit running or I could come up with some new goals and get my butt running faster and longer. My new goals are to begin increasing my speed and hitting a marathon in the spring. Soooo exciting. Less than 1% of the american population have run a marathon. I like the idea of being elite. It keeps me running.

This past weekend, I hung out with some amazing people. People, who like me, like to run. I mean really like it! Personally, I think they're all a little crazy because when I met them for our morning run it was freezing and they were all wearing shorts. (I prefer to think they're crazy rather than I'm weak because I came out in under amour, sweats, 3 layers of shirts, a jacket, a neck gaiter and hat and mittens!) Obviously, it's the 4 of them that are crazy rather than me. Out of our weekend Aaron, a pastor from Iowa, offered to coach the rest of us: Kim - a marathoner and pastor's wife from Indiana, Melissa - Aaron's wife (she's also run a marathon), Mark - my husband a former semi-pro soccer player gone soft (love you, honey) and me - a brand new runner this year. I'm definitely the weakest link in this chain, but I don't really care. My competitive nature will push me to try to keep up and that's exactly what I need!

My first bit of homework from Aaron is to go out and do a timed mile. This means I run for 1 mile at a steady pace and when I'm done my goal is to feel completely spent. This is close to impossible to do, but you've got to start somewhere. Kim and Melissa both finished in the 7's so I've GOT to try to hit that! I started out thinking I'd try for an 8, but after hearing their times I quickly adjusted my goals. I don't want to be a weenie! I'm sure Mark is thinking, "I told you so!", but he has wisely refrained from saying it out loud. I've heard that socks don't taste very good.