REquote: "The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start." -John Bingham

I, Tina N. Randolph, have successfully completed my first official 5K. Yay!!!


I had not trained in almost three weeks so I was a bit unsure of how the day would go. Let me just start by saying...

"The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start." -John Bingham

Thanks to my friends Stephanie and Lee for "sponsoring" my first 5K. Blessed to have such amazing people in my life is an understatement! Mr. Lee ran and Stephanie, Ella Rose, Olivia and I joined in with our strollers after the runners had taken off. We kept a very brisk pace. Stephanie encouraged me to run a bit. I wasn't able to kick it in to gear for more than 10-20 seconds? I kept tensing up in my shoulders, arms and hands to keep a grip on the stroller. I will take Steph's advice to use the palms of my hands from now on! Although it was a smalllllllll time to run, I can say, I ran. I ran in my first 5K.

We got mixed up in some walkers here and there. People always talk about not wanting to get stuck behind the strollers...but Steph and I were Rollin' Mama's! I took her lead as she jogged and swerved like a pro throughout the maze of walkers. It was cool!

There were lots of inclines at the beginning but there was a great deal of down hill through the last half. It was really neat to see the animals that were out (Bengal Tigers, some monkeys..or were they little apes?, Lynx, Lemurs. We also got to go behind the scenes somewhat on the trail. All of the Zoo employees were on hand to cheer us on and keep us motivated. Because it was the Zoo Run Run, entrants were encouraged to dress up as animals. Saw quite a few leopards, a panda bear, a butterfly...really creative people.

The most interesting thing for me was the culture of runners. The warm-ups, the commraderie, the carb-loaded dinner after the race along with Vitamin Water. The timed runners ceremony, the gear: Cool shoes and running socks. Running socks...have you ever?

Well, it is finished. And now I am searching for the next 5K. I am greatly encouraged that I will RUN the 5K on my 40th birthday (November 2010). I see now how serious I need to be in training in order to accomplish that.

REmotivated: 9 pounds down and one 5K to go

I lost 9 pounds....9, 9, yes, 9! (Channeling Ferris Buehler's mom when Principal called to tell her that Ferris had missed school...9 times)

It has taken me about four weeks. But I know that it was hard work and although I would love to see a bigger number, I am pleased with what I have. Faithful to the program? For the most part...counting points, tracking food, etc. Faithful to my exercise program...not so much. I had been training for the upcoming 5K using coolrunning.com's "C25K" program (from couch potato to 5K runner in two months) but training stalled on January 2. My last run/walk was January 1 in very bitter cold temperatures and it took me about two hours to recover from the asthma. So, the weather up till now has been either freezing (below 30 degrees) or windy/rainy. I have to figure out how to overcome this obstacle. If it was just procrastination and procrastination alone I would be ashamed. The asthma makes it tough. So, I am a bit nervous about my 5K this coming weekend. Unsure if I will be able to wog (walk/jog). I guess it doesn't matter much. As long as I show up and do.

REcommit: I have missed you.

Have you missed me?
I have been away. Well, not 'away' but you know...busy. Too busy to blog you say? How rude! My mom and step-father visited over the holidays and prior to that Olivia was sick and post that our typical schedule picked back up. Eat, sleep, fight to get out of the door on time, work. Rinse and repeat.

So I have been eating mindfully. I have not been exercising. I am a bit ashamed. I am supposed to be training for my first 5K that is at the Nashville Zoo next weekend...(NEXT!!!!)but have not trained since New Year's Day. It has been fahreeeezing. Seriously. Colder than I remember it being in a long time. Had to break out the good ole inhaler that day. Took hours to get rid of the bone chill. Haven't hit the pavement since. I am a wuss. An out of shape wuss. And to top it all off I am supposed to be using my jogging stroller during this run as my friend is also using hers and it is a celebration of sorts for her daughter's birthday. Mine, is gone. Where am I heading with this, you may ask. Well my jogging stroller is in Florida. Why, you may ask? Yeah, see, when my parents visit they always have a nicer and roomier car than me so we usually pile up in theirs along with the equipment (stroller and car seat and various snacks, sippy cups and other diversions)but I failed to remove the jogging stroller before they left. So, the stroller headed to Florida in the back of an SUV hitched to the back of a motor home. And, my mom is holding it hostage to ensure that we are coming for a visit in March. Yes, mom, we are coming! Now I am on the hunt to seek out someone who will let me use their jogging stroller for the run. Besides, it will be a great crutch for me to fall upon when I am gasping for breath or working out the charlie horse or just plain collapsing.