Finding inspiration where it strikes

Last weekend I did my 9 mile training at the track during  events at my sons swim meet.  Why?  Well I couldn't figure out how I would get it in otherwise. So there I was during there warm ups 4 miles.. Back inside to watch a few events.. back outside to do more laps.. It made me think about how if you want it you will make time.  I was reminded of a friend of mine who walks while waiting for her daughter to be picked up from horse riding lessons.. or another friend who never did have time away from her kids to train for a half marathon so she used a walking DVD in her living room.. Think about that for dedication... or my friend who runs before her kids get up so she can get it in.. or the two random strangers I see EVERY SINGLE DAY as I go to work at 3am walking.. Talk about wanting to get it in. Or a friend from college who gets her workouts/ mileage in even though her family is dealing with a illness that is effecting them all. I thought about why we do it.. not to win any recognition.. most of  us never even win our age group division. ( most except one.. you know who you are chica:) Why do we wear workout clothes any place we think we can get a workout in.. Why do we look past the stares from other moms or answer the questions. You must have lots of energy.. you must really love to work out.. etc. etc.  I can't answer for the rest of  them but I know for me. Its not about loving a workout . Its about the way I feel after I am done. I thought about the perfect workout conditions as I put my gloves on each time I went outside.. and how the perfect conditions rarely exist. I thought about my girls from college completing there first half  rain pouring down and tornado sirens going off. I thought about my first half with my buddy in Hurricane Ike.. I thought about friends who have had injuries and fought there way back and kept going. None of us have any less or more time than others. we all work/ have families etc. But we all get it in.  As I walked around and around I was so motivated to keep going thinking about who else was squeezing a workout in.

Training.

It can't be race day every day.. Sometimes you have to train. I don't always like training. In fact I hate it. I like to train with a friend but sometimes it is just me and the road. I think people assume since I do it so much I must like it.. Well here is what goes through my head as I go..

Today I needed to do 11 miles.

Mile 1: Ok 11 miles one mile at a time.. Man its beautiful out here . I am so thankful to be able to train out here today. Its so nice.. I can not wait.. One mile at a time. Here I go.
Mile 2: Great pace. I feel good. I am doing great. Man it is so nice out.. The lake is so pretty today.. Oh look people are kayaking.. It is so great out here.. Two mile over and done..
Mile 3: Great pace.. Doing good.. this is my day.. Oh look an inchworm.. Thank you God for such a great world you made..
Mile 4: I am bored. Is my leg cramping up? How can I only be at four miles.. come on pick it up.. lets go.. Four miles running to mile five.. Hello mile five..
Mile 5: Man its hot.. I sure could use a drink. Headed  back to the car.. One lap almost done.. See I did it .. One lap almost done.. I  did it.. I  CAN do one more.. I got this.. I got this..
Mile 6: Water .. I  need water.. almost to the car.. Hello car.. Come on car.. Get to the car get some water it will all be ok..
Mile 7: I dont want to go one more lap.. I hate this. I hate this. I hate this.. I hate this. Water did not help. I thought it was only supposed to be 75 today.. Why is it so hot.. I hate this . I hate this. I hate this.
Mile 8: I am not quitting. I am not quitting. I am not quitting. Come on pick up the pace. I sure wish I had a friend with me. I am not quitting..Gotta get back to the car.
Mile 9: Almost double digits. Almost ten. I can do it. An easy 5k. You cant do a 5k? I can do a 5k keep going. Keep going.. Keep going.. Keep going..
Mile 10. One mile. I think I will quit. Who would know? I could do ten there is no shame in ten. I am going to quit. I am going to quit,
Mile 11: I did it. You finished it.. you did it 11 miles done.. See now don't you feel good.. I did it.. I made it..


Training can show you just how mental running is. When its just you and the road at some point you have to decide to go on. When people ask how I do so many miles.. I always say.. I don't stop. It's funny but true. I want to but I don't ..

Please don't Supersize me or my clothes..

One added bonus to loosing weights is being able to buy clothes from regular stores.. no more Lane Bryant and Fashion Bug. I can now go to normal people stores AND I do not have to shop in the Plus section.. I honestly have no idea how long I have been shopping in this section. I say I was shopping there when I was in college.. Probably when my parents were still buying my clothes.. I realized I can go into any store and buy clothes and not the biggest size they have either.. Imagine the options I have. I no longer have to wear .. waffle type stretch shirts. pants with an elastic waste or my favorite clothes with birdhouses or teacher looking clothes. Cause all plus size people apparently love these two styles.. And I no longer have to pay more to have these clothes.. I can now buy clothes on sale.. off the clearance rack .. NO more thinking I need some new running shorts.. Go to the store and finding they do not carry any plus size workout clothes which is another things I find ironic.. They do not make plus size work out clothes. I one time told a sales associate maybe if they did the person may not be plus size. Anyway.. I am like a kid in a candy store. A whole new world has been opened up to me. I can shop at any store. Stores I would walk by call me .. I have to go in and try stuff on .. just because it fits. Then I have to say to Phil .. can you believe this fits? Do you think it is mismarked? Or Phils favorite.. I say to him from the dressing room oh my goodness this size ___ is falling off me. Can you get me a smaller size.. I can remember a time not so long ago I had almost outgrown the plus size stores and thinking... then were will I shop.. And Now look at my options.. It is a whole new world. I'm exploring one smaller leg at a time.

Everyday I'm shuffeling

Its funny how motivation works. You never know what is going to motivate you. Two years ago when I helped a friend finish her first half marathon I knew I could push myself further. A year ago I asked a friend to join me on a four mile walk and the impact has been amazing. She says I encouraged her to do it. She was unsure she could even walk four miles. She must of told me ten times I don't know if I can do it. I knew she could do it. She did it. .but what happened next was amazing. She started to exercise regularly and walk with me four times a week and she had lost weight. She is now training for her first half marathon and attends boot camp. She says I motivated her.. but she doesn't realize how she motivates me. There are many days I don't want to let her down. I want to push myself harder than I ever have before because I know she is . I made up my own toning exercises and make myself do them at home.. to make up for boot camp. I can't have her showing me up. I love her willingness to try and keep going. It is hard. And I love hearing her success.. and seeing her success. I love seeing her hard work pay off. It makes me laugh when she says I motivate her. I wonder sometimes who is motivating who?

My first Marathon.. Mickey Mouse Full Marathon.. and Goofy Challenge

When I first signed up for the Goofy challenge I was not completely sure I could finish. I had to run the half on Saturday then the full on Sunday. It would be my first marathon. It got to the point where I stopped talking about it to people because there were not many people who felt like that was a good idea. SO there I was again in the Epcot parking lot walking to my corral.. Making the mile and a half hike with my brother in law Solomon.. he was less than happy to be heading out to run the full after the half. The pace from yesterday had been hard on his body.. It was cold again so we walked to our corrals and used the bathroom..we got in our corral as we heard the first corral take off. I again asked Solomon are you excited.. he said No I wish I would of trained more. I know you are excited. We had decided I would run my race today and not worry about him he would try to keep up but to leave him if I needed. It was soon our turn to go.. We took off. I could tell I had run the half the day before but I was excited. I kept thinking this is what you trained for all year. TODAY IS THE DAY!! I was off I started running.. and I kept going . I saw Solomon around mile two and then I didn't see him again till the finish line he said go ahead and go so I did.. this time we had to make a lap around Epcot before heading up to the magic kingdom I knew Phil and the boys were going to be at the water stop at four miles I kept thinking run to Phil .. I got to the water stop and they weren't there. I figured they had missed me.. So I ran on.. I began the trip to the magic kingdom.. I felt good I kept running and walked when I needed too. I realized I was on pace to beat yesterdays half so I kept going. I saw Phil and the boys around mile 10.. Phil said Oh my goodness you are fast today.. I gave them high fives and ran on.. I felt good.. I didn't have my ipod since I thought I would have Sol with me.. At one point they were playing MIC KEY MOU SE.. I looked around and everyone was signing while they ran.. men / women/ young /old it made me laugh..My friend Cindy had flew in from Chicago to watch the marathon.. I saw her on mainstreet. How cool is that? I ran on.. into the castle again.. and out mile ten.. three miles to the half .. I was still on pace to beat Saturday's time. SO I carried on.. I made it 13 miles done.. I was so happy half over.. I knew I had plenty of time built up so I could walk some.. I began to walk.. I kept thinking get to 16 four hours then only two left.. I kept on walking.. walking .. walking.. 16, 17 , 18 this was not the most scenic part of the course. It was back roads to Animal Kingdom through the water treatment plant and conservation area.. Finally Animal Kingdom.. past the tree of life.. past expedition Everest I figured it was a good time for a pit stop.. best race bathrooms ever in theme park. I ran on.. mile 19 .. 20. I kept thinking six to go.. six to go.. Mile 21 it was getting warm 76 or so.. I could not swallow cause I didn't have any spit.. I saw a lady at mile 21 she said do you want some ice.. I took four pieces and I was back on track again.. Mile 23.. candy.. who wants chocolate when they have been running five hours and in the heat? But I took some fruit chews, I ate them but then I saw the UP characters they didn't have a line. So I jumped in to get a picture with them.. But I couldn't smile since I had fruit chews stuck to my teeth.. What was I thinking.. On to mile 24 past the Boardwalk hotel.. this is when I got a little choked up. I realized I was going to finish by this time I was walking only. I was tired. I was praying and thanking God for how far I had come.. From the first half in Hurricane Ike to now.. For my family.. for the boys.. for Phil..Mile 25 back to Epcot.. I could not believe how many random strangers were cheering me on.. Come on Amanda you got this.. Your goofy.. I was walking along to mile 26 and then I saw it.. mile 26 there was the same praise brand singing.. I turned the corner and saw Phil.. I said I did it.. and I was crying.. I was so proud of myself....Only .2 to go.. I went over to goofy and high fived him and Mickey. I did it.. I am a marathon runner. Who would of ever thought? I DID IT. I was so proud of myself. I did it.. and I did it alone. Solomon finished 45 minutes behind me. I never thought I would finish a full marathon. It was not the hardest thing I have ever done but it shows me how far I have come. I DID IT! I AM GOOFY!!

Walt Disney World Half

The only bad thing about Disney races is you have to be there by 4:30 am and if you know me you know I dont get up early for to many things. But here I was 4:30 a.m getting out of the car at Epcot getting ready to run the Disney Half Marathon. I was with my running buddy/ brother in law Solomon. We were dressed as Donald and Daisy Duck. It was 40 degrees when we started the mile and a half walk to to start line. So there we were in corral E.. we waited to start. I asked Solomon was he excited. He said sure.. He said I was getting on his nerves because I was so ready to go.. We finally were off. I felt good.. I took off running .. I could hear Solomon breathing hard to catch up with me. Before we finished mile one he said Oh my goodness you are so different than last year.. I felt so good. I had trained so long and it was fun to be there running it. We decided no pictures when it was dark so we ran on . We took walk breaks when needed but we mostly ran..

We ran into the Magic Kingdom tickets booth and I remember yelling to Sol come on.. lets run to the castle.. He laughed at me but we both ran on.. I was feeling so great. Somewhere around mile 5 I lost Solomon.. I ran on thinking he would catch up to me. Sooner than I thought I was in the Magic Kingdom I heard the cast member say "welcome to the magic kingdom" and there we were running down main street I saw Phil and the boys.. I gave them hugs and ran on.. I told them to tell Solomon to meet me at the characters..I had a cast member take my picture in front of the castle and then I saw Buzz lightyear.. I got in line to take a picture with him

. I still didn't see Solomon so I ran on to Stitch.. I got my picture taken with him..

I saw Solomon so we ran on together. I told him all we have to do is run back now.. We ran around the magic kingdom past Pooh's house into the castle and back out.. We then ran out of the magic kingdom. We ran back roads at Disney they had lots of signs to read and music to pump you up. I was leading Solomon most of the day he would run behind and catch up we would walk together than he would be behind again. I felt good. At mile ten we saw the Army guy from Toy Story on the hill he was yelling at people.. Make it up the hill etc. etc. We made it up the overpasses that had kicked my butt last year.. We were heading back to Epcot. By this time I could tell Solomon was hurting so we walked the last three miles. We made it back to Epcot and made the last loop. I told Solomon we had to get one last picture for the boys.. Phineas and Ferb... Solomon was hurting and was looking for the finish line. I was yelling and calling out the workers names.. I was so happy we were almost done. We saw the praise band at mile 13 and looked up and Phil was on the other side. I yelled hello to him and we headed toward the finish line.. I told Solomon to make his way over to Donald to high five him but he said all I want to do is make it to the finish line. I high fived the characters and we were done. 13.1 done 26. 2 to go. I was so happy and felt good. On to the marathon and one day away from being goofy!

Before..

Sometime in this last year I decided I should do a full marathon. I am not sure why I thought this was a good idea. I am not sure how I talked Phil into it. But it is this weekend. We leave this week and the marathon is on Sunday. Am I nervous. ... I think I am excited. It is intersting the process and how people have reacted. My mom has decided that I should not do it.. She said It is too far and I might die. I have had many days where I thought I was crazy.. or that I was in way over my head. I am excited to do it. Will I be tired oh course but I am excited yet nervous to try it.I have done the miles averaging 50 miles a week. I will be glad to be done with that. I will be glad to have my time back. I will be glad to not have to worry about how I am going to get all the training in . This time next week it will all be over. I am ready.. Ready as I will ever be..