Hey Friends!
I tried to caution you in the title of this blog post to RUN for your Life, but looks like you didn’t heed my warning cause here you are reading this and no doubt wondering who the runner is in the photo above.
Well, that’s me. I am trying to shield you a bit by adding fancy effects to the photo. But it seems that a picture of me running up the street is never pretty, even with fancy effects.
I am linking up today with my new friend Carrie at Curly Crafty Mom and her blogger buddies to join their Motivational Monday party. I hope to link-up with them this summer about something crafty because Carrie is the queen bee of cute, craftiness. But for today I am going to be writing about how Carrie motivated me to start running again through this article on her blog. Apparently, Carrie has been running half-marathons for some time because the one she shared about in April was her seventh. What? Her post included some great pictures of the gear she had for the run, a map of the route, even a picture her hubby took as she crossed the finish line.
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Isn’t that a crazy great stride she has at the end of the race? I don’t look that good the first three feet of my runs.
I commented on Carrie’s post to share my congratulations and to tell her how inspirational she was/is to me.
And then I started running.
I have always been a little bitty bit of a runner since high school days. I ran when I was anorexic in my junior and senior years of high school. Then I continued to run in college once I had control over my eating or not-eating, as was the case. By the end of college, I was running three miles a day.
When I married and moved to Panama, I ran some but it was so hot and humid. I rode my bike, too and walked my Siberian Huskies (And I thought I was hot? Imagine how they felt!)
And then I had babies. So I walked babies and dogs several times a day. The girls’ dad was often gone out in the field (military field problem) or off in another country building roads with his Army Engineering Unit. I didn’t have anyone to leave my babies with to go run and those newfangled running strollers had not been invented yet. Or at least they didn’t have them in Central America.
This is what I needed right here.
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There were a few times I would run when the girls’ dad’s Panamanian family would be visiting and could watch mis niñas. They would laugh because I wanted to use my free time to run. Run? They would ask in Spanish. Run from what? Or to what?
I guess the whole running craze had not hit Central America yet.
Before we left Panama in 1988, I was back to running 3 miles a day whenever the girls’ dad was home and I could wrangle him into watching them.
When we moved to El Paso, I had no one to watch the girls again so for the first year we were here, I didn’t run much at all. In fact, we only had one car and the girls and I didn’t go anywhere much at all.
But as they got older and certainly once I was divorced and living in my little house, I started running again pretty regularly. I ran around our neighborhood, ran at the gym, bought a treadmill to run at home in the winter. And Lauren became quite the runner, too. She can run like a gazelle, that girl. And to this day, we always try to fit in at least one run when she comes for a visit. She pushes me to run better and run more while making me feel so good about doing it.
In the past two years, my back-to-almost-back neck surgeries took a toll on my work out routine and running. For about three or four months before my first cervical spine surgery, I was in too much pain to do more than sit around and complain. After that surgery, I was so relieved to be pain-free that I may have overdone it just a tad by snorkeling three weeks later.
Enter surgery number two. Somehow, somehow, the metal plate that was inserted in my neck during surgery number one slipped. I had to have a second surgery to remove the plate altogether. I celebrated the second successful surgery with more snorkeling and by trying my hand at zip-lining.
No third surgery scheduled yet. As of this writing.
And since there isn’t, I have decided I am surely up to running again.
After reading, Carrie’s post about her half marathon in April, I found two running programs to help me build back up to a three mile distance. One is from skinnyms.com, you can check it out here. The other is from victory-fitness.blogspot.com and can be found here.
I probably should clarify what I mean by running. I may be Lauren’s mother but I am no gazelle myself. My run is a nice, even jog. No long-legged stride here. So in actuality, I am trying to build back up to a three-mile JOG.
I found and pinned both of these on my Pinterest board Health, Wellness, Beauty (and the beast).
I am working toward hopefully running a 5K/3-ish miles this fall. Hopefully my neck and the rest of my body are up to the challenge.
To motivate me a little more, I decided to buy some new running clothes. Wanted to try some of those compression capris without spending a fortune for them. I found just what I was looking for at JCPenney.com. I discovered the Xersion brand of active wear.
Here’s what I picked up so I can dress the part of a runner.
The pants on the left are Xersion print-inset capris and those on the right are Xersion barcode-waistband capris, both available here. The tees are both Xersion brand, also available online and in-store at JCP. The black sports bra is Under Armour and the multi-colored bra is Fila. My tennies are New Balance. Look carefully to see my FitBit Zip. PC and I are having fun competing with Brennyn to walk 10,000 steps a day.
These days I can be seen running at the gym, on my treadmill, around the neighborhood park with or without my kitties in their stroller.
So, thank you, Carrie, for inspiring me to get back to running again. You are my running muse.
What are you motivated to do this summer?
Hugs and kisses,
Sheila @ Sheila's Potpourri
Good for you! I am a runner too! If you want to do a destination run, come to Jacksonville! Several half marathons in the fall!
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Sheila, do you follow Carrie at Curly, Crafty Mom? I would love to work up to a half marathon but I don’t see that happening in the near future. Maybe not in this lifetime. How do you train? Would love to know more.
Sharon
You are super woman friend! I can still hear Mrs Jeans saying ” Sharon girl you better run and stop complaining.” Ha! My side always ached when we had to run around those dusty ball fields. So proud of you!
Leslie Roberts Clingan
LOL, Mrs. Jeans! I am sure she was saying the same thing to me. I remember some girl at Elmore Park trying to beat me at running…I think she and I were the slowest ones and when I beat her, the girl started saying she was going to beat me up. I can’t think of her name right now…wait, something Goad. I want to say Tanya Goad or Teresa Goad. Anyway, she scared me to death.
Thank you for cheering me on. I hope my exercising will soon begin to pay off.
Shaunacey
Carrie is pretty inspirational!! I’m so in awe of her craftiness and how active she is.
Congrats to you for getting into running again, and give yourself some credit, you look just lovely running!
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Isn’t Carrie great? I hope she will join us as a guest blogger on our new joint blogging adventure. You say the sweetest things, Shaunacey. I am not sure I look lovely but I am beginning to feel better about myself since I am exercising with more enthusiasm. Maybe we can all do a craft blog post together in the future.
Carrie
If nothing else, you must look the part of the runner, my friend!
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Indeed! I love my new threads. So comfy and they hold everything together and keep it from jiggling!!
Jennie
Leslie, I so loved reading your running stories. I am Not a runner. I am a walker, a kettlebell girl, a Lifting girl. Periodically I will add some sprints to my walks. My oldest son ran cross country all through school. He still loves to jump on my elliptical and just go Hard. Maybe I will ask him to go for a short run with me. Thanks for the motivation to keep moving!
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Yay, Jennie!!! Thank you so much for coming by, reading my blog and taking the time to comment. Would love to know about your walking…do you have a schedule for how far and how fast? Do you use a pedometer? And where do you lift? Do you have weights at home or at the gym? With a video or on your own? Please tell me more! And please come back again.
Lisa
Wow – thanks for sharing – I learned a little bit more about you – and what a journey you have been on. Hopefully, no more surgeries, and good for you for the goal of a half marathon in the fall. I am cheering you on! Keep us posted.
Lisa
Daily Style Finds
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Hey!!! Thanks for coming by! Love your blog and I am honored to have you stop by when you can. Thanks for cheering me on.
Casey
Oh, you go girl!! A few year ago I did a few 10k’s and it was great-i always just went really slowly 🙂 Then I had another baby so I fell off the wagon. My friends told me about this Wine Run in Napa….I might try that! LOL! Wine, running..yes!!! XOXO
Leslie Roberts Clingan
10K?? No way! So proud of you. I know having babies temporarily derails us but you will get back to the running again and the Wine Run sounds just like the race to get started with. HOW FUN!!! XO
Lana
I’m so proud of you for starting running again! I’ve never been much of a long distance runner. I suffered from shin splints/stress fractures in high school. I’m doing an 8k with Susan this weekend (while my son runs his first 1/2 Marathon) but we’ll be walking the whole time!
Leslie Roberts Clingan
How far is 8K? I think walking counts just as much as jogging. My jog is probably slower than your walk!!! Where will you be walking? I did the Tutu 5K walk-run in the spring and our scenery was so beautiful that it is a wonder I didn’t trip while looking around. Have fun, girlfriend! XO