She’s the Greatest Great

Okay, so before I start this post I want to say that I’m not doing my Embrace:Me post like I said I was going to at the end of my previous post. But I would like to please be excused for going back on my word because I have something far more important to tell you about tonight.

Tonight, I want to celebrate the long and amazing life of my great grandmother, Virginia Dohogne, otherwise known to my sister, cousins and me as Great Dohogne. On Friday morning I was informed of Great Dohogne’s passing. I have had my time to be sad and my time to mourn and now I would love nothing more than to tell you all about why she was so awesome, why she meant the world to me, why she was the best great grandmother that will ever be and why I will never forget her.

A couple of different things come to mind when I think about Great Dohogne. She was always wearing adorable outfits. They were always very bright and colorful. But the best part about her outfits was that she always had perfectly matching jewelry for each outfit. And I mean every outfit. I can’t remember a time when I saw her that she didn’t just look absolutely fabulous and coordinated. It was adorable. Not to mention her hair was always done perfect, she looked like she had just stepped out of the beauty shop every time I saw her. The next thing that comes to my mind when I think about Great Dohogne is: toe ring. Yes, that’s right, toe ring. You may be wondering, “Why does a toe ring remind you of your 95 year old great grandmother?” I will never forget the night that Great Dohogne practically pranced into my grandma’s house because she was so excited to show my sister and me something. This time, with her adorably coordinated outfit, she had added an equally precious toe ring. My 95 year old great grandma wore a toe ring. How freaking cool is that? I’ll never forget that. Never ever.

Great Dohogne was one of the sweetest little old ladies I have ever met. She was very brilliant and wise. From what I’ve heard, she played a very mean game of bridge with her girl friends at least once a week. She loved to give hugs and “sugar” (kisses). And she was one of my favorite people to give hugs and sugar. She was a very strong woman who, even at age 95, drove herself to church every Sunday and anywhere else she needed to go. She was independent and liked doing things for herself.

I know that Great Dohogne is in a better place now, where she will never feel pain or sadness. And I’m so happy for her for that. But I still wish I had her here to give me sugar and hugs. I’m going to miss her bright smiling face that matched her bright, coordinated outfits. I’m going to miss her cute laugh and her sweet spirit. I will miss everything about Great Dohogne. Heaven is lucky to have Great Dohogne and I know that she was welcomed with open arms and I hope that she happily pranced and joined her husband and my grandpa just like she pranced in to show me her toe ring. But I don’t just hope that part –– I know it.

Rest in peace Virginia Dohogne. You are already missed very much. I love you so much. You’re an amazing woman.

That’s all for tonight
Much love,
Sran

Psalm 23 (The Message)

“God, my shepherd! I don’t need a thing.
You have bedded me down in lush meadows,
you find me quiet pools to drink from.
True to your word,
you let me catch my breath
and send me in the right direction.

4 Even when the way goes through
Death Valley,
I’m not afraid
when you walk at my side.
Your trusty shepherd’s crook
makes me feel secure.

5 You serve me a six-course dinner
right in front of my enemies.
You revive my drooping head;
my cup brims with blessing.

6 Your beauty and love chase after me
every day of my life.
I’m back home in the house of God
for the rest of my life.”

Me, Jaboo (my grandma) and Great Dohogne

It's a bad picture of me, but this is me, Great Dohogne, Jaboo and EE (my aunt)

I thought this was a really pretty picture of her

Great Dohogne and Jaboo at my twin cousins first birthday party - Jaboo has her face painted

I thought this was a precious picture of her playing with one of my twin cousins, Madeline

Surprisingly, I couldn’t find a picture of her in one of her bright, colorful outfits… I’ll find a good one some day and put it up here.

Still Running Strong!

Get ready, cause this is a long one, I gotta catch up a little.

It’s been a few days since I’ve posted a legitimate update on my half marathon training. So here goes a little bit of my not so interesting or particularly impressive training life since last week:

Ethan got to come visit me which I was surprised and very excited about as I didn’t expect it would be possible this semester with his baseball schedule. I was happy to have him with me again yay! Saturday late afternoon we decided to embark upon our first run over a mile and a half. I was feeling two different emotions about the prospect of the run: a little nervous about the idea of running two miles since we hadn’t done that yet and not so worried because I had felt great on the last few runs –– I even kind of wanted to keep going a little! About halfway through I realized I was still feeling awesome and that made me happy. I don’t know for sure, but I think having Ethan with me probably helped. After all, he was the one that was there in the beginning to push me harder and even when I realllyyyyy wanted to stop and walk, he made me run. Not to mention the consistent encouragement he offered when he knew I was struggling, too. And when he would get a few strides ahead of me, I would push myself to catch up so that I could be closer to him. (I know, I’m super cheesy, get over it.) I guess I had forgotten how much easier it felt for me to run with him –– and how much more fun and challenging it could be. Suffice it to say that the two miler that I envisioned totally sucking was basically a breeze.

As a side note: while on the two mile run, we simultaneously discovered the ghetto(er) parts of Conway. Again, let me just say, I’m glad I was with Ethan… And we’ve since created a different two mile running route since Ethan can’t be with me during the week to calm me down when I run past a big, scary, barking dog.

After a restful Sunday, Monday came around and Savanna and I were ready for our first legit Yoga class (for credit at school, that is)! Which was a very nice precursory activity to the mile and a half run for the day. Everything about the run was fantastic. Except for one disconcerting affair. I was running up a little downtown street and the incline of the street had steadily been increasing, thus I steadily decreased in speed — not by very much though. For real, though, it was just a little slower. But ahead of me was a mom and two small girls. As I (quickly) approached, the mom said to her girls, “Oh, watch out girls, this lady is jogging.” … Jogging? Excuse me? I’m angry. So angry. I want to stop, turn around and say “Jogging?! You think I’m JOGGING? I am NOT jogging, lady! Let’s see you run an eight minute mile pace for a mile and a half and see how fast you’re moving your large, jiggly butt, alright?!” But I stopped myself from being rude, mostly just because there were small children involved. Her butt wasn’t large. Or jiggly. But gosh darn it, I wish it had been. Anyway, I used the anger I had built up for a little encouragement and burst of energy. Again, I finished the run feeling like I could go on for at least another half mile. I became curious of this, so I planned for us to test our limits on the next day’s run and see how far we could go…

So on Tuesday we went out for our run. We had a two and a half miler planned out (thanks to mapmyrun.com). We decided to play it by ear, not promising two and a half but also not limiting to two and a half. Two miles went by before I knew it and I still felt pretty good. And then around 2.4 miles I started to feel a little tired and my legs started to ache. This is feeling I was looking for though, I told myself. Until this point I hadn’t really felt like I was pushing myself very hard and I actually desired the satisfaction of tired, but hard worked legs, nasty cottony mouth and out of breath, heaving lungs. Yeah, I sound crazy, I feel crazy saying that… Whatever. I think I squeezed out a good 2.68 miles that day. And I was very tired. A little crampy in the calf, quad and hammy areas. And I liked it.

Yesterday was an off day and boy was I happy to hear it. I woke up, not sore, but with a very lethargic body — mostly in the legs. Walking almost felt like a chore. And then there were stairs. Did I really have to get put on the second floor of my dorm? I know I’m whining about two flights of stairs… that’s ridiculous. But I was really feelin’ the burn yesterday and I wanted sympathy. Since we didn’t have to run, Savanna and I decided to do some ab work. We did a nice 45 minute pilates work out. It was pretty intense. For real. And I felt really good after it. I’m just hoping that the object of our battle cries of pain while pulsing and holding, planking and boating, will some day come true — “Spring break body! Six pack! Not beer! Abs! Bikinis! Back dimples!”

It was awesome when today, someone asked us as we were gearing up for the run, “How much are y’all running today?” and I got to reply, “Only a mile and a half.” That’s right – ONLY. Especially after Tuesday’s over achieving 2.68 miles, 1.5 seemed pretty easy. And I never thought I would be one of those people who ever said “only” when talking about mileage. Oh yeahhh. But today’s run was harder that I thought it was gonna be. Probably just because my legs are really exhausted after Tuesday’s challenging run and last night’s intense pilates which include a fair amount of leg exercises. Needless to say my legs were feelin’ it pretty rough this go round. For the first time in a long time I wasn’t sure I could finish. But I did. I thought about how I haven’t stopped to walk on any of our runs yet, and I wasn’t going to let today be the day that I did. Especially after I finally said “only.” I knew I couldn’t wimp out. So I didn’t. I was pretty dehydrated and felt like puking for a bit. But I held that in, too. Thank goodness. I was very happy to see the last stretch of the run before re-entering campus until I felt my shoe untie. I waited until the latest possible moment to retie my shoe. I was kinda sad that I had to stop, but after I stopped and began to tie my shoe, I was glad I stopped. I then proceeded on and finished strong.

My first mile today was in 8:44. And I’m approximating the total time at around 13:50. I say “approximating” because once I was done, I forgot to press the little button on my Nike SportBand that tells it I’m done running, so it kept going. Which messes everything up. I kinda suck with remembering to turn it on… and off, apparently. Anyway, that’s not my best. It’s also not my worst, though… I don’t think. So I’m relatively pleased with it.

Now for an update on my non-running life. My classes are going great. I’m already obsessed with my Intro to Sociology class. All of my professors are good. Also, I got complimented on my blind contour in Freehand Drawing class today. I’m really excited to go home this weekend. I’ve been missing my family, boy and puppies. And I just kinda need a break. So that’s that I guess.

I’ve applied to go on this weekend retreat with my school and a few other local colleges called Just Communities of Arkansas (JCA) OurCampus. According to their website, “OurCampus, JCA’s newest youth program, is a two and a half-day diversity and inclusion retreat, in which college students and faculty come together to learn to value diversity, to recognize bias and understand its costs, to understand the role of privilege in America, and to ultimately become agents of change in promoting inclusion on their campuses and in their communities.” It sounded really interesting to me and I wanted to try out something new for a change. Also, I think it’s good experience and maybe some good resume fluff since it kinda ties into/relates to what I want to do with my life. I find out if I’m “accepted” on Monday and then next weekend is the retreat. Also on Monday, applications for Hendrix’s Orientation Leaders come out. And I can’t wait to apply for that!

That’s about it for now. My next post is going to called Embrace:Me, inspired by another running blogger that I’ve come into contact with via Twitter. So, before I post in the next couple of days, you should go to Emilie’s blog and read her post called Embrace Me to understand why I’m writing the next post. You should also read Embrace:RunSavannaRun, who was featured on Emilie’s blog. And if you have a bunch of time on your hands, read over the post on Emilie’s blog, about the Special K Challenge. To preface, and hopefully draw you in, the motto of the Special K Challenge is “What will you gain when you lose?” Emilie says, and I completely agree with her, “The idea that you have to lose in order to gain, though, does sort of send up a red flag for me.” From what I have read, she was inspired by the “challenge” and started a blog series called Embrace:Me, “a project designed to encourage body confidence and treating yourself with a healthy, accepting attitude,” she says. I, personally, LOVE this idea to pieces. Which is why my next post will be Embrace:Me.

Thanks!
Much love,
Sran
JustDoIt

“Do we have to move?” No. “Okay, good, we’re tired.”

Training for a marathon has done a lot of things to my body and mind. But mostly, it’s just made me really tired all the time. For example, the other day we were walking through Target and saw an empty couch a few aisles down. Savanna and I looked at each other, knowing we had the exact same idea, and sped up to a power walk to plop down on the couch. We were simply taking advantage of the open opportunity that we came across.

Two training marathoners maul an empty couch in Target.

Just thought I’d share this with you.
I’m going to try to write a real post later!

Until then,
Sran
JustDoIt

My Sprinting Frustration

So, yesterday, on our off day, Savanna and I decided that we wanted to go run anyway. But instead of going on a standard mile long run, we wanted to do a little endurance training by trying out “pyramid sprints.” I don’t know about Savanna, but I kinda blew it off thinking it couldn’t be too bad. To say the least, I now regret my assuming response to the idea of the workout. Somehow, I managed to forget my days of high school competitive cheerleading and junior varsity lacrosse training. And by that I mean sprints. Lots of sprints. In both sports were many days of conditioning and workouts always including sprints. So WHY did I not remember how completely terrible they were?! I’m utterly stupefied (no, Harry Potter did not curse me while I was running, I just mean I was shocked and I felt stupid) that I managed to forget the intensity I’ve already experienced with sprints.

Anyway, we marched our happy bootays down to the outdoor track since we didn’t want to be randomly sprinting, jogging, sprinting, walking, sprinting, running on a road as to prevent confusion of local drivers –– and ensure our safety. It was the coldest weather we had run in to date, but we thought we were prepared adequately. We were wrong. We were very wrong. But that didn’t stop us from getting our sprint on.

I should explain how we do our “pyramid sprints” since most people may have an idea, but I’m sure it’s done many different ways. Here’s how it goes, basically:
Sprint for 15 seconds, run for 15 seconds.
Sprint for 30 seconds, run for 30 seconds.
Sprint for 45 seconds, run for 45 seconds.
Sprint for 1 minute, run for 1 minute.
Sprint for 45 seconds, run for 45 seconds.
Sprint for 30 seconds, run for 30 seconds.
Sprint for 15 seconds, run for 15 seconds.

Sounds like fun, right?! Yeah, I have no idea why I didn’t realize how difficult it was going to be. And the cold did not help. At all. To top it off, when we got down to the track there were stupid boys on the field and we felt totes awk doing our ridiculous workout with the boys sitting there, in the middle of the field, pretending not to watch us when they weren’t doing their workout. Ugh.

Neither of us had a stopwatch to use for the workout, so we decided to approximate the time for each. I think my brain is still a little frozen from coldness and the unexpected flummoxing I experienced after only one tier of the pyramid, so I’m trying to recall what happened. I know that I was freaking out half way through the first sprint when I felt something in my chest. It felt like my lungs had frozen (much like my fingers and toes –– poor circulation, thanks for that grandma!) and I could hardly breath. But I finished the sprint anyway. I ran for what seemed like fifteen seconds… but it was probably about 30. I’m okay with that, though. I then sped up to try this whole sprinting thing out again. Not much worse than the one before. But it was rough. I sprinted for as long as I though I could handle, promising I wouldn’t exceed the 30 seconds because if I did, I would most likely collapse. By the time I thought I should be done with that sprint I thought I really was going to collapse, so I walked. Yep, I wimped out. I did it. And I’m accepting of my failure in the sprinting department. I won’t finish the description of the workout in detail. The workout failed. I did continue with sprints for a total of maybe two and a half laps around the track… walking every once in awhile instead of the projected “run.” But all-in-all, I think it was a good experience for us, even though we wimped out a little. Okay, okay, a lot, I know it was a lot. Whatever. We have some work to do in the endurance department but at least now we know that we should probably accomplish this type of training if we intend to succeed on the long Saturday runs that lie ahead.

As for today, it’s freaking snowing outside. Again. Ugh. I am NOT a happy camper. Point being, we ARE NOT dedicated enough to march our happy bootays outside and run in snow. Therefore we are being compelled by the forces of the runner’s high to go to the Wellness and Athletic Center (better known by me as WACtown) and run on the… DUM DUM DUM. Dreaaadmiiiillllll! Yes, it will happen. It must happen. But it’s still only a mile and half. So I have faith. We’ve done it before, we can do it again. Hopefully this disgusting snow will melt away and we can go back to our nice outside route.

In other news, I woke up a little late today for my 9:10 class and therefore did not have time to look outside to see the weather (not that it even crossed my mind to do such a thing) and wore my brand new chestnut Ugg boots to class. On the way to the farthest building on campus, it was raining. Not hard, but enough for it to get some of my boots wet. However, by the time class was over, they were dry for the most part. Until I walked outside and saw the only I hate to see more than Friday’s cafeteria lunch of chicken liver. SNOW. It was snowing hard, too. And my stupid new boots that I put on because I was stupid and I didn’t look outside my stupid window before I left for my stupid early class, might be ruined. I’m a very very unhappy camper, as you may imagine.

Hoping this day gets better…
It’s got to get better than this, right?
Ugh… I don’t want to know the answer to that.

Thanks for reading, hope your day is better than mine!
Much love,
Sran
JustDoIt
…But not in the snow.
…No really, it’s freaking cold out there.

The Running Mulan

You know the old Disney movie, Mulan? If you don’t, you should. No, really, go watch it. No, I’m not kidding. Stop wasting your time reading my dumb blog and go watch this fantastic movie. It is now an official prerequisite to reading this blog post. I’m trusting you. If you haven’t seen it and you’re still sitting here reading this… I’m angry. Haha. Not really, but whatever. Okay back to the point of why I’m talking about Mulan in the first place. (It’s quite obvious that I haven’t taken my ADD meds in a while… sorry about that…)

I was just noticing… it’s kinda funny actually, and really silly. But, I feel like the running (versus warrior) version of Mulan. I will only stress one more time – if you didn’t need to read the words in parenthesis to understand what I meant just now, you’re good, keep reading, please. If you didn’t, seriously, go watch the dang movie. Anyway, I keep finding myself saying the phrase, or something close to it, “Who is this girl and WHAT has she done with the real Sara Ann?!!” As a matter of fact, I think I’ve probably thought/said this in one of my recent posts. Anyway, I thought this to myself a few minutes ago and instantly starting singing the Mulan song. You know which one I’m talking about! Yes, the one that Christina Aguilera sang – and yeah it’s her but you know you totally LOVED it, too.

Here’s the song, even though you already know it. I’ve replaced my thoughts about my relation to Mulan in brackets for emphasis.

Look at me
I will never pass for a perfect bride [runner]
Or a perfect daughter [marathoner]
Can it be
I’m not meant to play this part?
Now I see
That if I were truly to be myself
I would break my fam’ly’s heart [yeah okay, this doesn't really fit into my metaphor but whatever!]

Who is that girl I see
Staring straight
Back at me?
Why is my reflection someone
I don’t know?
Somehow I cannot hide
Who I am
Though I’ve tried
When will my reflection [body] show [feel]
Who I am inside?
When will my reflection [body] show [feel]
Who I am inside?

You see? I’m freaking Mulan right now! We have the same life! For real! I mean I even chopped all of my hair off like her one time. We’re practically identical twins.

I feel as though I should share the most current instances to which I reacted with the dramatic Mulan questioning moment…

1) When I looked at the first dinner that I got from the cafeteria since being back at school. Here it is…

Yes, this was my whole dinner. A big ol' salad. Broccoli and cucumber with some dressing. Apples and a banana. And a couple rolls because I freaking need carbs.

Old Sara Ann’s dinner was usually a little less green and leafy and a little more grease and… yuck. haha

2) Conversation with my friend Emily via Facebook:
(Note: This is a paraphrased version)
Emily: hey girl, how’s the running going?
New Sara Ann: ahh! it’s fantastic! I’m actually starting to enjoy it! tomorrow is a rest day and I’m actually kind of sad! [Who is this girl?!!]

How would this conversation had gone down two months ago?
Emily: hey girl, how’s the running going? I heard you passed out in the middle of the street and ambulances had to come and revive you and bring you back to life because you almost died?!!!
Old, Pre-Running, Pre-Mulan Stage Sara Ann: OMG, yeah girl. Running sucks. I totes hate it with a burning passion deep within my soul. I mean seriously I would have rather those paramedics NOT revive me!
Okay, fine, it’s a little over dramatic. But it’s true for the most part.

I guess the point of this post is to say I’m noticing a change in my life. It’s not just a health kick. It’s not just a running/working out/getting in shape kick. It’s a life style change. And it’s fo real! This is happening!

So let me reintroduce myself. My name is Sara Ann Mulan Sanders. I love running and I don’t feel like my day is complete until I have run. I love vegetables and fruit; I could, and do eat them all day long. As my meal. My entire meal! Oh and I almost forgot to mention, I’m running a half marathon in April. And another one in December. Oh yeah and them there’s that Disney World full marathon next January. What’s that? Oh no, it’s really not that big of a deal, it’s actually a lot of fun! This is the me. This is my life. This is the real Sara Ann. Nice to meet you!

That’s all for now. Since it’s an “off day” for running today, but we want to run anyway, Savanna and I are going to do this workout that’s in our training schedule in a few weeks, called “pyramids.” Basically, I think we might die because it’s a lot of sprinting. So if you’re keeping up with me, expect another post later tonight!

Much love,
Sran
JustDoIt

By the way, you should know, because I’m proud, I wrote this whole thing in my bed last night. Although I edited it this morning and added the HTML and whatever, it’s true. I’m a total geek. YAY!

Back to School

Haven’t blogged in a week. Oops. Oh well. I doubt anyone was missing it anyway… Whatever, here’s the update on training!

I finished my stay at home off with the last few treadmill runs. All getting progressively better. I felt better after each one than I had before the previous one. Now, I know, that’s what’s supposed to happen. Well, every time I’ve heard it, I’ve looked at it and said… “HA! Bull crap! I’m allllways gonna feel like a failure when it comes to running.” Not anymore! This is a super exciting feeling for me! I’m very encouraged.

I returned to Hendrix for second semester hoping that getting back into a weekly schedule would help me have a set time to run and make it a lot easier. Not to mention I wouldn’t be laying in bed all day anymore. Which is kind of sad… but kind of… the RIGHT thing to do. I’m glad to be back at school. I wasn’t happy to say goodbye to my family, my boyfriend or my puppies… but I think I’m gonna make it. Maybe I can use running to get my mind off of the fact that I won’t get to see Ethan very much… [Sending a shout out to my boy, Ethan! I love you, baby! And I already miss you and I will continue to miss you! ]

Here’s a better synopsis of the actual runs.

Monday
My partner in crime (Savanna – you can follow her blog, too! www.runsavannarun.blogspot.com) and I ran one mile. This was our first Conway run. It was pretty cold. But we both put on our spiffy warm gear and went out there anyway. I felt great. I ran (approximately) a 9 minute and 30 second mile. Which is terrible for people who run all the time… but really good for me! I was very pleased with my performance. I never felt winded or had the desire or need to stop and walk. This was also a new feeling to me. I was and continue to be very inspired by this accomplished feeling. Yay! I’m finally getting into it.

Today
We ran, outside again, one and a half miles. It started out awesome and I ran for a while before I thought to check my watch. I had forgotten to press the “run” button on my Nike SportBand. Darn. That’s okay though. Savanna told me that we had already run three fourths of a mile and I was surprised. I did NOT feel like I had run that much yet. It was chilly. But it didn’t seem to affect me much tonight. I actually sweated enough to keep me warm, I guess. Thank goodness. I got honked at by some old creepy man in a nasty, broken down, crappy truck… Yuck. haha. Then as I started to see the final destination of the run, I heard Savanna say “Hey, Sara Ann! We’re done!” But, get this! I wasn’t ready to stop running! I continued for another quarter mile and even sprinted the last, eh, maybe 50 yards(?). And I was not particularly out of breath, not too tired and I really felt awesome. So, I’d say things are starting to look up for this little runner. Maybe some day those horrid running tights won’t fit so tight. Or maybe they’ll stop giving me a cute little muffin top… Yeah, I know, but a girl can dream, right?!

Not much else to report except that I think I’m FINALLY going to wash my outfit made of awesome. I don’t know why. It’s filled with sweat, progress, luck and straight up skill. But I think Savanna may stop running with me –– heck, she might stop being my friend if I don’t wash the dang outfit… I guesssss I will. If it shrinks… I don’t know what I’m going to do. Haha.

Until next time.
Love ya!
-Sran
JustDoIt
…I AM!

By the way, I’ve been meaning to add a total of how many miles I’ve run so far. (As inspired by my partner, Savanna!) So, as of today I have run 31.5 miles.
I will try to update this statistic with every post!

Mission Treadmill: Accomplished

I did it. I conquered the treadmill tonight. I didn’t think it was going to happen. I had a totally lazy day. It snowed. And since I hate snow, I stayed in bed, as far away from the snow as I could get. For whatever reason, I saw it fit to stay in bed all dadgummed day. I was happy to have a lazy day. Not that I’ve done much else than that since I’ve been back from school. As a result, getting up to go do anything, much less do my running for the day was a challenge for me. Especially on the stupid treadmill. But I was NOT about to go outside in the freaking snow.

The treadmill wasn’t as bad as I thought it was. I’ve done worse before. One thing I forgot that I actually kind of like about the treadmill is that ours has a little track and it shows you where you are on it. So I guess I was happy that I was able to find a positive in the undesirable situation that I was faced with. But I did. And for that I am proud of myself. I feel somewhat accomplished. I think it takes a certain amount of dedication to get up off the cozy bed to go run. So I pat myself on the back tonight.

Oh yeah, and I got my new Nike tennis shoes today! So I was excited to try them out tonight… even if it was on the treadmill. They’re great! I love them so much. They’re light. And fit great. And they’re cute!

Anyway, nothing excited to report. But that’s okay.

xoxoSran
JustDoIt

Doomed.

Hello, there.

Seeing something terrible in my near future. A treadmill run. Nooooo! Not a treadmill run. Yes. I must. Because although I have what may be quite possibly the warmest running tights ever, I will NOT be going outside to have the wind beat against my face when it is twenty degrees. No way, no how. (As “Tracay” would say: “It ain’t gon HOPPEN!”)

Here’s the deal. I’m loving being home for my winter break. And I’m not dying to go back yet… But I do know that when I get back to school, it will be easier for me to run more consistently. Yesterday, I didn’t run because we spent the whole day at Ethan’s. To top it off, we went on a date to Longhorn Steakhouse. Amazing food. I just ate far too much of it. Sooo much food. Blah. My favorite belt, which is now a little big on me, which I have to pull up every two minutes because it won’t stay on, was tight by the time we were done eating. Yeah. That much food. It was insane. Obviously, I didn’t run after that. So yesterday was a fail.

So I guess I’ll be on the stupid treadmill later. Ew. Just ew. Ughhhhhh. I HATE THE COLD! I HATE SNOW! blechhh.

That is all I have to report for now.
xoxoSran
JustDoIt

And So, My Journey Begins…Pt. 2

This week’s runs.

On Wednesday night I decided that my days of being “too tired” or it being “too cold outside” were over! I was going to run. Finally. Haha. After neglecting my daily running habits for over a week because of the Christmas and New Year festivities, I told myself I would do it. I knew it wouldn’t be fun. Or easy. But that was okay. My aunt had just given me one of her fancy pairs of running tights that are supposed to keep you warm. I paired these nifty leggings with my new fancy Nike Dri-Fit pullover. With thumb holes. YES! THUMB HOLES! That was really exciting for me. Haha. So I went upstairs and grabbed my totally awesome warm running outfit. I held up the tights. “Holy crap these are tiny. These are NOT fitting on me. You’re kidding. I mean really, there’s no way. The width of the whole waist is like… almost one of my thighs… yeah, almost!” My aunt told me they were kind of hard to get on. …Kind of hard? She lied. It took me about five to seven minutes. To get pants on. How old am I? After I finally got them on I found a new challenge. Walking in them. “If I can hardly walk in these suckers, how in the world am I supposed to run in them. I can hardly run in shorts! I don’t need any more hindrances.” But after I walked around my house complaining for a little while it got easier. Crisis averted. This time. So I grabbed Ethan and pulled him along with me. Thinking, “I’m not suffering through this alone. It’s cold out there and I will not do it by myself. I need my support. I need my boy.” So we left. He told me our goal destination and I groaned. Not happy about being outside, not happy about having to run and not happy about being outside of the privacy of my home in the tightest of all tights you’ve ever seen. I thought to myself, “There ain’t no way I’m gonna make it all the way there. I won’t be able to run the whole way at least.” And telling Ethan that he might have to stop a couple times to pull my mangled body off the ground. I’m so dramatic, right? But this was an actual concern of mine. Sad. But I started running, and with some kind encouragement from Ethan, I did alright. Not a fast pace, but a steady mediocre one. And I didn’t stop until we got there. I was cramping a little so I let Ethan go just a little bit further while I just walked a little bit and cooled off. Then we turned around to head back home. All in all, not a bad run. It took about twenty minutes and we did a little over a mile and a half. If you think this is a pathetic time, I don’t want to hear it. Read everything before this paragraph and then try and tell me again. Seriously. I was encouraged by this run. First time back and it wasn’t bad. Yay.

Thursday didn’t go quite as well. It was a busy day. I took Ethan to Senatobia, where he goes to school and moved him back into his apartment there. I didn’t return home until after 8. And of course it was dark outside. And cold. Ew. I talked with my parents some before resolving that I should run. I got on mapmyrun.com and figured out where I wanted to go. Wrote the directions all neatly out on my hand so that I didn’t get lost. Yeah. In my own neighborhood. And it would happen, I promise. Then I got ready to leave and my mom says, “Wait, you want to go tonight?!” To which I simply reply, “Well, yeah, I haven’t run today. I need to…” She didn’t seem to care. “Get on the treadmill,” she said. This is when I realized that I hate the treadmill now. What? Since when? I didn’t know I hated the treadmill. I guess all the running outside, in the fresh air that I’ve done recently has made me realize how much better it is than running in place in my the guest room at my house. Dang. “Mom, I don’t want to run on the treadmill, I need to go outside.” I told her. “Sara Ann, it’s after ten and it’s dark outside. You’re not doing that. I mean really, do you think that’s a good idea?” I guess I didn’t think about it. Young girl, wearing all black clothing, running alone in a quiet neighborhood, past 10 PM. Probably not a good idea. Well. That was all the persuasion I needed, I put my pajamas on and hopped in bed to watch TV. Bad plan. Oh well. I’ll try again tomorrow.

Today. I decided that since I didn’t run yesterday, I would do two runs today. I would also be performing some what of an experiment. Running during the day versus at night. Also, I was under the impression that my new Nike running shoes were going to arrive via UPS this afternoon, so there would be another variable to add to my simple study. Kind of excited about my two-a-day (me? excited? about two runs? in one day? what? who is this girl?) I finally got my lazy butt off the bed and changed. I decided that the outfit from Wednesday was lucky, so I put it back on. It smelt a little. And I kind of liked that because it made me feel like I worked hard. I felt kinda tough. What a dork. Haha. Anyway so I set out on my run. Still flying high on my accomplished night run with Ethan on Wednesday, I set out with high expectations. Directions on my hand and equipped with high technology Nike plus sportband and sensor, I knew I was ready to do this. Headed down my street and made the first turn. Started watching for my next turn. Passed a few streets, and then I saw a big street and I knew I had gone too far. I told you. Lost. In my own neighborhood. Well, at least I didn’t try this at 10:30 PM last night…by myself. So I just turned on a random neighborhood street and decided I was a big girl and I should be able to figure it out. But oh boy, little did I know what was in store for me around the corner. A huge hill. Fantastic. “Okay, Sara Ann, that’s okay. Just a little hill. Not that bad. Nothing you can’t handle.” A quick sniff of my arm pit to remind me of the hard work I had already accomplished gave me a quick spurt of encouragement and I started up the hill. Wind. Lots of wind. Hard wind. In what direction? Of course, going right against me. Uphill. Against wind. Ouch. I stopped. And walked. Feeling like a total loser. A pathetic loser. I hadn’t even gone half a mile yet. “Really, Sara Ann, you’re gonna stop running now? Just because of a little bit of wind and a tough hill. Ha. Some runner you are. That’s seriously pathetic.” After a little convincing, I managed to piss myself off enough into a run again. So I got up the hill finally. And then down it. And then around the corner and I finally found my way out of that part of the neighborhood. Cool. So now I’m getting closer to the last leg of the run. Everything was going great until I noticed something. More wind. I first made sure that I was running a different direction from when I felt it earlier. I was. I didn’t even know that was possible. Is the world out to get me? Why does this wind keep oppressing me? I slowed down for a bit because the wind was really hard. Then I thought, “Am I really going to let an intangible object… not even an object, an idea, cause me to stop running? No.” I sped back up to a run. All in all. Not such a great run. I was disappointed. But mostly I was tired. So I made it home and hopped in the shower. After that I put comfy clothes in and got in bed to chill because I didn’t feel so great. Blew that off because I refused to believe that I was sick because of a stupid mile and a half run. Seriously. Pathetic. I thought that my new running shoes would be arriving late this afternoon and that I would get to try them on for my night time run with Ethan. Long story short… I bailed. For several reasons. Found out that the shoes weren’t shipping until Monday and I didn’t really want to run in the ones that I have because I kicked myself several times on my first run and my ankles were bleeding and bruising a little. And I was so exhausted after only getting about four hours of sleep. Not too much later, Ethan texted saying he wasn’t feeling a run later because he didn’t feel good. That was all I needed. I was disappointed at my failed attempt to be awesome today. But I comforted myself with the fact that I didn’t have to run twice today, I was just doing it for fun. Good. So one bad run today. And bailed out of a second. But that’s not too bad, right? I mean I’m still a beginner. And I’m still just getting in shape. Hope I’m not sore tomorrow. I hate being sore. Why should I run if I’m sore. It sounds like it would make it worse. I know, I know, working out the lactic acid makes you feel better, blahblahblah. But that’s not the initial feeling. So whatever. Anyway. Here’s to an average day in my new running career. Hopefully it will get better. It has to get better. It can’t get much worse. I’m almost positive of that. Ah.

Well this post has long exceeded the length I was supposing it would be. So I’m done. I hope I didn’t bore you too much… if anyone is still reading at this point. I mean really, I would understand if no one got to this point because this is so dadgummed long. Haha. Until next time.

I will sign off with some running quotes. Enjoy.

- “Running is the greatest metaphor for life, because you get out of it what you put into it.” -Oprah Winfrey
- “Running is a big question mark that’s there each and every day. It asks you, ‘Are you going to be a wimp or are you going to be strong today?’” -Peter Maher, Canadian marathon runner
- “In running, it doesn’t matter whether you come in first, in the middle of the pack, or last. You can say, ‘I have finished.’ There is a lot of satisfaction in that.” -Fred Lebow, New York City Marathon co-founder
- “What distinguishes those of us at the starting line from those of us on the couch is that we learn through running to take what the days gives us, what our body will allow us, and what our will can tolerate.” -John Bingham, running writer and speaker
- “You also need to look back, not just at the people who are running behind you but especially at those who don’t run and never will… those who run but don’t race…those who started training for a race but didn’t carry through…those who got to the starting line but didn’t in the finish line…those who once raced better than you but no longer run at all. You’re still here. Take pride in wherever you finish. Look at all the people you’ve outlasted.” -Joe Henderson

xoxoSran
JustDoIt

And So, My Journey Begins…Pt. 1

Twenty-six point two miles. “I mean really I can’t understand why anyone would want to do that to themselves. It just sounds… painful.” This was my reaction to my sister running her first marathon. When I went to see her cross the finish line at her first marathon, I felt two very conflicting feelings. 1) “Haha, y’all have fun with that! It’s not for me. My body would never let me do that. No wayyy!” 2) “I really, really, really want to run a marathon at some point in my life.” And for some reason, on that day, I set a lifetime goal. I will run a marathon before I die. At that point in my life I thought I might be old and decrepit and hobble across that finish line on a walker –– I didn’t know what age I would be, but I knew one thing for sure… I would run 26.2 miles.

I hate running. I’ve always hated running. I’ve never had a desire to run. I’ve played sports. I was a cheerleader. And a gymnast. And a ballerina. But, I’m not particularly athletic. However, I’m also not incompetent in the area… I don’t think.

Well, you may be wondering after these two anecdotes why are you running a marathon if you hate running? Well. To be honest, I don’t really have an answer for you… yet. I don’t even really know how this came about. All I know is that one day, at school, I was talking to one of my best friends, Savanna, and before I knew it, we were registering for a half marathon and making plans for a full marathon next January. I love being spontaneous. But this is the first time, I think, that I’ve made an impulse decision and then later asked myself, “Oh crap, what did I just get myself into?!” …I’m still asking myself this question.

I’m a horrible runner. Worse than I thought. I don’t just mean the actual exercise part. I think the harder part for me is getting my fat butt out of bed to go run. I mean I’m just terrible. Over the holidays, I totally skipped out. I was supposed to be running a mile or a mile and a half every day… Basically, I was just a huge ball of fail. That’s not to mention the fact that I by no means tried to counteract my lack of running with good eating habits, oh no. Because that’s just too boring, right? Yes. Exactly, actually. If you’ve read my other posts, specifically my latest post, you know that I don’t agree with starving my self or holding back from things I enjoy for the sake of calorie counting or dieting. So basically I’m out of shape again. Imagine that.

Our training schedule for the first three or so weeks was simple – a mile one day, a mile and a half the next… and so on. These weeks prior to the actual training are really only used to get me in shape and ready for the bigger runs that are to come. But at first a mile and half was difficult. Especially outside. In the cold… VERY cold. This was a big challenge for me. I mean let’s look at the circumstances. I hate running. I hate cold. You do the math.

I should also mention my body’s health history… or lack there of. I have broken both of my ankles numerous times. So many that my orthopedic doctors decided to stop “wasting their casting supplies on me” and therefore just put me in a boot every time I came in. I have also had a bad history of very painful shin splints. Which is really realllllyyy not fun. Let’s see, what else? Oh, I have bad knees too, nothing too extreme, unless you want to count the excruciating pain I sometimes experience while participating in strenuous activity. Probably the worst of all the pain I experience on a day to day basis is in my back. Not sure what that’s a result of… but I’m thinking a few too many years of cheering, tumbling mostly, and a couple years of lifting high school age girls in the air… and holding them there. Yeah, that might do it. To add to this wonderful recipe for disaster, I have had some pulled hamstrings… and re-pulled hamstrings. That’s right, only days after I was being relieved of hamstring pain, I pulled it again. That’s my luck. Now you know what I’m dealing with here. This is not a fresh canvas. At all. One thing I know for sure, the makers of Icy Hot may know me by name because of the mass amounts of their products that I will buy to get me through this whole… marathon thing. For real.

I’m only a few weeks into my training for the half marathon (in Nashville, TN on April 30th) and there have already been several times when I have called myself crazy. I still don’t know why I’m doing this to myself. When I get discouraged like this I begin to think about all of the factors that are running (haha get it? I made a funny. and I didn’t even mean to!) against me. I don’t like to run. Why? The fact that every time I pick my foot up to slam it back down on hard asphalt, my body screams at me saying “Why are you doing this to me!?” may have a little something to do with it. However, despite all of the negative feelings I experience, I still want to do this. Badly. Very badly. I’m driven by a huge desire to accomplish this huge lifetime goal. Although I am driven, I do have a tendency to bail out of things when they get hard. That’s something I need to work on. I’m trying. But I guess there is one upside of this whole deal.

The part I haven’t mentioned about this marathon thing is that I’m doing it for school. No, no, I’m not kidding! I’m actually going to get credit for it at school. Hendrix has this thing called the Odyssey program. It’s very complicated so I’ll try not to get too into it. But basically, they want you to get hands on experiences outside of the classroom. So, in order to do that, as a graduation requirement, each student must do a certain amount of Odyssey projects. There are different categories: Service to the World, Artistic Creativity, Global Awareness, Professional and Leadership Development, Undergraduate Research and Special Projects. Each category kind of has it’s own criteria as to what makes it applicable to each category. So where does Savanna and me running a marathon fit into this? Well, it’s a Special Project because obviously, it doesn’t really fit into any of the categories. By making this an Odyssey project we can apply for funding. We can tell them how much money we need to do the project which basically entails traveling, hotel fares, food while we’re there and whatever else they see fit. We propose a certain amount of money, they’ll review and let us know how much they’re willing to give us. Pretty cool, right? Well yes, it is. But there are a lot of things that we have to do in order for this to work. We are going to keep track of our weight and measurements throughout the whole training process. We will document each run and include a short explanation about it (e.g. how far the run was, how long it took, where we ran, weather conditions, our mood before and after, how our body felt before and after, etc.) Also, at the marathon (in January 2012 in Disney World, Orlando, Florida) we will wear Hendrix garb to represent our school. I think it’s a pretty neat deal, eh?

All of that to say, I’m happy that I’m doing it for Odyssey credit because it means I can’t bail. I can’t give up. Because it’s for school. It would be like waking up for a test one morning, and then just saying “Hm, I’m a little tired and I don’t feel like going to that test because I think it will be too hard for me and I’m probably gonna fail.” I can’t do that! So I’m in this. I’m in this for the long haul. From now until the end of January 2012, I, Sara Ann Sanders, am a runner. That is a weird sentence.

So. Now that I’ve spend entirely too much time on the preface of this blog series, I think I should start with my past few runs. Please, if you’re still reading now, continue to Part 2 to read about my first few runs. I don’t think you’ll regret it… haha.