A Bit From Emily

LOL Liesl you crack me up. Misery loves company, ha ha ha :) Well, I supposed I should introduce myself too :) I'm Emily. I'm a 25 year-old mom of two who for some crazy idea thought this thing up. Actually, though, Liesl was the one who got me started running. She messaged me asking me to do the Bolder Boulder with her this coming Memorial Day and pointed me in the direction of C25k. My sister started doing the program too, and the competitive side in me thought that I couldn't just let them do it and not join in too :) I never did fully complete the program since I had a couple weeks of being sick in there but I did run my first 5k race on Thanksgiving at our local Turkey Trot. It was the first time I had completely RUN that far without walking and I finished in 35:12. Honestly though, until Friday of last week though I had not run one single foot since then. I had all kinds of excuses, bad shoes (though they really WERE terrible), too busy, didn't want to take my kids, etc. etc. I figured out it just came down to I had gotten lazy again and I needed to get back in gear. What I realized though was that I needed a goal, something to strive for. That's where this challenge comes in. I figure this will push me hard enough and keep me accountable that maybe I will actually stick with it and finish something! It sure helps to know that I have Liesl to do this with too. It's like she said, misery loves company :) But seriously, I know that when I am running my 3rd mile of the day, tired and sore and thinking about stopping, that there is someone who I love 600 miles away that is doing the same thing and in the same boat as me and as we finish each step we can pat each other on the back (panting) and say "we did it!" So yes, I too will now describe myself as a runner. Holy crap.

I am a runner... Wait, what?!?!

My name is Liesl. I'm 28 have been married for almost 8 1/2 years, I have four amazing children, and as of 6:37pm, December 21st, 2009, I am a runner.

I've never been a runner before. Even when I was a little kid I hated running. So, let me tell you where it started. I found c25k this past spring; while looking for an exercise program to shed some weight. I thought it looked like I might just be able to do it. I knew that Emily had been wanting to train for a 10k, so, for some extra motivation, I offered to do it with her. I laced up my cheap Payless cross trainers and hit the dirt road I was living on. I've been running off and on now for about four months. But, I wasn't a runner until last night. Because, before last night my plan was to run the 10k and then be done. Another thing to put on a list of achievements.

Then, last night, while I was still loving the endorphin rush from my run, Emily sent me a message asking me to join her and set some lofty (at least for me) goals. I quickly agreed, and then, panicked. Now, I have a whole lot of brothers and sisters and, there are about four who I have really talked to about running. All of them are incredible athletes, and all of them know about running. So, at 8:59pm, December 21, 2009 I sent the following text to J,M,H, and T:

OMGosh just committed to running at least 1005 miles in 2010. And maybe (hopefully) a marathon next December! What was I thinking? I'm not a runner!

I got varied responses, but I'll share two with you.

T: Ha ha, now you are. :)

J: You will certainly be a runner by the end of 2010!!! That's just 2.73 miles every day of the year!!!!

Then, I realized, I can't start this project thinking I'm not a runner. There's no way I can commit to running 2.73 miles every day for a year or 5.5 every other day for a year if I'm not a runner. So, as of last night, when I agreed to do this project, I'm a runner. I may not be that great yet. But, I am, I'm a runner. YIKES!!!!

So, I hope you enjoy reading about our endeavor. I'm writing this because I want people to know that if I can do it, you can do it too. And, I want you to join me.

Because, well, misery loves company ;P