Training Wheels Running

To answer Boo's question (posted on the last blog) . . .

The training is still . . . going. I am approaching the end of my third week now and am doing more interval training-- this time, following the schedule: 90 seconds running, 90 seconds walking, 3 minutes running, 3 minutes walking-- all repeated twice. I run three to four times a week-- this week, four times (assuming I go running after typing this).

A few discoveries from the past few weeks:

1. Running is kick-your-trash hard. Really, it is. Even though I'm only running intervals-- and 3 minutes is my max longevity so far-- it is still a challenge to just keep pushing through. My body seriously screams "WHAT are you DOING to me?" every time I make it run.
2. When my body yells at me to stop, my mind yells back stronger . . . keeping me going. This "mind over body" experience is actually quite uplifting and reminds me that I am stronger than I think. At least mentally. :)
3. When I am done with a run, everything seems clearer, my life seems more at peace, and the many stresses I have seem a lot more manageable. I think this relates back to #2 . Overcoming the difficulty of running teaches me that I can overcome the difficulties of life.
4. If you can avoid it, do NOT run on an indoor track. It is boring and makes the whole running process a lot harder. This is personal preference of course, but the one day so far that I've run on an indoor track was one of the worst yet. It's a mental thing, of course, but it seems to be a lot easier to run if you can look around and feel the zen of being "one" with nature. However, safety still comes first . . . so I think I can handle running on the indoor track on those few days when I don't have time to run until 9 p.m.
5. Running is a matter of commitment. I decided to be committed to running the 5k-- so committed that I went to Barnes&Noble and bought myself a running book (The Complete Book of Running for Women by Claire Kowalchik). I highly recommend it. I decided early on that if I'm going to do it, I'll do it all the way-- following the expert advice out there so I avoid burnout and injuries.

In the scheme of things, I've still got my running "training wheels" on, but I'm pretty excited to have gotten this far and I hope to keep pushing until I RUN that 5k . . . and then, run a 10k . . . and then, who knows. (I'm not committing to a marathon. Yet.) (-JoJo)

The Big 5K

Saturday, June 10, 2006 at 8 a.m. will be my ultimate rite-of-passage into the foreign identity of "runner." It's the date of my first-ever 5K run. Last night was training day 1. With a reliable-looking training Web site as my guide, I set out for 30 minutes of walk/run intervals. I made it okay and it was even pretty fun. We'll see how it goes from here on out. Overall, I'm just excited to have a concrete goal to be shooting for.

I guess that's it. I've shared my quest, so now it's official. At 9 a.m. on June 10th, be sure to ask me if I'm a runner yet and I'll let you know. (-JoJo)

The Master of Disaster

Our home is currently in a state of fantastic disarray. There are boxes, bookshelves, and table parts strewed from one end of the apartment to the other. Our back room is so cluttered that there could be an entire village of people living in there and we wouldn't know about them until one of them came out hunting for food.

The cause of this disaster-like condition is the selling of the Stayner's former home base in Farmington. The close of the sale was announced several weeks ago, and items have been trickling into our apartment ever since, culminating in a wall-to-wall vanload of "stuff" last Saturday.

The missionaries who live in the apartment directly across from us helped me lift the heavier items into the house, and by the end of it all, they were hardpressed to even find a place to stand inside of our apartment. We thanked them for their help and Jocelyn suggested we make them cookies. That's a fine idea, but I'm afraid most of them would be eaten by the time I got them to their door if I am given the assignment of delivering them. I'm still hungry after all that work. (-Robert)