Yesterday I walked the Cleveland Marathon 10K. I had 3 goals. the first was not to come in last - and I didn't. It wasn't because I improved my 10K pace it was because it was a large field. (When I did the 10K at the Martian Marathon there were only 3 or 4 walkers. It was very disheartening to walk past where the water station was being dismantled.) My second goal was to finish in under 2 hours. I didn't make it - I finished in 2:02:35 and I was disappointed because I want to get my mile time under 20 minutes per mile. When I looked at my per/mile average it was 19:35 because I had forgotten that a 10 K is 6.2 miles. My final goal was to have a great time and to not give up. Mile one was the hard, really hard even though it was flat. Mile 2 took us around the Lake Erie side of the Cleveland Browns stadium then up a big hill onto a bridge. Mile three was along the top of the bridge down the other side. Mile 4 - through some neighborhoods with small up and down hills. Mile 5 was another big bridge and 6 was flat to the finish. In the middle of mile two I got into a good rhythm and I felt like I could walk forever and it was FUN - I couldn't stop smiling. Crossing the finish line was the best feeling in the world. I felt incredibly healthy and alive. The course itself was lovely, taking us past a world famous sculpture on the grounds of the Cleveland Public Library almost to the shores of lake Erie. The bridges provided amazing views of lake Erie sparkling in the sunlight. Let me tell you - those bridges were HIGH. I would characterize them as good sized hills. The people were great too. All in all a wonderful day and I hope to get back to participate next year in the half marathon because those medals were cool. I started walking last January with the plan that once I built a good fitness base I would begin running. I'm ready I can't wait.

Last January at work my employer started a fitness program. Basically we all set weekly goals for workout sessions. For instance I set time goals - I will work out x number of minutes per week. We had an online log where we could track our progress. The program ended at the beginning of April (I guess they thought that once we got to Spring we were in the habit of exercise.) Anyway, since then I have really lost my motivation to get out there everyday. I registered for a 10 K to try to stay motivated but even the thought of that hasn't gotten me off the couch. One of my reasons for posting is to make myself accountable. Eventually, I want to get to the point where I can run a 10K or half marathon. I guess I'm just putting this out into cyberspace so that someone knows that I have committed to do all of my workouts this week. That means walking at least 2 miles every other day and doing one four mile day on the weekend.

Is there any way to avoid getting blisters or does everyone have them all of the time? Today I did only 3.5 miles and wore moisture wicking socks and still have three big blisters on the bottom of my feet and toes. Any advice? Maybe I should just stock up on blister band aids.

I did 2 miles today and felt great. Since I am a middle-aged, overweight former couch potato I have been working on building a good basic fitness base for future running. I'm not to the running stage yet but each week I come closer and closer. I began riding a stationary cycle and walking during the second week of January and I am amazed at how far I have come. I managed to walk 6 miles in the Meteor 10K on April 1. Today - 2 EASY miles. I'm kind of frustrated tho that I haven't lost much weight yet but I suspect that as I continue to work out I will slowly lose the weight.

I went out to the local track today to do my short day half hour workout and I decided to get used to the "no music" walk/run. Instead of listening to music I listened to my thoughts and was appalled at the self-criticism I heaped on myself. It seems as if nothing is too bad to say to myself - if I talked to my friends the way I talk to myself I wouldn't have any friends. I realized also that even when I completed the Meteor 10K a couple of weeks ago - despite my elation at actually finishing I was critical of going so slowly. This has got to change. NO MORE SELF ABUSE...I have got to be ruthless at weeding out the negative thinking.

So I competed in my first 10K this last weekend at the Martian Marathon. I use the term competed loosely I finished in just under 2 hours. I came in dead last for my age category but I finished and I feel great. Since I just started walking in January, my friend and I planned to start slow and go faster each mile. So, since the course was out and back we just finished our first mile loop and as we passed the finish line we looked up and lo and behold the first place finisher was coming towards us. He blazed past us doing something close to 5 minute miles He had finished the whole race in the time it took us to walk our first mile! I couldn't decide if I was disheartened by my turtle like pace or excited that I got to see him run. All in all it was a great day. Runners are the nicest people. I'm signed up for the 10K at the Cleveland Marathon and hope to better my time. Next fall I'm aiming for walking the half marathon in Detroit. Have to go faster in Detroit so that I can get to the tunnel from Windsor before it opens for traffic...