Week 10, New Routes

April, Sarah and I signed up for the Fontana Half Marathon in June. So, with that, we have to train and train and train. Sarah and Heidi trained and ran the St. George Marathon back in 2003 before either of them began their families. I've run several 5Ks before and 3.2 miles is about the farthest I've ever run up until last week.

I found a half marathon training plan on-line which we're making a decent attempt at following. Until Saturday, all the runs on the plan have been within our comfort zones of 4 miles or under. This was the first week we plotted out and ran a route over 5 miles. Heidi, April and I met at Heidi's house out in Perris on Saturday and began our big circle route. Once we reached a certain point, you just have to finish....that's why I like big circles better than "out and back" routes. The five miles took us an hour because I'm still pretty slow at the run and I still need to build in walking breaks now and again -- especially after about 3 or 4 miles.

Still all the daughters I run with, April, Heidi and Sarah, are nice and patient with me -- saying they're just happy to be out getting fresh air and exercise. But, I think they're just trying to be supportive of me and help me out...and, I love 'em all for that. Five miles wore me out and next week, I think we're supposed to be up to 6 miles. Its good for me to know I can go farther than I ever thought I could -- or would want to -- but there's a lot of satisfaction in these long runs -- especially when they're OVER!

Hayley and I decided to go for a hike up Mt. Rubidoux this afternoon. Instead of taking our usual main paved trail off of 9th Street, we set off up the side of the mountain from the Dog Park by the Santa Ana River. It was a challenge getting up that way, but the real fun was coming down off the beaten path. Hayley slid and fell on her butt twice and then when we were at a pretty good clip, I tripped over a rock and just found myself airborn. I flew about 5 feet forward and during those split seconds of being airborn my brain remembered how I tried stopping a fall once before (1998) with my arms and broke both the radius and ulna (both the lower arm bones) of my right arm.
So, this time, my experienced instincts told me just to kept my arms forward, like superman and just fall on my chest and stomach. It wasn't so bad at all! In fact it was pretty dang funny. I wish I could have seen it from an outside perspective -- my sunglasses even flew off my face!

If I didn't fall all the time, I guess my ego might be bruised, but, if you know me well, its quite likely you've seen me fall at least once -- so, I have no pride along these lines -- this is what I do and who I am. And, really, I'd rather be falling on my butt than sitting around on it!