Tuesday Coffee Chat

This week Leslie at Time Out for Mom posed this topic: Tell me about a recent fear you have faced.

I only have two real fears and those are snakes and sharks. Thankfully I have not come face-to-face with either of them lately. I am learning more and more to trust God with His plan, no matter what it is, whether I like it or not, so I haven't been having any fears about life in general. That, too, is good.

So I guess I will write about my newest accomplishment, which has not necessarily been a fear but more like an obstacle I did not think I was capable of crossing.

I have accomplished my goal of becoming a runner.

I have mentioned this several times on this blog over the past couple of months, and I post about it a lot on Instagram (@nikki_taulman), so you might be tired of hearing about it. But it is truly something I am so proud to have accomplished!

Being a runner is something I have always wanted to do! I don't know why. In fact, when I see runners I always think how miserable they look. But I still wanted to be one!

When I was in high school I tried to run a few times. I gave it up quickly. I didn't actually even try again until about 5 years ago after we got Crusoe. When I took him for morning walks he would want to walk fast and would pull me, so I started jogging a little bit to give him some running time. That morphed into my starting a street-to-street interval lap around our neighborhood (1.8 miles) every morning. I would walk to the first cross-street, run to the next one, walk to the next one, then run, etc. From my house to the front of the subdivision was half a mile. So one day I decided to see if I could run to it. Then another day I tacked on a little more coming home. Then finally one morning I decided to try to run the full mile to the front of the subdivision and back. I got about 20 yards from the one-mile mark and Crusoe tried to stop and poop. I yelled, "Oh no you don't!" and drug him to that mark. I was so giddy and excited about running that mile that I know I looked like a goof!

Then we moved to Missouri and I gave up running. I rode my bike every morning and walked 3 miles with my mom and her friend, but no running. Yet so many mornings I wanted to take off jogging. The next year I decided I wanted to start training for a 5K that was going to be about a month later. I slipped going out to run a couple of days into that training and pulled a ligament in my knee. I was out of commission for about a year.

Late last summer Brynne and I started doing a little running using a Couch to 5K app on my phone. We got through about week 3 of 8. When volleyball practice started in the fall, we quit. Then a couple of months ago she started running in an after-school program called Girls on the Run which has a 5K scheduled on May 2nd. This was the motivation I needed to get back out there. So I grabbed my app again and picked up with week 4. At first I was about dying if I had to run a 5 minute stretch straight. But it wasn't long before I could run a mile straight, about 14 minutes (I run slow).

I ran a mile straight a few times and then one day I decided to try to extend that. I ran for 20 minutes straight. I tracked the distance and realized I had run 1.5 miles. Then I decided to really push myself just a couple of days later and see if I could make it to a designated spot I had set for myself. I truly thought I would pass out when I got to that spot. But I hopped in my car and tracked the distance and I had run 2.6 miles straight!!! I couldn't believe it!

The next day I made sure my running route was a full 3.1 miles and set out to run it. I did it in 38 minutes.

This was right after I ran 5K for the first time.

I had done it! The really cool part about it is that my 3.1 mile route has several declines and inclines, some steep and some long and gradual. It's tough! So I know that the 5K we will be running on May 2nd will be a breeze because it is on the Katy Trail and is all straight with no hills. Yay!

Now I am trying to get out and run the full route 2-3 times a week. It feels great and I crave it! There is about a mile stretch right in the middle of the run that is the most difficult. I get to a spot where I could easily turn right and head home. And it's right about there that I get in the zone and start feeling good. I always keep running, and when I stop I realize that I could probably run even further.

Wear your sunscreen when you run. That spot on my
nose is where I had to have a pre-cancerous spot
removed.

Running is just something that feels good when I am doing it and makes me feel good about myself. I  like it because I am not competing with anyone. It's just me and my goals. I have also been listening to Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery. I have decided that running will be my time to listen to those classics I have never taken the time to read.

I am planning to continue making running a priority in my life. I am scheduled for another 5K at the end of August. I hope to sign up for one every few months or so. But, for now, I am not planning on stepping that up to a 10K or half marathon or anything like that. I have no desire to try to reach those goals. For now I am just happy with the level of my physical fitness and how my body is reacting to it. The added bonus is how clear my mind feels, and how good I am sleeping at night.

I feel like a winner all the way around.