Small Steps (Ashley)

First of all, I want to say good luck to Uncle Mark tomorrow. Keep us updated and let us know how you're doing. It sucks that you might gain weight as a side effect. Will you still be able to do some exercise? I'll be thinking of you and praying for you. Don't forget to keep eating healthfully!

Speaking of eating healthfully, I read something today that said that it takes about three weeks for us to grow new taste buds. I guess that means that for everyone who is having a hard time kicking the fast food/soda habit, there is hope! Pretty soon you won't even be craving that kind of stuff!

But my topic tonight is on small steps. Actually, Heather's post made me think of this. (Glad to see you on, Heather! Way to go on the 5k training!)

For some insane, masochistic reason, I've had it in my head for the past few years that I want to run a marathon. Like I said, insane. I think the main reason I want to do this is just so I can say I can, but I have to admit that there's a little bit of an athlete deep DEEP inside me that looks forward to hard training and pushing my limits.

However, all my running books and magazines say that you need to be running regularly for a full year before you even think about training for a marathon. So I'm taking small steps.

Two weeks after I had Elizabeth, I was pushing myself to be able to walk on the treadmill for even 20 minutes. But over the past month, I've been slowly building up my endurance. I then went to jogging 1 minute, then 2 minutes. Now I'm jogging 3 minutes continuously, and then I'm doing jogging intervals for 20 minutes--walk 2 minutes, jog 2 minutes, etc. I sweat a LOT. 0=)

But the accomplishment that I feel during and afterward is so worth it. And I keep thinking about how next week when I push myself to jog 5 minutes continuously, and one day when I can jog 30 minutes or even an hour without stopping.

In the past, I wouldn't have had the patience to take these small steps. I would have pushed myself too far, too fast and experienced burnout.

Maybe I'm getting wiser in my old age. 0=)

Speaking of 5ks, Heather...

Luke and I are signing up for a 5k in the middle of September that the Children's Museum in Denver is sponsoring--it's meant for the whole family, so we'll put Elizabeth in her stroller. We'll probably walk more than we run, but just being able to go out with her to do something healthy makes me feel like we're already preparing her to lead a healthy lifestyle when she gets older.

Maybe one day we can all run a 5k together. 0=)