The start of trail of miles and miles of trails.

This will be my attempt at blogging about my running.

A little background. I am a 32 year old mother to four children. Twin girls that are 4 years old, a feisty 2 year old boy, and a roly poly 1 year old boy. Having that many kids that fast changes your body for life. When I was pregnant with my twins I was over 260lbs. I am 5 feet 6 inches tall. I started running almost 1 year ago this month. I am now 139lbs and run about 35-45 miles a week.

Let's go back to my first race. July 12, 2008; ah, it was a hot and sticky day. I packed up all the kids and dragged my husband with me to my first 5K. I thought I was hot stuff. I had just run a full 3 miles straight the week before. I was going to rock that race! Needless to say, I finished with a 12:04 pace. I was passed by not one, but two 6 year olds. I was pissed, but I thought it would not be good form to trip the little bastards. I almost gave up, but someone gave me a little encouragement. A few women came over to me afterwards and said I did great. (what race were they watching?) I told them I was so demoralized because I was passed by little kids. This sweet lady said "Hell, you did more by 6am this morning getting your kids ready then she does all day. Give yourself a break" That helped. I vowed I would get faster.

So now this blog will be about my overly competitive nature to be better, faster, than I currently am. I remember in high school my coach told me I was slow and should just stick to discus, javelin, and shot put. So at 31 years young I get to start out with fresh legs, not stuck with what pace I used to run in HS or college and get to see how far I can push myself. And I love it.

Last month I just half-assed a 5K while pacing a friend at a 7:24 pace. I had run 30+ miles that week already. Last weekend with only 17 miles that week I ran a 5K with a crappy 7:38 pace. So much for my tapering plan. What the heck? So I am back on the wagon with my training program.

My goals as of now: Get to Hood to Coast with no injuries and hold 8:30 pace. Run the Portland Marathon with a friend in Sub 4 hours (secretly in 3:30, what the heck is wrong with me?) And drop 5K pace to 6:30 min. Lofty goals, huh?

So I say, Let the Trial of Miles and Miles of Trials begin.