challenge

On day one I asked for any and all support and encouragement. Today that came from my friend Jess.

Jess is a runner. After some pretty scary heart issues two years ago she began running for her health, to strengthen her heart. Most days she runs on a treadmill while her daughter naps. On good days she runs out side and hubby runs with her (doctor’s orders) while the grandparents keep the kiddo.

Saturday Jess and her hubby (who is a much better sport than I would be considering he hates running) ran their first FULL MARATHON. Yes, I said full….as in 26.2 miles (and don’t you dare forget that .2). Her time was 6 hours. Running. For six hours. She did that. I’ve asked myself several times since then if there is anything I want to do for six hours straight and I can think of nothing…..except maybe drinking. That I could do for six hours. That is what I call fun!

One of my goals is to do a 5K (that is only 3.1 miles, mind you) and my goal really is just to walk (maybe jog) and survive without needing a stretcher and oxygen at the end. I have told Jess several times (and a few other people too) if you EVER hear me say I want to run a marathon (hell, even a half marathon for that matter) to smack me or be very worried because my body has been invaded by aliens.

Today, Jess sends me this article. I can just see her reading that first sentence and probably half spitting out her Diet Coke because she immediately thinks of me. After reading the rest she sends me the link.

And I am SUPER glad she did. It is very motivating. It is very inspirational. It helps me see things in better perspective. I don’t have to run a marathon. I don’t even have to RUN a 5K. But if I want results, I do have to do SOMETHING. I can walk to the mailbox (which is at the end of our street), I can walk to my son’s bus stop (which is a block away), I can probably even walk the whole half mile to the entrance to the neighborhood if I really put my mind to it. Notice I said walk, not run. But I CAN do those things. So I WILL do those things. Heck, I might even grab some headphones and dust off the Couch to 5K app on my trusty iPhone (which of course would prompt another blog series about my progress, I’m sure).

Bear with me as I’m still learning. I’m still trying to find that AHA moment that makes me want it more than anything else. But everyone’s journey always begins the same…..with the first step. Tomorrow I take mine!

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I haven’t had a significant blog post in a while & to be honest, I really wasn’t sure where to even start. I am pretty new to this whole blogging thing. I feel like I know a lot about computers and can usually get them to do whatever I want if I play around long enough. But creating a blog was a whole different animal for me. I didn’t even know where to begin. Somehow I stumbled across a workshop being hosted by Gigi over at Kludgy Mom. She has come up with this great idea. Now that summer is over and the kids are back in school, it gives us more free time to improve our blogs (and hopefully gain a few followers & comments in the process). She came up with this idea after being unable to participate in a 30-day summer challenge and unable to attend the BlogHer conference. I did not attend BlogHer either. I had never even heard of it before & had it not been for Twitter I still would have no clue. I don’t think I am in any way ready to take on a conference like BlogHer. But this 6-week challenge I can do. In fact, as a little pre-work I’ve already created a new blog logo and created a Facebook Fan Page. I can’t even express to you how super duper excited I am to be participating in this. I know it will be challenging for me, but I am ready to expand my blogging knowledge and hopefully come up with some better (i.e. more creative) blogging topics.

As I said, this is a 6-week challenge with a different topic each week. We will be using a Read ~ Write ~ Share concept. Each week we will read “assignments” in the form of blog posts from KludgyMom as well as guest posters. Then, when we are ready, we will write a blog post on the topic of the week. After that, we will share our ideas/posts with the other participants.

So I hope you check back frequently over the next six weeks to not only see improvements in my blog, but to offer comments and/or suggestions and to help hold me accountable for making this work to my advantage!