Not a Running Blog

It would be so easy to turn this blog into something about running, but that would kill my soul.

And even though it would be seasonally appropriate, being Halloween and all, I prefer to keep my soul for now.

All I will say is that our team is still running - and I ran a total of 11 times in the month of October.  Not too shabby - especially since I never could've dreamed of that before.

But a LOT of other things have happened since my post on July 11th other than running.  Not only that, but they are things that are at LEAST 1000 times more interesting.  I'm going to employ a technique I've used before, which I like to call "Here Are the Things I Would Blog About If I Had More Time."

• I held a Christmas in July party - also referred to as Christmas Lite.  It was definitely a success...this may become a tradition.
• I served on Jury Duty for the first time, was assigned to a trial, and was the head Juror.
• My parents bought a brand new house! It's beautiful, single level, and only 3 miles from their old house.
• I went to PAX again this year - this time with my brother - and I was one of the Pajaggle champions of the weekend.  I actually won something.  At Pax!  
• I got an amazing new bed - and then promptly began traveling nonstop so I barely had a chance to use it.
• Byron and Christine got married in a weekend extravaganza on Whidbey Island.
• I learned my Myers-Briggs type: INTJ. I love it and it explains SO MUCH!
• I went to North Dakota with my dad and grandma - I haven't been to ND since I was probably 4 years old.
• (For the sake of chronological-ness, running began 2 days after I came back from ND)
• Jared and I went to LA during which the following things happened:
• Staying with Beth + Trivia Night
• 1 Day (17 hours) at Disneyland
• San Diego Zoo (OMG Pandas!!)
• We took a dance class from SYTYCD's Donyelle
• WE SAW A LIVE TAPING OF THE BIG BANG THEORY!!!!
• I had my dresser repaired and have completely moved back into my bedroom for the first time since MARCH!!!!  (Did I write about that? Probably not.  Surprise, surprise, there was a leak in my shower wall that destroyed part of my bedroom dresser last March.)
• Lindsay, Jared and I went to NYC where we...
• Saw 8 different shows (5 shows each)
• Saw 12 friends and family members
• Purchased 30+ Schmackary's cookies

I sincerely hope I have the time and energy to write about all of these adventures some day. I really think if I had the time I would enjoy writing about them!  I decided recently that what I NEED is an iPad with a keyboard.  Then I could take that anywhere and easily blog all the time.  Right? Right?  #RightToolsRightTime

To say I like to stay busy is an understatement.  When I look over the past few months all I feel is gratitude.  I'm a ridiculously lucky girl.

Team "Let's Run Tomorrow"

I went running yesterday.

And I didn't die.

I didn't even hate it, but don't tell anyone that yet.

Here's the thing - I've always HATED running.

• I think it's boring
• I think it's a waste of time
• There are at least 50 other ways I would rather work out

I don't say "never" often, but I firmly believe that I will never want to run a marathon. I won't bore you with my usual rant, but I cannot imagine spending that much time training, plus doing the running on the actual day - I just see it as time I'll never get back (and did I mention the boredom factor?)

That said - I've always acknowledged that this is ME. Obviously there are people who love running. That's fine.  There are things I love that other people don't like. Whatevs.

So why did I go running?

Jared, along with his brother and sister, have decided that they want to start running regularly at a track by their apartment, and I was invited to join them.

My initial reaction was to throw up.  In fact, Jared may regret ever bringing it up in the first place (he said I looked like when he invited me to go camping). We sort of had a pretend fight (much to Sara's amusement - as it happened in front of her).  Ok, kind of like a real fight, but not one where either of us was really angry.  But I was frustrated.  There were some other factors at play that I won't bore you with here.  On top of that, just talking about running stresses me out.

Beth told me once that she loves running because she just has to grab her shoes, her phone, and go.  To me - running isn't that simple.  It's extremely complicated and anxiety ridden:

• Do I have the right shoes? (Obviously I need the right tool for the task)
• Do I have the right clothes?
• Do I wear layers?
• What if it rains?
• Do I listen to music?
• Do I have an appropriate running playlist?
• Do my headphones stay in or do I need different ones?
• How am I carrying my music?
• What else am I carrying? Do I have my phone? keys? if not - where are they?
• Do I take water?
• Will I have a place to set things down?

I also can't workout without a plan.  This is why I'm almost completely hopeless left to my own devices in a gym, and why I almost always work out by taking a class or working with a trainer.  I'm unable to efficiently guide myself, and I can't stand working out inefficiently.

Jared: You know can always just....not go running with us.

Yeah, right.

So I went.

I don't really plan on running WITH Jared or his siblings at this point - it's more like "going running at the same time."  I needed my own plan, which is sort of following the c25k plan.  At least a little bit - to start - to provide me with a little more structure.  I'm definitely starting with a timed interval approach, and they're going more with distance.

It even turns out that my iPod Nano (6th generation) has an awesome fitness app - it tracks my time, distance, gives me updates while I'm running and plays my music over the top of it.  Um, perfect!

I could probably fill a book with the other side rants about running, my search for "signs" that I should run, the things I witnessed that were "definitely not signs," how talking about running still makes me want to throw up a little, how I still roll my eyes at the thought of running - but trying to do that would be how this blog never gets posted.

Katrina I just thought of our team name!!!!!!!  

Jared Our running team?  

Katrina......Obviously....  

Jared just checking 

#TeamSports  

so???  

Katrina Team name:"Let’s Run Tomorrow”:-D !!!  

Jared haha 

Katrina You're in charge of apparel

I've made some peace with the "waste of time" issue.  As long as any running endeavor is under an hour - that falls into an acceptable range.  Realistically that's how long I would spend in a dance class or with a trainer, so it falls into reasonable "working out" time frame.  That would also mean I could reasonably run a 5k at some point and feel ok with the time commitment.

So there you go. I had to document the start of my running journey, because someday I may love slightly enjoy running and it will be nice to come back here and read about how it all started while Jared laughs at me.