Lara's 5K Training Plan (synopsis)...

You too can be ill-prepared for your very first 5K by following these simple steps:

1) Take a trip, be sure to use all facets of the trip as an excuse not to run
2) Try to make sure your diet consists primarily of pizza, beer, pancakes, and Hooter's chicken wings
3) Find the time to run slightly more than 1 mile, once in 4 days. Promptly head back to the motel for some quality time with professional wrestling and monster trucks on Spike TV**.

There's always tomorrow (so far I've been right about this)...

The reality kind of is that the opportunities were not much there for running. Lot's of family stuff and schedules to keep. My sis-in-law, whom I was so hoping to run with has not been running recently so did not bring sneakers along.

Here's where I give a huge shout-out to Dianna because had she not given me the tip to find Silver Sands beach, I would not have even done the little running I did. The strip where our motel was located was one of those long, 4-lane, center of commerce areas off the interstate - nice when you're looking for the nearest Barnes & Noble so you can buy a book about running (which I did), but not so cool for actual running. Turned out that the Silver Sands state park, complete with a boardwalk, was only about 5 miles from the motel!!

Only one run to remember the details about...

The whole beach thing was very cool because it was very hot and humid in town, and of course nicely cool and breezy at the beach (this being a piece of the shore of the Long Island Sound, if I'm not mistaken). I started out on a dirt path that was really just a small shortcut to an access road. There were other runners, walkers, bikers, and kids coming and going - so while it wasn't a crowded area, there was enough traffic to feel safe. As always, the 5 or so minutes that I jog to warm up feels awful and I am consumed with thoughts of "why the hell am I doing this!" It's interesting that, as tired as I get later in a run, warm up is the only time that hateful thoughts about running creep into my head, at other times it's about meeting a goal but warm up I find to be most miserable. Anyway, after stretching and starting off again, the access road ended in a neighborhood with sidewalks so I was able to spend some time running there and ran up my biggest hill yet before turning around and heading back towards the beach. In the end, I only ran 1.07 miles which I wished had been more. I was tired enough when I stopped - the deciding factor was the thunder & lightning - but in a close second was the side stitch that started almost immediately and hung on for the whole time (not severe enough to stop but annoying enough to distract). The happy news is that the entire distance (including post-hill) was a run. Yep, it's me, so it was a sloooooow run, but it was running and not walking - no walk breaks I'm tellin' ya!! When I left the beach, I was psyched to return there - planning when and how - but the stars were not in my favor. Though, if I'm being honest with myself, I could have made it happen a couple times and didn't because it seemed like such an effort. I think that's where I'm still growing - I mean, clearly I'm trying to grow in the ability/distance/endurance department - but where I'm still working is in making running a part of my life . I have the desire to do it, and when I don't run I think about running, and I think about getting better at running. I know that there are times when external circumstances will intrude, and times when internal circumstances will intrude - and there have been times when I did not "feel like" running and made myself - and also times when I could have overcome that and choose not to. So what - so really, as much as my goal right now may be to improve the distance I can run, the goal is also to integrate it into my life in a more profound way. When I make it happen, I am always so glad I did, when I ignore it and crap out on making the effort to just get started I am always sorry.

What's the goal (right now)...

I have my first 5K in 11 days.
My goal - To finish
My hope - To run it all (regardless of how long it takes me)
My focus - To begin to really integrate running into my life over the next 11 days (and certainly beyond). Not frantic "must run this much, must run that many times" mentality (as my general personality would insist on). Rather, "I am training for a run, but moreso, running is a part of my life and that is why I choose to do it!"

** For those not aware, Spike TV is a cable channel, self-proclaimed the first network for men . This weekend was Motor Mayhem and consisted of non-stop shows on car customizing, truck restoration, and racing - interspersed with a little Star Trek, Baywatch, and wrestling. My husband and son were mesmerized!!