Again with the walking....

Long time readers may remember at the inception of this blog last year, most of my posts contained incessant whining about some walk I went on with a training group to fulfill my goal of walking the Portland Marathon.

I'm no longer with the training group, but have been doing some walking on my own and toying with the idea of walking the Portland Marathon again. So, I'm doing two half marathons this month to see if I want to step up my training again and do the marathon. Its a lot harder to train on your own than with a group, but I guess this is an enhanced part of the challenge for me- if I can get my jello blob self motivated and train on my own.

Anyway, Saturday was the first of the two half marathons (13.1 miles) that I did. This one was okay, but I wasn't walking with anyone so I had to keep myself motivated with my only help being playlists from the trusty iPod. It was out in the country in Hillsboro, with fields and farms and nature stuff. It had a nice small town feel to it even though there were 3,000 participants. People who lived along the route set up chairs in their lawns and driveways to watch. One family was even enjoying breakfast at the end of their driveway and little kids cheered.

I didn't really interact with my fellow walkers except one strange lady who commented that I more "sashayed" and wiggled my hips more than "really walked." Okay, weird - picked up my pace to get away from her. Look, that's how I walk- with my childbearing, wideload hips I haven't much of an option. A friend who did the race commented on that a fellow running friend was like a gazelle- I am not like a gazelle, I'm more like a heifer or a clydesdale horse.

So, the walk went pretty well until about mile 9 when one calf muscle kind of seized up on me- I did a little hop walk because I knew that stopping would be deadly. Fortunately, that didn't last too long and I was able to walk it out. Then my mood started to sour a little- like all that bucolic, pastoral scenry suddenly became irritating and devoid of landmarks. And cows, the stupid looking cows! staring at us! I don't know, maybe cows have rich interior life that we cannot detect, but they kinda look not very bright. I don't know why I was seized with such a negative opinion of cows and some bizarre resentment of them the last few miles. I actually like cows- (they are delicious! muuuwahahaha...sorry vegetarian reader)

Anyway, 3 hours and 50 minutes later I did finish. My goal was to finish in 3 hours 45 minutes, so I was pretty darn close so, I feel good about that. I have to start feeling good about these things and not so negative on myself. So, I'm not fast, I don't look as great as other women on the course- I have a sashaying gait to my walk apparently, I'm not a gazelle, I'm much more like the bovines I disparaged on the course. I finished and I guess that's the thing, right?

Unfortunately, I got lost on my way out of the stadium to find my car in distant lot, so I put another quarter mile trying to find it, while swearing and muttering under my breath.

When I got home I showed Allie my finishers medal. Then I laid it on the couch where kitty was eyeing it in stealth crouch mode, and then jumped on it and dragged it away! I let him play with it for awhile before I picked it up and took it away.

I did earn it after all, and kitty didn't walk 13 miles.