Just Doing It

Running used to be part of my job and I hated it. When I was in my late teens and early twenties and running more than 15-20 miles a week, I did not think much of it. I was told when and where to show up and blowing it off was never an option (well, sometimes I'd come up with a good excuse.) Ugh, but I dreaded it. I hated the long slow runs, the fast short runs, I hated running with the company, with small groups, I hated running by myself. I hated running trails and I hated the track and if I had to run on a treadmill, I'd fall off and cause a scene just to get out of it. I had a friend once that ran in the front of formation with me and we guided a whole platoon over a patch of ice just so we could fall out, because I hated running when it was cold. I really could not stand running when it was hot out though. I hated running shoes. I have witnesses that can attest to my detestation of moving my feet rapidly on pavement. I failed my PT test more times than I care to admit because I hate to run. Two miles was my enemy. Two miles felt like ten and ten miles felt like... who am I kidding? I've never run ten miles. I thought, "When I get out of the Army I will never run again..."

Now I am 36 years old. I hate the sound of it. But I did read once that runners are in their prime in their 30's. I am going to put my faith and belief in that. I hope that it is true. I really hope it is true because for some reason I have decided to run a half marathon in September. My crazy friend Megan did it last week. Last year Karen ran a half on the Great Wall of China. I need inspiration, so I think of them when I run. Today I ran and passed a PT test in my first two miles, then I walked a mile and thought about how I could dig deep and crank out a few more miles. And then I ran another three miles. I finally found the fabled "zone" that everyone always talks about and I know now, today, that I can really do this. I know at the very least I can finish the 13.1 miles walking in a decent time. But the point is that I am going to do it. Just do it. Except not the whole Nike thing, my feet are too fat for Nikes. Wish me luck.

Let's catch up...

I still can't believe that we live in Texas... It kinda seems like a joke. A very weird joke. My bedroom is still a total mess of Veronica clothing spilling from their boxes. I hate it. But this house feels like home to all of us. Speaking of all of us, my oldest niece, Brittany, has moved in with us for a few months. Honestly, it is wonderful to have her here, she keeps me company and goes to the gym with me every chance we get. Britt has enlisted in the Air Force and is trying to get in shape for Basic Training and that only keeps me motivated to workout as much as humanly possible. We are a good pair. And she is a sweet girl. She likes to help cook and that would be great if it wasn't so hard for me to share my kitchen. I am a total control freak and since we are all trying to figure out where everything goes, it tends to be a little challenging, but I'll get over it. Maybe. Brittany leaves at the end of June and until then I am just going to enjoy having her here. I just don't know if our female cat will ever warm up to her, I tried to explain to her not to take it so personal. Meeks hates everyone except Sheldon, she tolerates me.

Sheldon found out that he is going to be leaving for Iraq the first week of May. I am in denial about it and honestly am not that upset about it yet. Yet. We'll see how that unfolds but at least Britt will still be here with me for a while after he goes. That will be nice. The (sorta) good news is that Sheldon is going to be in charge of an S-3 shop, which means nothing to you civilians... really it means that he will be running the behind the scenes stuff of combat (the office job of soldiering) and the bottom line... not directly in harm's way. Much. (yay.) Knowing him though, he'll still go out on missions on his down time. Don't tell his mom.

Tomorrow is the one year anniversary of Mom's passing. I have to work in the morning, I thought about taking it off but I have no place to go to be with her in peace and quiet. I feel a bit lost here in that sense. I am homesick the most when I think of her. I guess I felt close to her everywhere I went in Columbus because that was her town, I could drive by the old Baker High School and think of her with a bit of ease and comfort that I can't find here. She is not in El Paso. Except that Brittany is here.

Hugs from Texas,
V