I'm Running a Half Marathon

or, A Brief History of Jones Family Running

It started with the Monmouth/Independence annual 4th of July parade. Awesome, in all its podunkitude. Every 4th of July, for my entire life, I and thousands of others have flocked to this gem of small town America to celebrate my brother's birthday. Just kidding, that's just what we tell him. Really we're celebrating cheesy floats, kamakazi street crossings, horses, and free candy. It's quite spectacular. Some of the flocking thousands include a majority of my mom's side of the family. The 4th of July and Christmas are our big holidays, and I love that we get to see most of the family twice a year- it's understood that anyone that can make there, does.

Now before this annual parade, there is also an annual "mini marathon", about 2.5 miles along the parade route. A ridiculous number of people participate, ranging from very serious runners to very not serious runners. Our family knew that my aunt was a serious runner for a while (not that she ever runs this particular race seriously- just the marathons and halfs and stuff), and she would run the mini and gradually convince others in the family it was a good idea to go as well. Then, in just the last couple of years, more and more family members got involved. And then it was a "thing". Suddenly there's no fewer than a dozen of us lining up to run this silly 4th of July race, and even I got involved for last year's run. So did both of my parents. And all of my siblings (minus one, who would have if he hadn't been ill). Most of them started "training" a little before so as not to look silly. I started training three days before and did indeed end up looking silly. We all ran, cousins, aunts, siblings, and parents, and I came in dead last. By a LOT. But it stuck.

In the months since, my dad is running an unbelievable number of miles per week and my oldest brother is training for a marathon. The whole family has gotten very into it, and honestly it's been a wonderful thing to happen us. I have personally tried to be runner since January but confess I have been inconsistent. Then, just a few days ago during my weekly call to my mother, I was invited to run a half marathon in June. My parents were both running in it, my brother running the coinciding marathon, and several others from church were going too. A half marathon? Half. Marathon. The only consistent running I had ever done was in high school gym class and I despised it, and the only marathons I had been involved in were tv related. My longest run to date was 5.5 (would have been less but I got lost). But I said "Sure! I'll do it! Sign me up!" before I could overthink my way out of it. The truth is, I've needed something like this to work toward, a real reason to push myself. If I'm not ready for it, I can't go calling the other 24,999 participants and ask them to hold off another month. I have to be ready.

I've completed two training days- the training schedule I'm using is ambitious but necessary- and I'm feeling alright. I'm nervous. About running. Which seems a little silly on principle for me. But I remember my brother once saying something like "Nervous is a sign you know what's going on". So better nervous than oblivious. It'll be a journey, for sure. Right now, I'm just looking to finish, and running decently would be great. I'd rather not be last, but mostly I want to finish.

And how awesome is this training to smash that darn 4th of July race that's been haunting me.

More to come.

Spring Break visitors

It's taken six months of living in northern California, but now I feel like I have experienced San Francisco. Landon's parents and brother came into town, we got to show them around the base, and we all went to explore San Francisco. Now I can say that I have been across the Golden Gate Bridge, walked Fisherman's wharf and Ghirardelli Square, been down Lombard street, and driven through very, very hilly nice neighborhoods. We saw some pretty parks, passed numerous trolleys, and took pictures. It was a lot of fun, and I'm so glad we finally took the opportunity to see the city before we move next month.

As an added bonus, I successfully cooked a full Sunday dinner for five- YES! So I'm pretty proud of myself.

I also made cookies. Twice.

Running in the Rain

I renewed my commitment to run last week. It's easier these days, with my family being the crazy bunch of runners they are now, plus my Nike+ (which I love). Add in my sickening amount of free time and living in a fairly flat area, I have ideal conditions that I know won't last forever. With that in mind, I kind of see this as my chance to break into it, try and make it a habit while I have these advantages.

I've had short periods of time in the last 8 months where I've tried to run consistently, and last Saturday was a new Day 1. Armed with my new Nike+ wristband and an iPod, I bravely headed out the door to start being a runner. I was a block away from my apartment when the blue sky very suddenly disappeared and it started hailing. HAILING. I was being pelted in the face by ICE. It came down hard and fast and completely unexpectedly. But something weird happened. I smiled. My mother's voice came into my head saying "At a certain point, it's not like you're going to get any wetter." And so I embraced it. After a minute, the hail wore off and turned into a slushy heavy rain. And I was still smiling. As a matter of fact, the harder it rained, the happier I felt. I found the whole thing oddly exhilarating.

Different thoughts ran through my head. "How committed I must look!" "Well, I'm definitely not going to get over-heated." "I bet I'm really confusing people. Cool." Something in me loved that everyone else was scurrying to get out of the rain, angry they had chosen this particular window of time to venture out. No one else wanted the rain. But I did. The rain is familiar, like an old friend. And it was there to keep me company, pushing me to finish.

It finally let up when I came within a quarter mile of finishing, and then the novelty wore off. I realized I was freezing, my clothes were cold and heavy, and my feet were very squelchy in my shoes (I wrung out an impressive amount of water from my socks shortly after arriving home). I guess being thoroughly soaking wet is only fun when you're caught out in the rain. Once I was back home I had to start the process of wringing out and hanging up all my layers, drying out my shoes, making sure my iPod and Nike+ stuff were ok after so much water exposure, and getting myself back above hypothermic levels. So that was less fun. But I hope I can recapture that feeling I had running in the rain.

I hope I can keep myself running. I've never been good at it. I don't have much speed, I definitely don't have much stamina, but hopefully this is the time it sticks. I want to be in better shape. And I definitely want to sleep better. Perhaps above all I don't want to come in last on the 4th of July.





**It should be noted that rain is ok only if it starts AFTER you start running...

**Also, I wouldn't choose to run in such conditions every day