Another one...

Today has been pretty successful so far. I got up early and went to the park to do the prescribed 35 minutes easy that's listed on the training schedule of my marathon training program. I've only ever run for 35 minutes straight ONE time and it was during a 5K (remember that one we did, Rach?), so I wasn't optimistic. But, the schedule said "easy" so I figured that let me off the hook, right?

Well, I walked for five minutes just to warm up a little, keeping about a 14 or 15 minute mile pace. Then, when my Garmin said five minutes, I ran. I wanted to stop after the next five minutes, but instead, I just slowed down. I kept hearing my head coach's (HI COACH TERRIE) voice in my head saying, "Look down and take inventory. Do my legs hurt? How bad? Can I get through it? Does everything work other than my head? Yes? Then, if it's your head getting in your way, keep going. Don't let your mind trick you into thinking you're hurting. Slow down if you have to, but don't stop." So, that's what I did. And I kept saying, "Only such and such amount of time left," until it was over. I did it!!! And the great part is that I did an average of 11.67 during the running part!!! The minimum race pace to finish is 13:45. If I can train my body to go 11.67 or faster for even HALF of the race, I could still speed walk the rest of it. This is all FABULOUS news!!!

The main thing now is to not get injured.

Since the neighbor (father of Ryan's classmate) has offered to take Ryan to school every day, I don't have to be home at 7:30 but can instead come running in at 8. That makes training a lot easier because then I can wait until the park opens and not have to run out in the scary-ness. You guys keep your fingers and toes (and whatever else you can) crossed for me. I really really want this. And I'm hoping that not only Houston will go well, but also Paris in April!!!


After I had put Lolo down for her nap, I tried all my usual ways to procrastinate and waste time, but my favorite networking site seems to be down today, so I wrote. Thank you CM!!! I wrote the next chapter. The whole thing. And again, as I finished the last sentence, I bawled like a baby. And then, I sat and bawled for another fifteen minutes.

I sent these last two bawling chapters to Sam because he said, "Huh. Maybe I should read it." I'd see if he was serious.

I went in the kitchen to heat up some of the potato soup I froze and to steam some cauliflower (goes SO well with potato soup) and to clean the kitchen. Sam got home half an hour late and had tears in his eyes when he walked into the kitchen.

"You can't send me stuff like that at work. I was crying in front of my computer and I couldn't stop reading."

I took this as a compliment because Sam doesn't read. Not even in French. I just grinned. "You liked it?"

"You're going to be published. I know you are now. I can't believe how easy it was to read."

That's an even bigger compliment. I am not writing this book so that it will go down in the annals of literary history as some great work of art. I am writing this book as the telling of a story. I want it to be accessible to all readers. Of course, my main audience is the hoarde of young pregnant women out there who think that pro-choice means abortion. To me, it means CHOICE. If you don't think you can carry a baby for nine months because you physically can't do it, then you make that choice. But if you think you can physically carry it and just need a little bit of a pep talk--that's what my book is for. It's a pep talk for pregnant women who aren't sure.

The other audience is the adoption one. Both children/grown ups who were adopted as babies/small children and adults who are awaiting their birthmother's delivery. Lately, I've heard SO MANY adoptive parents say, "I wish I had gotten to know a little more of our child's birthmother's story. I wish we could have gotten more of her perspective." Well, I'm not trying to say that my perspective is that of every young pregnant woman, but at least it would give them a window into some of the emotions that might go along with being a birthmother.

Anyway, well, this is also one of my forms of procrastination, so I had better get back to work.