I woke up this morning knowing that I had to go and workout today. Today was another scorcher, well above 90 degrees. But, I thought about how many times have I read emails and comments from you guys saying “You kept on going through the rain, through the cold through the whatever, because you could hear my voice in Week 5 saying “Just get to it, No excuses!” When I got home from work, I said it’s just too hot outside, I’ll go to the gym. But I didn’t want to feel like a hamster running around the track in circles. So, I decided that I would drink plenty of water and brave the weather. My Big Little Sister called and invited me to her neighborhood block party, but I was getting ready to go to the park to run. Then, I had an ingenious idea. Why not walk to my Sister’s house? I jumped on Google maps really quick and saw that it was just a little over 3 and half miles and an estimated 1 hour and 8 minute walk. I can handle that. Right? Maybe? I was so excited about my adventure, I grabbed my fur baby Nyah, and hit the pavement, and told my sister to look out for us. I was probably too excited, because I forgot my Cell Phone and had to turn back around after a few minutes to get it. By the time I walked back to my door, I was already sweating. This is a good plan right? This will make a good blog post tonight right? We headed out again, this time armed with my cell phone, a towel to catch my sweat, and my iPod . I took a self defense class in college that said as a lady you should never run alone with earphones in both ears, so I always have just one in, so I can pay attention to my surroundings while jamming to my podcast. There was so much to see, The Good, the Bad, the Ugly and then the Best thing. I told y’all before I live in the hood/ghetto, but all the scary looking people were scared of Nyah, so it worked out perfectly. About 10 minutes into my walk, I was thinking I’d never make it all the way there; because I’ve never walked to a real destination except my Mom’s house about 7 blocks away. Then I saw “The GOOD”, this church billboard sign that read “Run Till You Finish” with a scripture. I appreciated that little boost and knew right then that I would make it all the way.
Then came “The BAD.” I had to walk past like 3 cemeteries. That stuff creeps me out, and it made me think about dead people. No fun.
Then came the “The UGLY.” There was this horrible collapsed building, or what used to be to be building, it reminded me of the Haiti disaster. I kept asking myself what happened? We don’t have earthquakes, or Tsunamis that would do damage like that here in St. Louis. How does the city allow it to stay like that? Why won’t they clean it up? It was just sad really. When you’re driving past, it’s so easy to over look the details.
Anyway, Me and Nyah, kept pushing, trying to block out the disturbing broken glass and boarded up ghetto images and focus on the main goal, my sister’s house in a good/safe neighborhood. When we were just about 10 minutes away there was a monster hill, and another cemetery. I hadn’t really put steep hills in my brave hood adventure equation. It killed me and Nyah, I was dragging all 65 pounds of her by the time we finally arrived at the block party. I looked at my Nike Tracker, it read exactly 1 hour and 8 minutes. I was so freaking happy! I did it! And I did it in the suggested amount of time. Finally the there was “The BEST”, my cute little niece at the finish line. Her smiling face and jumbled 2 year old words made it all worthwhile.
Thanks for another great blog. Glad you made it and with such a great reward waiting for you, hope the food and music were good too 🙂 I appreciate your support and as I’ve completed week 7 of C25K I look forward to one day soon being on your 5k/run wall of fame. Keep up the great work Carli!
Kirk, you’re already on Week 8? OMG! Time flies. The live band was gone by the time I got there, but my sister saved me a plate of bar-b-que, baked beans and potato salad,and yes it was delicious. I hope you have a 5K planned, I can’t wait to put you up on my wall of fame, so you can show the men, that they can do it too!
Oh, wow! I didn’t know about the Hall of Fame. I am on Week 8 and loving your podcasts!
Hello! I used your podcast and finished Week 1 yesterday! I’m so excited about this and am downloading week 2 to be ready to go on Monday. Thanks for doing this. Lelia
OH, I forgot to tell you, I am turning 40 October 5th and will finish my 9 weeks of training the Friday before my b-day. Then a few weeks later on Oct. 17th I’ll run my 1st 5K. This is huge for me as I always quit things before I accomplish them.
Thanks for all of your encouragement in the podcasts.
Yes, Madame! You’ve only got 1 more week, I’m so excited for you. Just sign up for a local 5k Run, and email me (carli@carlifierce.com) your race day pic, and I’ll put you up on my wall of fame. Congrats!
Lelia that’s great! It always helps to have a plan and a goal. It looks like you’ve got both. You are definitely on the right path. Best of Luck , and keep me posted. I want to see you on my wall of fame too! 🙂
great blog entry! your niece is a cutie…and I hope you got a ride back home from someone after the bbq 🙂
my next 5K is on Sept 12 in Boston (actually Allston/Brighton) and I’ve been slacking off because of the weather too… but I’m gonna get out to day after reading this! – have a great week!
Helen, you were one of the people I was talking about, I remember when you ran around the pond in the rain after listening to my podcast. We inspire each other! My Best friend picked up Me and Nyah and brought us back home.
Good for you! I live in Central Illinois, so I have a fairly good idea about the heat lately. I’ve been getting up at 4:30 AM to run before work and avoid the heat. Today, I was awakened at 3:45 by a wicked thunderstorm, so I reset my alarm and went back to sleep. Hopefully I can make it happen tonight after it starts to get dark. I’m ready for W7D3 today. I haven’t scheduled my 5K yet, but I plan to do a 2mile fun run in September. I’m almost running 2 miles in Week 7, so I think I’m almost ready. I love your podcasts! I started using them in Week 5, and I was always able to kick in a little extra steam when “Survivor” came on! Thanks for creating and posting them!
Suzanne, today was another hot one! I’m trying to movtivate myself to do something indoors. Week 7?! That’s great! You’re almost done! Sometimes, I click rewind when Survivor comes on, I need to hear it twice.
THANK YOU so much for the podcasts!! I was using Robert Ullrey, which is good because I like the voice prompts, but the techno music just HAD TO GO!!! I just finished the 20 minute run for W5D3 yesterday and your music and encouragement is what kept me pushing 😀 Thank you and God bless.