Summer and Coraline

It's back to school all over North Texas this week, so remember to slow down in the school zones! I've never had to write a "What I Did Last Summer" essay, but I thought I'd share a little bit of what I did this summer with you guys. Due to a complicated series of events that I will not bore you with here, I have decided to run a half marathon in a little over a year. (I'm not sharing specific details until after the race because this is the Internet and who knows who's reading this.) The thing that makes this so strange is that I have never run. I really don't like exercise and I'm a bit of a lump. But for some reason, I felt like I could do this and having about 18 months (when the idea first took root) to train seemed like a doable goal. So I did a little bit of research, found an app that would coach me, got some shoes and started going. Yes, I started a running program in Texas, in the Summer. I quickly discovered that if I would get going by 6:30 in the morning it was only about 80 degrees and it's best not to discuss humidity. Let's just say that I've seen more sunrises over the past couple of months than I have in my entire life. I'm not a morning person, but I'm not insane enough to try running later in the day at this time of year either. I'm only a couple weeks away from being through with this first training app and so far I've gone from barely making it through the first week to running 2.95 miles the other day. It's not easy, it's hot and sweaty, but it's getting easier. I've got some new muscles that weren't there before and I've lost some weight. Mickael and Caleb have nicknamed me "Slimy Lemmy" when I get back from a run, but they're proud of me for doing this too. The funny thing is, I'm actually enjoying it. I run outside so I get to see bunnies and lizards and dogs going for walks and once I even saw a snake, but he ignored me and was nonvenomous anyway. I'm planning on running a 5K this fall just to prove I can, and it seems like a good short term goal on my way to the half marathon. I decided it was time to share with the blog because this is going to take some time to reach my goal and I might give updates and need some extra support as I try to do this. So, what did you do this summer?

On the knitting front, I got to the top of the body of Coraline and it will now take a little time out while I knit the sleeves.