The Weekend

Saturday was the 2013 MS Walk.  We registered for the one in Hot Springs instead of Little Rock, because the Little Rock walk interfered with the Diabetes Walk I did.  Since it was an hour away, I took the girls with me.  It was only a 1 mile walk, so they can do that easily.

I haven't done an MS Walk in a few years.  I used to do them all the time because my mother has MS (Multiple Sclerosis).  My sister and I signed up this year, and hopefully will make a tradition of it again.



It was pretty chilly... I swear, Winter just won't die this year...  

I've been to Hot Springs many, many times - obviously, because my parents live there, but even sight-seeing.  I've never been on the walk they had us go on, and it was just beautiful.



The girls got to see why Hot Springs is named Hot Springs.  We passed several springs and, since it was cold, they were steamy.  They thought it was just the coolest thing ever.  We'll definitely have to go back out... I'm not sure how much of that part of Hot Springs Bill has seen either.

Today was my outdoor non-treadmill run of the week.  I always worry about my weekend runs, and I really shouldn't.  Yes, I have had problems a couple of times, but they usually go pretty well.  Today happened to be a very, very good run.

I went out with the intention of 20 minutes or more, hopefully 22 (since I try to build 2 minutes per run).  Even knowing full well that I am prone to cop out at the minimum when I'm outside.  I walked 5 minutes to warm up, then ran for 20 minutes... and stopped.  I was doing really, really well.  I wasn't struggling with my breathing at all.  I felt like I had kept a really decent pace.  So as soon as I stopped and turned around to head back, I thought, "Jennifer...  You know you can do more than that."  

I walked a little more and as the song I was listening to was about to end, I thought... run this next song, it will put you over the 22 minutes.  So I ran the next song.  Walked a song, ran another song.  My legs were starting to feel it... normally my breathing gets me way before my thighs can start to get sore.  Walked a song, decided to try to run another song.  That was 3 songs worth of extra running.  Walked another song, and still wasn't back to the van, so when the next song came on, I said, "May as well carry it on home!"  I actually got to the parking lot before the song ended and.... kept running.  I had to finish that song.  4 songs of extra running!  I walked back to the van after that.  

I walked/ran 4 miles total.  20 minutes plus 4 songs of running, the rest was walking. When I looked up how long the songs were, it was a total of 16 minutes of extra running for a total of 36 minutes of running.  I ran more than I walked!  That has never happened until today!  I know I probably ran about 1.5 miles in my 20 minute stretch, and based on my usual pace, I had to have ran a little over 1 mile total on top of that!  That means I ran somewhere in the neighborhood of 2.5 miles today in total!

Even before all the math, just the fact that I had pushed myself to do all the extra running... I had the biggest smile on my face walking back to the van.  Huge.  After the math, I was just in awe of myself.  

Rock n Stroll 5k is in 3 weeks!  I'm going to keep adding my 2 minutes to each run, and I think I'll try to keep up the run a song/walk a song thing after my big stretch of running until I am just running the entire time! 

#77 - Do the MS Walk every year

This past Saturday was the Multiple Sclerosis Walk. I was very proud of myself. I raised $100. I earned a t-shirt even. Too bad MS Walk t-shirts are always, and I do mean always, ugly.

I forgot my camera AND my phone, so I was unable to take any pictures. I didn't think that would be an issue until the Stormtrooper walked by me. Yes, a Stormtrooper. Full get-up. I'm not really sure why this guy felt the need to be a Stormtrooper for the MS Walk, but he apparently did.

I didn't have a team or even a buddy to walk with. It made the time before the walk drag on for what seemed like hours. I'm not outgoing, so it's not like I was going to walk up to some strangers or Stormtroopers and strike up a conversation. By the time the walk actually started, I was bored out of my skull.

I'm not sure if it has something to do with having 3 small kids and lack of sleep and all that jazz or if I'm just going crazy as I get older, but at one point, as I'm walking towards the Clinton Presidential Library (which looks like a mobile home hanging over the river. For real... google it) staring at the back of a Stormtrooper, Twisted Sister's We're Not Gonna Take It came on the MP3 player and I almost, ALMOST, started singing out loud at the top of my lungs. Why should I care if people think I'm crazy? I'm walking behind a STORMTROOPER for Pete's sake.

Here, I saved you a Google.