Olympic team in training

I am very surprised to discover that so far, I actually prefer running at the track. I believe the reason for this is that the entire distance is broken down into highly manageable laps. Whenever I start to feel like I want to walk, I just tell myself to run ONE more lap, and then just ONE more, until I'm just all finished and I ran them all! Surely as I start running longer distances I will want to explore some more interesting terrain, but this is working for now. My technique involves sunflower seeds. I start out carrying the number of seeds to equal the number of laps I'll be running for my total distance. So yesterday I had ten. Each time I return to my starting point I throw a seed onto the grass, so I have fewer and fewer seeds in my hand. The phyiscal presence of them keeps me focused and motivated. But I'm kind of weird like that.

Yesterday I picked up a few running buddies. When we arrived at the track (Gary and Madelyn come and play on the playground and cheer me on), the place was packed for some sort of Hispanic soccer league event. I decided to run anyway, around and around the soccer game and dozens of spectators. I brought my two Siberian Huskies along to run with me, and it wasn't long before we attracted a lot of attention, primarily from the children. Loki and Kezia look like twin sled dogs, and they have unusual coloring, so they always draw a crowd in public. The children started out staring as we ran by. Then a couple of laps later they were shouting, "Los perros!" and trying to walk toward us to pet the dogs. Shortly thereafter a cute young boy ran the straightaway beside the pups. And finally, for my last 2 laps I had an entourage of hispanic children surrounding me. They were so small and adorable--I'm telling myself that they were able to keep up with me, a grown adult, because I had already run 2 miles...The whole experience made that run especially interesting and fun.

Another tidbit related to my "wannabe runner" status: I've decided not to get a jogging stroller. I plan for running to be something I can do by myself (there are few of those things left--Madelyn often even takes a shower with me). It will take more planning and scheduling for times when Gary can watch her, but I love not being burdened by any whining, a dropped toy or blanket, or requests for food/drink, not to mention the added weight of pushing the stroller! So we'll see how that goes.