Friday afternoon, I managed to complete week 1 of the C25K plan and limped home....sore, but happy.
Saturday was a lovely day, in all aspects. Although I woke up very sore in my ribcage and back, we spent the morning working on the house we're trying to buy next door, which, combined with the housecleaning I did when I got back home, gave me some great physical activity to log without being too terribly taxing. Still...I can tell I have a LOT to do to strengthen my core again.
Sunday, being Mother's Day, my fuzzy son woke me, eager to go hiking. It was overcast, but cool, and Keith and I decided to go explore a section of the Appalachian Trail that we haven't hiked yet. We are very, very lucky, in that living where we do in the TN mountains close to the NC border, we have easy access to the AT, which runs all through our county, including along the Iron Mountain ridgeline, directly behind our property (which backs up to the national forest). 
We've been told that there is actually a spur up there somewhere that links our property to the AT, but haven't found it yet. Of course, we haven't looked too hard yet, either.
That will come in time, though.
Anyway, we dressed in our raggedy hiking duds and set out armed with a backpack full of water bottles and a leash. 
We found the going to be fairly well kept up, although hilly, and the nice part was that although there were marshy parts, the nice club that maintains the trail had thoughtfully provided lots of little walkways to keep us high and dry over the mud. Well....the two legged of us, anyway....Luggie just plowed right through. Apparently, he's not partial to the way the wire mesh feels against his paws. Can't say as I blame him, there, but it gives me the willies when I cross one of them...not because of the mesh, but because I can't help thinking to myself 'will this hold me up?' And yes, of course it will....that's five two by fours, laid narrow side up. A REAL elephant could stand on one and it would hold....maybe two.
When we set out, the intention was to walk for an hour and a half, then turn around and head back, because we were expecting one of the kids to drop by in the afternoon. But we made good time, and an hour saw us having covered a fair amount of ground. Keith started worrying about me overdoing it, since my back had been so sore the day before, and as much as I hated it, I agreed. I certainly didn't want to be put out of commission this week, now that I feel like I'm back on track! 
So after an hour I consented to turning around and heading back toward the car. I really wish we'd had more time, though, because there's actually a shelter directly above our house, and I wanted to at least make it that far. Eventually, I'd like to try to work our way down the mountain from there to our house and find that spur....SUPER awesome!
Anyway....I saw this bit of wildlife on the way back to the car, so I thought I'd snap a pic. Ironic that the only living animal I'd see on the trip was the very one I feel such a strong kinship to. That's ok, though....soon enough, that will change.
The overcast sky began dripping on us on the way home, so we hustled, and made it back in forty-five minutes, which I thought was pretty good. The best part was not being sore, though. Not when I finished, not yesterday (at all), and not this morning when I woke up! Definite progress...if I'm not sore, then that running last week must have started taking effect on my muscles.
After the kids went home last night, I finally started doing some online research for a project I've been running through the back of my mind for the past week or so. I had it confirmed on another blog post the other day, and I know from my own experience that nothing is as motivating as signing on the dotted line for a race, so last night, I downloaded an entry form for my nemesis...
This was the last race I ran, back in 2009 before I stopped running altogether. I came in dead last. This year, I'm running it again, to prove to myself I can do it. And this year, I noticed that they have put a time limit on it: 80 minutes. I ran the Peachtree Road Race 10K that same year in 88:28, and my goal was to do sub-90. I was so proud of that, but also so cognizant of the fact that I ran like a turtle....I've always wanted to run faster.
I'm not sure if I am CAPABLE of running faster....but I'm about to find out. I sent my registration form and check in this morning, and I hate to waste money. If I get to September and I can't run sub-80, I won't run...and that is not acceptable to me. I WILL NOT be the tail again. They didn't even record my time last time. If I plan on proving something to myself, I'll have to do even better than that....sub-75, at least.
So I'd better get the lead out, because effective now, there is no turning back.
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