The Beginning

Okay, so I did it. I created a blog.  I thought I'd hop on the bandwagon and get into the ever so popular blogging thing since it seems that every joe-shmoe on the net these days can create and write about their everyday problems or opinions or life story  and somebody will read it. Let me begin by saying that I never thought I would be the person who blogs. I'm 35, work full time and have 2 kids (Emily 6 and Kyra almost 4). Yep.  Both girls.  So you get the drama and competition in my household. I rarely have time to think let alone sit down and write what I am thinking. And whoever said a working mother has it easier it utterly,  completely wrong! I work when I am at work.  Then I come home and work.  I play mediator,  cook,  dishwasher,  housekeeper,  mom,  house manager,  laundry maid,  accountant. ... No need to continue.  You get the point.  Really thinking about it, I would love to quit my job even though I love what I do-who wouldn't? I am an Activities Director for a 55+ community in Southern California. I plan events and get to decorate,  hire great local musicians, plan and go on fun excursions and be creative with flyer design and newsletters, just to name a few things. We are preparing for our 4th of July BBQ currently and I love the chaos of it all! It gets my adrenaline pumping and for some reason,  I feed off of this (maybe it's extreme stress of trying to make everything prefect). This past week I had back-to- back events beginning with a volunteer dinner for the"most important" community members followed by a Social Hour for my drinking crowd and a High Tea for the non drinking crowd. Talk about stress!  Plus shopping and setting up with a committee that consists of just me, myself and I-well,  my body sometimes wants to just give up. But of course,  being me is not so simple.  I am the type of person who thinks I can do it all. So cliche but so true.  I overwork myself, usually going to bed around 1 am, then wonder why I'm so tired and can barely function at 6am when the alarm goes off. This is seriously a daily occurrance. I kind of roll out of bed and pull on my running clothes. I then blast my headphones hoping it will jolt me out of my slumber and push one leg in front of the other.  Then it's off to work at work,  come home and work and start the process over. In my mind, I am an athlete. In reality,  I am just plain crazy! Why do you ask do I want to torture myself?  I believe in living life to its fullest.  I don't want to miss out in one single moment.  And I don't.  I do sit and watch TV on occasion. I do stay current on news and celebrity gossip.  I read (or listen) to popular fiction novels.  I am the average Joe. Except I want more. About 5 years ago, I decided to take some time it for myself And BE that athlete I thought I was. I started running more.  If it didn't fit into my daily schedule,  I made it fit at night in the dark (I know right? Not the safest thing in the world today). You can say I had a goal.  I signed up for my 1st half marathon near my house. I was extremely nervous and didn't know what to expect. This was an inaugural event. And you know what? That run sucked!! I was so pissed off because I had to stop at mile 12 due to lack of hydration. The organizer of the event did not purchase enough water. To be fair, this marathon was in October and the weather started at 50 degrees in the morning and 2 hours later it was over 100 degrees. I seriously almost passed out. I was pissed at myself mainly because I couldn't figure out what I did wrong. I did end up finishing. I walked to the end. My time was horrible. At my stopping point, the nicest lady stopped as well to make sure I was okay. All I remember of her is that she gave me her water bottle and walked with me all the way to the end. I learned that she runs marathons all the time and that stuff like what I was going through happens all the time depending on your body. Then came the worst part-no water at the end. I had to wait for my husband and girls to pick me up and drive to breakfast while my head was still slightly spinning. Needless to say, that experience made me want to try harder. Train more. I signed up for the innagural (apparently I like 1st time events)Tinkerbell half marathon. And you know what? I ran the entire 13.1 miles without a glitch. I realized at that point, the horrible experience I had at the previous half marathon was not lack of training, but lack of knowledge of proper nutrition and hydration. I LEARNED about myself.  I learned that I needed calories at about 8 miles into my run or I can't make it. I needed Gatorade as well as water for the electrolytes. And must of all I learned I can be an athlete, just without the professional title.  I ran a few more events and kept my training schedule up to speed.  It was at my last half that I realized I was running faster overall.  Not crazy fast like I was going to win the race,  but faster than in any of my runs. The funny part was, I got really sick about 3 weeks before the run, so I was freaking out and lost 2 weeks in training. But I came in under 2 hours! When I saw the 9 minute per mile pacer, I couldn't believe it because I felt great and passed him on up! This girl was on fire!  Anyway, this running thing is definitely addicting. I keep saying the next one is going to be my last.  That clearly hasn't happened yet. My new goal: get to the Nike Women's Half Marathon in San Francisco this October. That's it. This is the mother of all races. Nike - I'm coming for you!! You can help me reach my goal by visiting my website and making a donation to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society: http:// pages.teamintraining.org/Calso/nikesf14 / julierichards.