Flabby Farmwife Trains for 5K: What week am I on?

Hi everyone!

It's me, the Flabby Farmwife. When a friend recently asked me for an update I realized I've been neglecting this series of blog posts so badly that I can't even remember what week of training I'm on...

I started with Week 1:

http://farmeronamission.blogspot.com/2012/08/flabby-farmwife-trains-for-5k-week-1.html

Then blogged about weeks 2 and 3:

http://farmeronamission.blogspot.com/2012/08/flabby-farmwife-trains-for-5k-weeks-2-3.html

And now, I'm so far behind on blogging that I've lost count, so I'm just going to work backwards from the BIG DAY that's coming up.  October 6th is the Beefin it up: Fuel for the finish 5K hosted by the North Dakota Cattlewomen.

There are only four and a half weeks left now!

Here's a little of what I've learned as I've been training:

1. Life happens.  Sometimes A LOT of life happens.  Whatever happens, I will not quit.  I made a promise to my friend, Mrs. D, who has been losing sleep and working hard to prepare for this race as well, and I intend to keep it.

2. It hurts much worse to skip a few days then it does to drag myself out of bed and be consistent with running. Mixing things up helps too. Sometimes I run. Sometimes I bike. Sometimes I have "help" :)

 

 Sometimes I attempt to awkwardly run while pushing a double-stroller, in case my middle "helper" gets tired and needs me to haul her and the princess bike home :)

3. Here in Jamestown, North Dakota we have a wonderful paved path along the reservoir. It has breathtaking views.

 

4. I don't listen to music when I'm running. I use my running time to pray and ask God for strength. More times than not, after a half an hour of pouring all my worries out to the Lord, I end up praying something like "Okay God, you know all that I need and you know all the people that need you, just please be with them all", so consider yourself prayed for.

5. Sometimes, if you just focus on putting one foot in front of the other, you'll go faster and farther than you had expected.  THAT is a nice surprise :)

6. I discovered that my joints ache after I run for a while on the paved path, so I like to run in the grass along the path.

7. Some people let their dogs "do their business" on the grass along the paved path and do not pick it up. This is NOT COOL.

8. My husband knows every inch of our farm. I knew the farm I grew up on like this too, but I didn't grow up here, so I was delighted to find a field road between our place and the neighbor's that is a long, straight road that is currently protected from the wind by corn. It is one of the most peaceful places to run on earth.  Sometimes "Oakley", our official farm mascot comes along.

9. I bought one pair of new running shoes.  Then I realized they'd get wrecked if I wore them to run on the farm. So I had to buy another pair to preserve my good ones I wear to the gym. Two new pairs of shoes in the same month. This is a personal record.

 

10.  After training while pushing a stroller containing my hunk of a baby boy, running all by my myself seems easy.

11. I am still alive.  I have walked/run many miles now and I have not keeled over. This will probably continue to surprise me :)

12. I'm not quite as flabby as when I started this thing. Slowly but surely, my body is beginning to transform.  Still can't fit in the pre-third-baby pants, but I'm not nearly as Jello-like as I was a few months ago!

Hope to see many who read this in Mandan on October 6th!

Thanks for stopping by and remember to fuel up with dairy and beef products!
Sarah :)