Scooting along the Seaside Seawall with my Sister, loved it!

As if I didn't have enough going on in my life, my church family has convinced me to take on the Helvetia Half Marathon!  I can't believe I'm saying this...

I'm going to run in a half marathon!!!!

Whoa.

Ok, so years ago, a friend told me she never enjoyed running but she started anyways and she grew to love it.  I thought she was crazy.  Told myself I'd never try out that theory.

Here I am, 4 weeks into training, 50 miles under my belt...  WOW!  I'm still in shock! And guess what, I'm really enjoying it!

I could not do this without my incredibly supportive husband.  He has been amazing!  Brian has researched and prepared more recovery drinks, gels, gu's, whey protein shakes than you could shake a stick at.  And he's always there at the end of a run, with a water bottle full of bright red juice and congratulations!  He helps me map my route, stays with the kids no matter what time I decide to go run, bought me some good running shoes, and even shops for workout clothes.

I went to an orthopedist 2 weeks ago because my knee was really hurting and I didn't want pain to keep me from my goal.  He determined I had illiotibial band syndrome and referred me to a sport's physical therapist.  The PT did multiple strength and flexibility tests and decided that I should get a heel lift in my left shoe.  I have really bad scoliosis and so my left hip sits a bit higher than my right and could use the extra support.  The first time I went running with the little insole in my shoe, I didn't feel the knee pain or my lower back pain.  He also had me work on some balancing exercises and he's helping me strengthen my hips, hamstrings and lower back to support my knees better.

At my fourth PT appointment, the physical therapist had me run on a treadmill and he videotaped my legs so that he could slow it down and critique my technique.  First of all, I know that I would not be considered a fast runner.  I have a slow pace and I often take breaks to walk as needed.  When I ran with my brother a few weeks ago he said the Marine's would call my pace the "Recon Shuffle."  I had embraced this term and was still proud of my progress.  So Mr. PT showed me my run and said that he wouldn't really call it running.  And actually, it wouldn't even be considered a jog.  When you walk, you have your heel of one foot and toes of the other touching the ground as you switch strides.  Apparently, when you run you should only have one foot on the ground at a time.  As he slowed my stride to a frame by frame picture, he uncovered a deep secret.  I always have a little of each foot on the ground at all times.  Here's the kicker, he called me a "Scooter!"  What?  That's a horrible term.  Makes me sound like a slug!  So he's determined to teach me to graduate from scooting to actually running!  And here I was ready to call myself a "Runner."  I guess I'm not there yet.

On Saturday, Brian woke me up with the announcement that we were going to the beach for our big weekend run!  It was awesome!  Running along the beautiful Oregon coast on a much anticipated sunny afternoon with my sister!  Hence the title of this post...  We ran 7.4 miles and then hobbled around Seaside with the kids for a couple more hours.

Hooray for sun, physical therapy, a great husband, and actually enjoying... scooting!