Can I do it???

Okay....I have to admit it: I am crazy jealous (in a good way...not in a vicious evil sort of way!) of all my runner and athletic friends...skinny ones too, of course! I am jealous in an "I-am-inspired-and-encouraged-to-do-better" sort of a way, and I want to challenge myself.I had never been terribly athletic growing up. I mean, I played softball as a kid on a league and did pretty well and had fun with it, and I lived to jump rope and run around and ride my bike and that sort of a thing, but I was never like the super athlete, play on a team, crazy granola girl type. And I used to remark that the only time I'd run was when being chased...which was pretty much..uh...never...so, that was that for the whole running thing.Until later...like, oh, bout 1995ish or so. I was in medical technology school at Methodist Hospital in Houston, and my lab coat was rather...um...well, it was getting tough to button! You know when your scrubs start to stretch across your bootay, things are a little out of control! Too many Double Dave's pizza rolls at A&M, too long of having an apartment next to Shipley donuts in college, and too much studying and eating until all hours of the night in med tech school were catching up...not to mention that at the ripe old age of ...what was it then, like 22 or 23...my metabolism was at the slowest rate I'd seen to date. and thus, the weight wars began!!I started running when I was in med tech school, living in the medical center in Favrot Hell...um, Hall that is. There was a little workout room in the basement and I'd trek down the 11 floors down to there and walk on the treadmill, and then started running. I distinctly remember that was when I learned the lesson to not close your eyes on a treadmill, as I was "relaxing" (or some such attempt) and ended up on the floor behind the treadmill, which I'm sure was quite a sight! I worked myself up to being able to run a mile and a half on the treadmill and thought I was like a crazy running machine! For a fat girl who had never gone more than like 2 feet, that was pretty good! Then, my friend Scott Gogulski who lived down the hall from me, and about my only English-speaking friend in the dorm, who was an Aggie to boot, took me to Memorial Park to try to run there. I thought Scott was sorta cute too, which helped...and between that motivation and just being out in the fresh air with the wind on my face, I managed to run my first 3 miles without stopping to walk. I REALLY felt like a running machine then! I continued to run the rest of med tech school and then when I moved to Brenham, I ran some there as well, but never quite as regularly as I did during that year in Houston, when I'd go out pretty much every day after class and run the perimeter of Rice. Which, incidentally, was another place I landed flat on my face, after tripping on a big tree root at the corner of Greenbriar and University, I think it was. Of course, it was on a baseball game day with lots of traffic that saw me too....lovely! Yes, I am graceful!So, I ran off and on in my years in Brenham, and took it up pretty steadily to lose weight for my wedding in 1998. As in the past, the running began as a quest to lose weight, but ended up being something I did just because it felt so good and I enjoyed it so much. I took a little hiatus when I moved to Lake Jackson, adjusting to being married and new job, and all the changes in my life, and then took it back up again, of course to lose weight, which I did, but of course just started to enjoy it again. Feeling like a machine again, I decided I wanted to do a marathon. It would give me a goal to work toward and I just wanted to do it..sounded like fun!So, I trained and worked hard and was signed up for Austin, when my husband lost his job and our world fell apart for a little while. Too many hours of work for me and trying to hold things together meant no trip to Austin, where I was expecting to run in about 5-1/2 hours. I was in decent shape then, and LOVED the whole running thing, was addicted! I got up to a 23-mile long run before the trip got derailed and I began to get fat again. yeech.So life levels out, everyone is gainfully employed again, and I begin to work for Young Life...which has a lot of beautiful and athletic people...and a lot of good food too! Not to mention the "hey, let me take you out for a milkshake" that I loved so much in contact work with kids. and I gain more weight.I still had the marathon bug and decided I wanted to for sure run one before I had kids.....fat me or no fat me! So, I sign up for the San Diego Rock and Roll marathon in 2003 and ran it and LOVED it. It took me 6-1/2 hours to do, but it was awesomely fun and I felt like I had accomplished so much by finishing it. I was then going to run the Disney marathon when we were in Florida in January of 2004, but found out I was pregnant right before we left on the trip....I decided not to run, seeing as how I had had pregnancy problems aplenty in the past, and it was totally worth it, of course.....little did I know, I was carrying not one but two babies, which turned out to be my Barrett and Silas, who are 4 now. (when did that happen....that so feels like yesterday!).So, fast forward (this is becoming quite a long note, huh...I guess I'm longwinded!) past 6 weeks of bedrest in the hospital having the boys in August of 2004, learning to be a parent with a litter of kids to start with, and then having Gabriella in September of 2006. Three babies in two years is hard on a body! It's really hard when you are trying to do so much by yourself and don't get out much, except to work. It's really tough on the body...hence, there aren't really any recent pictures of me up on here! A few years of stress eating and only getting to exercise every now and then has taken its toll, as most who know me up close and personal the last several years can probably see and attest to. So, here I am....I want to begin to get this body in some sort of working order again. I miss running and all the cool things that go with it! I know I'll never be fast, but it would be enough for me to feel that sense of accomplishment that comes when you hit your stride and it feels fun instead of painful! I love the sore you get after a good run....and feeling your blood pump...and also feeling like you are using the gift you have been given in this body to its fullest potential. The Lord, I believe, is honored when we take care of the Temple He's given us....and honestly, my Temple has looked abandoned for years now....like I'm thinking this Temple is in major disrepair....and it's time to do something about it!So, what is one to do when you are a mom to 3 kids under the age of 5 and pretty much the only time you are able to get out is when the kids are sleeping? How do you work 2 jobs and take care of a home, mostly on your own, and wear all the hats you have to wear to do it? Others do it....I haven't figured it out yet, but I'm ready to start trying something new...because what I'm trying for the last several years isn't working so well.I'm not an early-riser kind of a person....I may STAY UP til 4 am regularly, but rarely will I GET up at that time. But it seems to me, that many of the folks who juggle all these sorts of things do the get up early and get out there deal. Can I do it? I don't know...Craig leaves for work at 6 am now...If I can get this ample butt of mine out of bed and out the door by say 5, I could get in a decent run/walk/whatever it becomes and be home by 6 in time for him to leave. Can I do it? I don't know, but I want to try. So, why did I just put all this here? Well....it gives me some accountability, I suppose. If I can get to bed before say, 2 or 3 am, I bet I could do it. I bet I will feel better. I bet it will benefit me in more ways than I can list. I really, really want to try! I am just coming off of 3 night shifts now and working on maybe about 8 hours of sleep since last Thursday....so, its probably not going to start tomorrow. But, maybe, just maybe, it can start the next day. Big butt out of bed, big butt out the door....that's all it takes, and then one foot in front of the other. Can I do it? I don't know, but I'm going to try! All I can do is try!! I'll post back in a few days and keep my accountability going! Even if no one takes time to read this (and honestly, you probably have better things to spend your time on!) but, at least I put it out there for me to see...and to work toward...and to try. Can I do it??? I don't know, but I'm going to try.....we'll see!!!