Birthdays and a New Goal

I wanted to take a moment and wish two great guys a happy birthday. Happy birthday to my big brother, Stuart, and my friend, Jeff.

On a completely different note, I thought I would share my new goal!

Now, where do I even begin? I think maybe it should be with some intense stretching and buying one of those exercise balls. I am a little worried that the ball might roll out from underneath me. However, I think I might add this to my list of "things I want to accomplish before I turn 30".

Let the Training Begin!

I have begun working on one of the things on my list of things I want to do before turning 30. Which one? Training for a 5K. Maybe you are like me and needed to know where to begin. First, I will admit I am not much of a runner. Never have been. If I could have figured out how to play basketball without running, I would have. However, chasing after that orange ball always made the running a little less of a pain. I have walked on and off for the last several years with some sporadic attempts at jogging that never seem to last. I even walked a half marathon a little over 2 years ago.

Back to where to begin...I began to search online for something that would allow me to ease into this whole process. That is when I found The Couch-to-5K Running Plan. I wouldn't quite go as far as to say I was a couch potato, but that is beside the point. I had already been doing some walking in the previous weeks and realized that I was having some pain in my shins. Last week I dove in with both feet to adding some jogging only to realize that my shoes were shot.

Now, I know they look fine, but take a look at the bottoms.

In case you can't tell there is no tread on the ball of the shoe. Did I mention that this is the same pair of shoes that I trained for and walked the half marathon in? After two days of following my new plan I headed to a local running store and purchased a new pair of running shoes.

You may not be able to tell, but they are actually the same pair just a newer version. I must confess I like blue more than I like yellow so that was perfectly okay with me.

I would love to tell you that they make me super fast and I am breezing through this new plan already jogging 25 minutes straight, but that isn't true. I am not sure when you stop believing new shoes make you run super fast, but I can tell you I am not in pain.

Mission accomplished. I'll keep you posted on my progress. :)

5 Things I Want to do Before Turning Thirty

Without further ado, here is the list:

1. Go on a mission trip. I might be pushing it with the time, so I will settle for getting signed up for a specific trip that will be taken after my birthday.
   
2. Take on a new hobby. I'm still working on the specifics of this one. I have thought about calligraphy or even knitting. Something random that people might surprise people.
3. Read two classics. You know those books that you had to read in high school or at least bought the Cliff Notes for, but didn't actually read. I am thinking that one will be Pride and Prejudice since I haven't ever read that one.
   
4. Finish painting my nativity scene puzzle. I finished the first two which were Christmas gifts in 2006 for my brothers and their wives, but never finished the one that is for me. These were originally supposed to have been painted by my grandmother, and I promised her I would finish them.
   
5. Train for and complete a 5K. This one makes me nervous, but I am going to do it. I have found a plan that should have me running three miles three times a week in 2 months.
   

My goal was actually to come up with seven things, but this is all that I can come up with at this time. What do you think?