Running Around

I've started running recently.  I have always wanted to be able to run a 10k.  It was a goal of mine that I thought I'd never accomplish because I am not a strong runner, and whenever I started a running program I would inevitable get bored or frustrated and quit.  Running a 10k was one of those things that I'd dream about and then brush off.  Peace Corps for me has been a time to push myself, and I decided that it was time for me to tackle my dream of running a 10k.  I've gotten bored of riding my bike over the same 2 different bike routes over and over training for my bike-a-thon, and running seemed like a good switch.  Something to help me keep up my fitness and a personal challenge.

I started running regularly in March and my goal was to run a 10k at the end of May.  The race I had signed up for, with my PCV friend Julia, was in San Jose.  Both of us live in Upala where it is HOT and flat and the race in San Jose was over hills and in cooler weather.  When race day came around we were both so nervous.  We were worried about the hills, the distance, not falling, and most importantly-not stoping!  It was my goal to RUN the whole time.  Let me tell you.  We did it.  All 10k, running.  We have a few running mantras that we would yell out to each other as soon as the route got hilly. "See the tortoise, be the tortoise" is our favorite.  We are both slow but steady- tortoise like- but the tortoise finishes the race at the end of the fable!  I finally accomplished my goal of running a 10k!  It was such a good feeling.  I was extremely tortoise like as I finished the race in 1 hour 16 minutes, but, like the tortoise, I finished! 

This is me and Julia post-race

This is us going up a hill!

You will be proud to know that since the 10k in May I've been keeping up with my running routine.  I go out 4x a week.  I go 5k 2 days a week, one 7k, and one 10k.  My 10k time is getting better and better, and I feel like I'm slowly being converted into a legitimate runner.  Well, maybe a jogger.  I enjoy my runs and they keep me entertained.  Honestly, going out on my runs is often the most entertaining part of my day.

Last week for instance:  I went out on a 7k, and my dog came with me.  She likes to go running with me now, she used to stay at home, but for the past two weeks she's gone out with me everytime.  Last week my run took me by a cow field.  My dog, Baby, gets nervous around cows.  They are really big and she is really small.  The cows in this cow field were not too close to the road, maybe 100m away.   Baby would look at the cows, make these pathetic whimpering noises, and then look at me with these sad puppy eyes.  She did not like that we were so close to us.  The cows noticed us, too.  Cows are herd animals and they usually follow the pack.  I guess Baby and I looked like part of the cow pack, and as we were running one of the cows started running with us at our pace.  Then two, three, four, and pretty soon the entire herd of cows was running with us (fenced in) for almost a kilometer.  It was so entertaining, especially because it made Baby so concerned!

I really like this new hobby of mine, and I'm glad that my Peace Corps journey has given me the opportunity to achieve my dream of running a 10k!  My new dream is to run a half marathon.  I'm still a ways away from that, but I know if I trained for it, that I could do it.  There is one in December in Atlanta right after I would return from Peace Corps, and I'm really tempted to sign up...