So I had this idea.............

At 47 I decided to take up jogging (I won't say running until my pace gets a bit faster).

My decision to jog grew out of my own realization, and an admonition from my doctor, that if I didn't have some regular form of exercise the pound-a-year I was gaining was going to really start adding up.

Not being drawn to exercise, I knew I needed to set goals. So I had this idea. In March of 2008 I signed up for the Susan G. Koman 3 Day Walk for the Cure. This fundraising walk covers 60 miles over three days - roughly 20 miles a day of walking through the streets and parks of Minneapolis, MN. I didn't walk the event alone, I had four cousins who walked with me: Mary C., Karen D., Tanja G., and Laura M. - we are The Blister Sisters!! But I did train alone. For 24 weeks I walked the streets and beaches of Sarasota, Florida to prepare for the big event. By the time September rolled around I was ready for the big event, had shed 10 pounds and was in the best shape I'd been in for years. The training paid off. I had the dubious distinction of being the only Blister Sister who did not get a single blister at the end of the three day event.

And my enthusiasm for exercise was growing. Realizing that if I wanted to stay in shape after the event, I needed to keep exercising. But I also have a short attention span and just walking was getting boring. So I had this idea, I decided to try jogging and needing a goal, decided to see if I could run a 5K. 3.1 miles seemed like a manageable distance. I happened to mention my new goal to my friend Jennifer R., an avid runner ten years my junior. She right away sent me an eight week plan to get a novice runner into shape for a 5K. Using a combination of jogging and walking intervals the plan gradually increases your jogging time and decreases your walking time so that by the end of the eight weeks you are running for 30 minutes.

I started in on the jogging plan and at some point mentioned to my brother Craig that I was thinking about running a 5K. Craig runs marathons. He's been running for over 30 years. But he patiently listened to me go on and on about my desire to run a 5K and my anxiety over finishing last. Finally he told me that I just had to sign up for a race and quit talking about it. "Put your toes on the start line!" Just as he said that, an ad came on the TV for the Sarasota Grouper Marathon and a related 5K fun run. There was my sign!

So I had this idea, why don't I get my friend Jennifer R. to run with me, or as I told her "at least stand on the start line with me and cheer me in at the end to keep me from being the last place finisher." Jennifer agreed and recruited her friend Kathy.

I signed up, my first race was February 14, 2009 in Sarasota Florida. Little did I know where this race would ultimate lead me!