Just call me Jenny

Why? Because I have become a vigilante, harassing innocent people and getting them to start running...My latest victim is my friend Joy, who innocently asked if she could come watch my race in December when she is here visiting, and next thing she knew, she was signed up to run the 4K Corrida in Leuven on New Year's Eve! On the up side, she will get two bottles of wine (if they hand out the same prizes to everyone as last year) so that should compensate the pain a little bit, and it will be fun and a great incentive and the "kick in the butt" she feels she needs! I am so proud of her for stepping up to the challenge...it is daunting, believe me I know this first hand, but oh so gratifying when you actually cross that finish line. Running my first race (a 5K) was one of the proudest moments of my life - I felt great about myself and what I accomplished. That feeling is what will make me keep running, even after the half marathon is over and done with.

Today I wanted to do my easy 30 minute run just around the neighborhood to save some time, but it was pouring down rain (now of course it's reasonable out), so I hauled myself over to the gym and got on the treadmill. I decided to do it with only one short water/walk break at 15 minutes. At 12 minutes, one of my favorite very motivating songs came on ("Round Round" by the Sugababes) and I pushed the speed up to 10.5 km/hr and was able to hold onto that speed through the end of the song which took 3.5 minutes! I took a quick break and got back up to my usual tempo of 9 km/hr, which at this point felt quite relaxed. Finished up my 30 minutes with another fast two minutes and by the end had done 4.6 km altogether, sweating like a pig, but feeling great! Plus they were handing out free samples of Clarins products at the gym, so that was an extra bonus I would have missed if it hadn't been raining!

Must be the day for free gifts; I stopped by the health food store to pick up some things on the way home and they gave me a cute plastic water bottle and a free carton of soy milk!

This afternoon I plan to test out the vigorous yoga session I plotted out to do with my half marathon training (once a week after an easy run). Here are the poses I'm planning to do(number refers to pose number in Light on Yoga):

• Warm up with Sun Salutations
• Tree (2)
• Triangle (3)
• Revolved triangle (4)
• Warrior I-III (7-9)
• Half moon (10)
• Flank stretch (12)
• Giraffe (13)
• Chair (17)
• Candle (18-20)
• Extended upright foot (21)
• Dancer's pose (199)
• Corpse

....and Joy, good for you...I know you can do it!