Being better, part two

A few weeks ago, I started off with a post called Being better, part one. Any of us is clever enough to think that it would, at some point, be followed with a part two, and maybe even a part three. Heck, I've done multi-part posts before. Multiple times.

Somehow tackling part two was difficult. Probably because I wasn't "being better". My name is Kaleigh and I didn't go to the gym for two weeks.

I have a good excuse for the first week: I was sick! Probably with the flu! And it made my joints hurt so bad that I thought I maybe had Lyme Disease! (Turns out that sneezing is most definitely NOT a symptom of Lyme Disease, at least not according to the Internet, and I make most of my medical decisions based on the Internet, don't you?)

But last week, well, that whole excuse runs out of steam. I could have gone to the gym Thursday night but my calendar said I had book club but then nobody showed up so I could have gone RIGHT THEN but I already had a glass of wine poured and might have even taken a sip from it and ER was about to be on television and blah blah blah.

But Saturday I walked a 5K in just under an hour (with two children), and last night I went back to the gym (and the guy at the front desk still recognized me) and did another 5K on the treadmill, this time in 45 minutes. Did I run? No. But it's still an improvement. My eventual goal (and I don't see it coming to fruition this year, but maybe next year) is to do a 5K in under 30 minutes. Once I accomplish that one, I'll start looking at 10K races. And if I can do one of those in under an hour, I'll entertain the notion of a half-marathon. I've wanted to do a half-marathon for years but never set a date and began training.

Here's the thing. I'm 36. I'll be 37 in May. The Memphis Marathon takes place in December. Along with the marathon, there is also a half-marathon and a 5K.

I'd like to run the marathon when I'm 40. It seems like a good thing to do when one is 40.

I'm going to do the 5K, in some manner, this year. Might not be pretty, might not be running, but I'm going to cross the finish line less than an hour after crossing the start. And next year I'll run that 5K in under 30 minutes. Easily. The following year I'll run the half marathon.

And then, holy cow, I'll turn 40 and run the full marathon. In just 3 years.

Want to join me? Locally? Or virtually? No? Well, at least keep me honest. Hold me to my word. Don't let me slack off.