I start week five of my running program (More like week seven or eight, but only on week five because I think the program is for super humans, not regular Joe average people like Debbie and I). I am loosely following the couch to 5K program from Coolrunning.com and listening to the podcasts by Robert Ullrey while I run… well I was, until this last week. The later you get in the weeks, the harder the program is… obviously. You are training for a 5K!

So, I decided to cheat a little… Okay, maybe it’s not cheating per say… but I didn’t listen to the podcast for day two and three of week four. Instead I watched a movie on my iPhone. Handy little thing that is.

The first day (which was actually the second, are you following along?), I watched UP. So.the.wrong.movie.to.watch.while.you.run…period. Don’t try it at home folks. It was so slow and not a running time movie. Really, instead of making me forget about the time, I just stared at it. Hahaha.

So day two (which was actually the third day of the run week, and last day), I had downloaded, quite by accident (I plugged my phone and synced it to another computer in my house), another movie. A certain teenage vampire movie I received for my birthday last year from a great friend. I had forgotten I had it on that computer and so when it was synced back up to retrieve my ringtones, it transferred over.

Now before you go into, “that movie was so lame, blah blah blah…” I am not asking you to watch it. To each their own.

That doesn’t change the fact it was now on my iPhone and I ran to it last night.

Believe it or not… watching the darn thing worked like a charm! I messed up with my run times… a little… cuzz I was too involved in Bella and Edward (haha) but boy the time passed like a charm! I even wanted to keep going so that I could watch longer. Crazy movie.

So when I consider week five in two days, I will definitely bring the sparkley teenage vampire movie… because it worked! I will try anything at this point to trick my body into not realizing its running or training for a 5K.

Writing update: Today I should finish RUNAWAY CHOICES. Then I will let it rest for a few weeks and jump into editing.

In the meantime, I will probably write another couple UNSEEN CHRONICLES or really dive in and plot book 3 Mandorian Prophecies. Haven’t quite figured it completely out yet.

No new news on any other nonfiction fronts. I queried an agent on Thursday… or was that Wednesday? But they are moving their offices this week, so I don’t expect to hear anything back for some time. No worries, I am not in a hurry. It’s God’s timing, not mine.

Off to complete a novel… and ponder a 5K.

Related posts:

1. Update on… well everything… I have been a bit preoccupied with life and the...
2. The reason i will run… Here we go… I am announcing my running goals for...
3. Runners update… Those of you who read this post… I am sure...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Running: I am almost in week four of my Couch to 5K running program. I would be further along but with sicknesses and schedules, you just have a make exceptions for every other day run programs. However, things are moving along nicely. Today, I grinned through my whole run time. It was an awesome feeling and I wasn’t even winded at the end of it. Stoked.

Kids: All alive… which is good. We have a birthday for DS8 who will then graduate to DS9… He is beside himself excited.

Fiction Writing: Screeched to a halt for a bit. There are some other things heading my way I need to take care of.

Homeschool Blog/PluggedInParents: My February article is written and ready to go up. I will definitely give you notice when it does go live.

NonFiction writing: Wow, whirlwind of a couple days full of research, brainstorming and writing. I am reminding myself, I am not in control of this and that makes me pretty confident. As of Saturday at 11:44pm, my nonfiction proposal is written and waiting for some fresh eyes (read that as: not so tired Eisley). I will put together my writing samples for the publisher tomorrow and then send it to a couple nonfiction writers (and fiction ones too, don’t feel left out) to make sure they don’t see something funky. Then Monday night… or even morning if it’s ready… it leaves on a prayer.

Sanity: In question.

Related posts:

1. Runners update… Those of you who read this post… I am sure...
2. Nonfiction proposal… If you need me this weekend… I will be in...
3. The Homeschool Journey… On Wednesday January 27th, PluggedInParents.com will welcome a new author/blogger...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Those of you who read this post… I am sure you are dying for an update… Ha!

It’s been about eighteen days since my proclamation and I am happy to say things are going well. I should have more runs behind me, but life thwarts running some days. I ran a couple days at home, which was just me trying to not be so embarrassed when I finally got together with my pal (who is reading right now, Good morning Deb!) because of how out of shape I actually was… He he he… and then a couple times with my pal.

The first day we ran together was hard. I won’t lie… it was hard on us both! I didn’t stretch my glutes very well and ended up with a major cramp in that large piece of muscle that lasted the duration of my run, but on I ran! It was sore for the 24 hours following, but by the next day things were peachy! And I was ready to run again!

The second time, much better. In fact when we got done with our week 1 program for Couch to 5K we both felt invigorated! Like we could take on the world. Now we both understand why people get addicted to this.

The most exciting part… both of us totally felt like we could be to the 5K spot by May… which is amazing! Truly.

I wish I could communicate just how amazing it really is… but you just have to trust me.

On the writing topic, not much new on the horizon. Still plugging away at both Unseen and Runaway Choices. Need to still plot Book 3… oh and get out that query letter. Yah… needs to happen. SOON! I have goals to keep.

I hope your day is awesome and you get everything done that you need to. I know I will be working hard towards that.

Related posts:

1. Update on… well everything… I have been a bit preoccupied with life and the...
2. Goals… Alright people… let’s talk goals. Significant ones, small ones, realistic,...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Here we go… I am announcing my running goals for 2010.

Yes, on top of writing of three books, daily monkey wrangling, church, homeschooling and the other bits of things (including but not limited to bathing, cooking, snuggling, and sleeping) I am also going to run this year… I tried last year and my knees began to bother me so I stopped.

Well I refuse to stop this year. I have thermal knee supports so really I have no reason why I can not complete my running goals… and they are meager goals.

Before I can really share my goals, I should share my story.

You see, 4 years ago, I was in no shape to even put on running shoes. Without telling THAT whole story, I had surgery to eradicate pre-cancerous cells in my esophagus in June 2006 (commonly known as Barrette’s Esophagus). These cells grew there due to untreated GERD (which is an acid reflux disease) and in just a few short years, if gone untreated, could have ruined my life, my children’s lives and my husband’s (not that I am all that and a bag of chips, but you know what I mean).

Since that surgery, my life changed forever. I am healthy and give God all the glory I am even here today to blog about this or try to run. If these cells had not been found when they were, I could be in the later stages of cancer right now. I have had tests done since my surgery and the cells are gone… They still have to check each year (which is coming up soon! Ugh!) to make sure they haven’t come back, but I am happy to report that my esophagus is pre-cancerous cell free.

Now, what does this have to do with running? Well, everything.

I heard about the Couch to 5K program and thought, “Right, like people actually do that.”

See I was an active person before my surgery, but extremely overweight. I played ball, went bike riding with the kids, went on walks but never in a million years would I believe that I could ever run. Running around the bases for my home run was enough for me (oh and yes, that was often… LOL, and no, I am not kidding).

Reading the testimonials of Couch to 5K was phenomenal, I cried. Yah yah, call me a sap, I cried. The stories were awesome. Three minutes on Google will be all the evidence you need to see it is possible and people are succeeding at this. Since I had just lost weight, I could do this right? Hummm, maybe I could try it.

That was all it took. I found a podcast with some good techo music (I *heart* technology) and off I went (I used Robert Ullrey’s Podcasts, start at the bottom).

I exclaimed my goals to the world, and my dad heard and said, “By golly, if Eisley can do it, so can I.” So, unknown to me, he started running in a different state and trying to get to the 5K goal about the same time I would. He planned to surprise me and show up for my first 5K race to RUN with me.

Well then my knees, and I copped out… and well he didn’t. He made it to the 5K and actually posted a youtube video for me of him running his race. OMGoodness did I cry. I was so proud. SO.VERY.PROUD.

*insert Eisley beaming here* That’s my daddy!

Little did I know, the man was crazy. I should have gotten the clue, after all I am his daughter (duhh). But he continued running… and running… and running. I am proud to say, he completed his first marathon in December!

*insert Eisley’s jaw dropping to the floor*

Yes, his first MARATHON! That is 26.2 miles… twenty freaking six point two miles!! I was floored.

I stewed for a while, thinking about how I let him down (well not really but, you know) and how on earth I could get the gumption to run again. To get out there and complete a 5K…

Guess what? Today, I completed day one of the Couch to 5K program. Euphoric feelings all the while I ran… (more of a jog really, but still!) I am going to do this.

There are a few races in my area I can participate in and I plan at least one of them. Nothing is going to stop me from meeting my goals. Even if I have to run LAME, I will do it. I am going to do it. I refuse to let my dad down, or myself again.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.