Hoppy Easter!

Get any yummy Peeps in yer basket? I got my Peeps last week when I was home, plus a lovely easter bonnet from Mom. Try putting the Peeps in the microwave for 10-15 seconds, and watch them turn into huge Stay-Puft marshmallow chicks. It's a great party trick.

I didn't go to church this morning (cause I'm a heathen), but I started the holy day today celebrating my one year anniversary of being smoke free by beginning marathon training with Portland/Vancouver Fit. I have to run with the Vancouver, Washington (no, not Vancouver BC) group on the other side of the Columbia on Sunday mornings, cause the Portland group runs are Saturday mornings, which are hard for me to make since I usually get home really late Friday night. But I'm actually kind of happy about that since I heard that approximately 1200 people showed up for the Portland run on Saturday, and there were only about 120 people this morning in the Vancouver group, which is much more manageable and intimate. I think I'll have a better chance connecting with some people in a smaller group.

So, we met outside this restaurant on the banks of the Columbia at 8am, and after a seminar on safety (don't run in front of cars), we split into three groups: the speedy colors of yellow, blue and green, the purple walkers, and my group, the poky red runners. Go red! (And actually, the reds are anyone who runs 10 minute miles or longer, so not necessarily all that pokey)

We ran for four miles today, and I chatted briefly here and there, but no connections yet with anyone, which is okay since there will be 24 more weeks of this to get to know folks better. After the run, one of the coaches (a physical therapist) led us in a group stretch, and promised that the massage therapist would be on hand starting next week (we get 5 minute massages as part of the deal). Which is good, since we're adding a mile every week, working our way up to 26 miles. YIKES!!! But I'm excited. There are many coaches and assistant coaches who run with us and are there to guide, inspire, and help us avoid injury while training. We've got a strict weekly schedule that we all follow together, which is running for a certain number of minutes three times during the week on our own, and then on the weekend we do our long mileage run together as a group. Plus we get t-shirts!

After the run, I took a long bath, cooked a healthy veggie scramble, then crashed with the cat for a long nap. So it's been a good day.

Hope yours has been too.