Well, I’ve signed up for the Camp Pendleton Mud Run for some unknown ridiculous reason. Since this will be my third mud run, I should have known better. However, my cousin Sara, texted me that she was doing it and was wondering if we were… Yadda, yadda, yadda, next thing I know, I’m doing it again. This time we pulled my two oldest girls into it and of course, Steve will be racing again. He’ll be done, clean, and waiting on us by the time we get half way through.

The hardest part of the race for me is the running because it’s a 10k and several of the miles are up hill. It’s the kind of uphill where you think you made it to the top just to see you have three more hills to go. One needs a good running base to do well, and I never seem to have that base built up, and this year will be no different.

So, with all that being said, I’m out running now. Seriously, there are days when I’m wondering to myself why I’m out here always trying and trying to do this running thing. I really hate it. But for some reason, I just keep trying. Before almost every run I get nervous and my stomach gets weird, and I get a little adrenaline pump. That’s how much I don’t like it. However, I go anyway. I read somewhere that you should do something everyday that scares you. Running is my thing that scares me. It feels so stupid even writing that. When I run my brain is in high gear, so when I run with someone else I’m thankful for the distraction. My favorite is to run engulfed in headphones and music. It’s the perfect thinking place. Here are some of the things I think about while I’m running:

1. I might die

2. Why am I out here again?

3. I should have gone to the bathroom before I left.

4. I’m so hungry.

5. If Rocky could make it up those stairs, I can make it up this hill. (When I make it up I raise my hands and do the Rocky dance. Seriously, I do.)

5. Do people see me singing?

6. I go through conversations I’ve had with my sisters about running. Over and over, I think about using knife hands… One person will understand that.

7. I might die.

8. I remember to stand up and relax my chest. Use your legs.

9. I think about people who have suffered injuries that I don’t have. I think about military men and women fighting for me, then I compare how much easier this run is.

10. I thank God again that I have legs that work.

11. I wonder if someone will stop and call an ambulance if they see me laying on the ground. Because I might die right now.

12. I’m so hungry.

13. OMG! I love this song!

14. Sheer panic when my playlist stops and there’s empty air time in my head phones and my mind starts to quit and my legs want to follow. Quick find a song to turn on!

15. Why is my mouth so dry!

16. I hear an old tact officer yelling in my head about how flabby I am when I run… (Some things never leave you.)

17. I remind myself that running flabby is better than sitting on the couch getting flabbier.

18. When Steve is with me, I think about how much I’m hurting him because he’s running so slow to stay with me.

19. How nice the back of his calves are, because that’s all I’m looking at in order to actually finish the run. I watch one leg after the other. On and on and on.

20. I finish with a happy, “I made it!” and immediately start thinking about what a great run it was!

Yeah, running rocks…