Fantabulous!

I must say I'm quite impressed with myself. I was feeling good and strong. At gym, I kept making those laps - I passed the 10th lap and wanted to do two more then I'd be at a mile. Woo-hoo!! Did I do it? YES I DID. I felt great after. So I walked a mile in 23 minutes. Not too shabby. Then I took a break, did some stretches and had a little snack. I got ready to do my next laps and said I'm going to try for 12 more! And I DID IT in 18 min! YEAH, 2 miles!!! Faster than my first 12 - I ran a little too. Now this is not a regular gym track, it's kind of going around the gym and down the hall and round and round I go. I felt REALLY good after. While i was walking a lot people were saying I'm walking so good and asking how many laps I have done! It's encouraging seeing the support from the trainers, PT staff and other gym members. I was elated when I told my trainer Kendall I did TWO miles. He said it's not only physical but also mental. When you want something, there's nothing that can stop you from achieving this goal. He did tell me to keep taking it slow. To not rush...I was feeling good so wanted to continue. If I can keep this up and keep decreasing my time, then I can increase my laps in another week or 2.

Every year in July there is a StreetFair in Downtown Fargo. For the past few years i have avoided going just because it is sooooo crowded. People walking every way, they bring their pets, babies in strollers, etc. So it is hard to get around. I wanted to go this year and test out my crowd situation. My mom thought it was a bad idea. I know she was just worried, but just because I had trouble in the past - doesn't mean i will this time. I just wanted to try and I had no fear of going, in fact I wanted to. My sister asked if i wanted to go and i said yes w/o hesitation. The Streetfair is just a fair in downtown Fargo spread across several blocks with craft and food vendors all over. I love to go just to people watch and take pictures (I only got 2 which i haven't uploaded). I thought i did pretty well walking, I did want to sit for awhile and just people watch for a bit, but since it was so busy and crowded my sister didn't know if she would be able to find me again. So I walked and walked w/ her. I did have to sit on curbs or wherever I found a seat if she was looking at something. If I stood by the vendor, then 10 people would be surrounded by me and I couldn't get out. So I just chose to keep on moving and sitting whenever possible. I think we were out there at least an hour an half, pretty close to 2 hours. Towards the end, my right hip was really hurting and I had a shooting pain all the way down to my foot. I would limp when i walked. I was in pain and was holding on to my sisters arm.
By the time I got home, I was feeling much better. I have no idea how much we walked but it was a BIG day. Overall I am pleased w/ my accomplishments.
If I don't try then I'll never know if I can do something. With the Marathon, I realize there will be thousands of people but this will be different as everyone will be walking or running in the same direction. I'm assuming there won't be people stopping in the middle of the race to gab with a friend they haven't seen in years. I know the Marathon will be crowded but we will all be after the same goal. To finish. And that is what I plan to do.

I need to give a shout-out to all my Shutterfly Friends who have left such KIND messages on my Share Site: www.joeyssite.shutterfly.com and on the Blog article I wrote for Shutterfly. I had no idea what to write about and Rachel (the coordinator) said how about writing about your Marathon Journey. I was timid at first as I didn't want them to 'see' me any different. I thought maybe this would be a good idea to share my story and give some information on Dystonia (I didn't talk about that in my article - they would have to read this) and their comments were so nice to read - to have that extra support from people I know only through the Internet. Shutterfly really is a great place. Thanks again everyone for believing in me!

My shutterfly link is below:
http://www.shutterflystorytelling.com/2009/07/08/my-marathon-journey-by-joey-t/