Greetings and Happy Monday everyone!
This is a somewhat random post that I have been planning for some time I say somewhat random as it currently strays from what I have been writing his ever I do plan to write posts like this on a regular basis going forward. This post will briefly touch upon my fitness and weight loss goals of the past twelve months but focuses mainly on my running adventures of those same twelve months and what I hope to accomplish going forward.
Back in December of 2010 I was met with a rather harsh reality that many people are facing as well; I had hit my highest weight on the scale in my life. It was not a happy meeting, of course, and I nearly cried when I read the number on the scale (I will not disclose that number just yet as though I am ready to discuss my ventures in a public forum, I am still not ready to disclose the numbers). I am not a short gal so I don’t expect to “bring in” small numbers with regards to my weight but even so I was overweight. It was a depressing realization though I knew exactly what had lead me to get to that point.
Many crying and anger fits later, I decided it was time to get my behind in gear, literally and figuratively. Since my budget at the time didn’t allow room for an expensive gym membership I invested in EA’s Active 2 for my Wii and began a workout program that was rather difficult but not impossible for me. Fast forward to five months later and a few pounds lighter I hit a standstill with my weight loss.
Mothers’ Day 2011 was met with a wonderful surprise; my husband woke me up and to,d me I could get a gym membership to help me get over the plateau. I called our local gym to get some rates and was pleasantly surprised that a membership could actually fit into our budget without any major adjustments. Once agin, fast forward but only to three months later.
After frequenting the gym every other day and utilizing the “Bootcamp” program offered to clients I had lost just under 30 pounds and, though needless to say, I was over my weight loss plateau (though i still had a few more pounds to lose to reach my weight goal, I was very happy at that point because I was at my lowest weight in nine years).Through the recommendation of a friend I decided to sign up for my first-ever 5K race! I had been running over the three months as well just not at a racing type of pace but that was no matter to me. I had not competitively run in well over 10 years but the thought of doing that again was thrilling and I knew it was time to reevaluate my goals to incorporate my love of running into them! The day of the race was nerve racking for me but the only thought I had was to cross the finish line without having walked or even stopped at any point during the race. Not only did I meet that goal but I also managed to win third place in my age group! Talk about a confidence booster!!!
Two weeks later and I was running my second 5K with a first place finish in my age group! Then the possibility of a local but historic nine mile race entered my head and I decided to send out my registration. I’m not sure if I was thinking clearly when I sent it out but I still had two months to prepare and had a great support system around me to ensure I did not give up or fail with this goal. I completed a few other races before the “big day,” all earning my age group medals (I won’t lie, seeing the display of medals I have accumulated keeps me going even as I write this).
Race day arrived and though I had prepared both physically and mentally as best I could it seemed as though that all went out the window once the starting gun went off. My mental strength definitely kept me going through the race rather than my physical strength due to the difficulty of the race but I’ve been told that running is more mental than physical once you hit a certain mileage (believe me, it’s the truth). I entered the final stretch ready to nearly give up but was met with cheers from the crowd which somehow gave me enough energy and strength to sprint to the finish (and pass another runner in the process). I crossed the finish line nearly ready to pass out and in a time that was over my goal by 10 minutes but once I saw my husband and daughters I was ready to burst into tears with joy. I kept that in check but was still overjoyed having met my biggest and most difficult goal of the year. To be perfectly honest, the race itself is a blur with regards to everything physical, including the other runners around me. I can sharply remember my state of mind during the race though and the physical only comes back to me when remembering those crowds at the end. It’s no matter though and I am very much looking forward to the race on Thanksgiving Day 2012!
Now that I am well over the year mark of my depressing but motivating realization of my high weight, I am still working on dropping the pounds. After “the big race” I took some time off from my normal workout routine and ended up getting rather sick which lead to even more time away from running and the gym. My weight went up by 11 pounds and my strength wasn’t what it was but I am back on track to meeting my 2012 goals with weight loss, strength improvement, and race calendar. I have already completed a 10K in February and in a few weeks will run two 5K races. In May I will run the Dirty Girl Mud Run with the same friend who recommended my first race of 2011. I am very, very excited for that race but I am also (if not a bit more) excited for a race I will be running in July – the Spartan Sprint! If you’ve read my ‘About’ page, you will have read that I am a Spartan Race Street Teammember (and can save you money on your race registrationif you are interested) but this will be my first Spartan Race (I was to complete this race last year but through a series of unfortunate events I was not able to do so).
As I continue to go through my races I will write posts about my racing adventures. Though I would have preferred to expand n those races mentioned in this post, I have procrastinated on writing this post to begin with which means I had to group all of my adventures into one post to get “up to date” rather than write posts out of order on my running and racing ventures.
If you have read this far, I want to thank you immensely for following along. To a point, it is therapeutic to write about and recall all that I have completed since the day I decided t take my life, my weight, and my fitness back into my own hands. If you have any similar thoughts, posts, or even tips, I would love to hear about them! Please feel free to share a comment not only with me but with those who are reading this!
Until next time…
There was one defect on the HK donut though, but for my daughters, it was no matter and it is not broken so we are still happy!
