Well... amazingly enough, when I went to Moab to run my first 10K with my friends, I did it!! The weather was freezing, my friends got sick from something they ate but all in all... it was fun!!
The race was actually harder than when I had ran the 6 miles before, I think because I hadn't ran in such a long time. It seemed like it lasted forever! I got to mile 3 and thought. "Wow! Only 3!?!" Around mile 4 I caught up to my friend & asked her if she knew how far we had gone. She excitedly said "We're almost to mile 4!" as if this was SO easy & where had the time gone! I was thinking... "Almost 4!! We're not even to FOUR yet!! I'm gonna freakin' die!!" Every corner we turned I thought... "This has to be the end. Where's the finish line?" It was hard to keep all the negative thoughts away. I don't know how many times I thought "Why am I doing this? I can't breathe right and I hate running! This sucks!" then I would have to stop myself & tell myself that I'm just getting over a cold & that it was easy before... it's just because I had to take that break. Just one foot in front of the other until I was at the finish line." I made it! It took about half way through that day to finally realize... "Hey! I just ran my first 10K and that rocks!!"
I think the 10k was the perfect boost after being sick & down for a couple of weeks. I've been going right back on track. I was supposed to run 7 miles this last Saturday and Zach was swamped all day and I couldn't leave my 4 kids home alone to go run for over an hour. We went to a show that night and when I finally got back at 11:30pm I decided it was now or never! It was a warm 37 degrees outside so I got dressed and started to run! I got to mile 4 and started to slip all over the roads that had turned to ice. I had to call Zach to come & get me. I'll try 7 miles again this weekend.
I've been asked a lot recently why I decided to start running. I think it's kind of a hard answer. I usually say that my friends all did it, so it got me interested. There's other reasons that until now I haven't talked about.
I wanted to lose weight. Not really for vain reasons, I was fine with my body the way it was although it would have been alright with me if I looked slimmer... hotter. I didn't care enough though to really do anything about it. I'd had 4 kids & my hubby still thought I was hot. That's all I really cared about. : ) What I really wanted to change were my family genes.
I'm usually pretty good at watching and learning from what other people do. A few years ago my Grandpa had a quadruple heart bypass. Not exactly fun. My Dad also found out he is border-line Diabetic. (Type 2 Diabetes) I went & had a physical thinking I was in excellent shape. I felt great, didn't think anything was wrong & they told me my "cholesterol was a little elevated for my age". What? "It was still good enough but I would need to watch it." OKAY!! So I LOVE to cook!! Not only do I love to cook but things just taste better with butter & cream!
The first thing I changed was my diet. I guess you could say that over time my whole outlook on food has totally changed. I still have my indulgence food every once in a while as a treat but it's not my everyday eating any more.
Then I started exercising everyday. After a while with my diet & exercise I hit a plateau & didn't lose anymore inches or weight. That's when my running friends cued in... "The fat just melts right off!", "It's exhilarating!", "It totally tones your whole body!".
Now that I've been doing this I feel so much better than I ever have before. It's funny to think that I was just fine with me before. I'm not talking about how I looked but how I felt! I didn't realize how much better I could feel. I thought everything was great! I had no idea!
My Mom has been walking a ton while I've been running. I'm so proud of her. She's trying to be healthier too. Her shoulder hurts constantly & she's in physical therapy for that, her foot hurts & she feels like she's falling apart. She's had to stop walking for now & it's driving her crazy. I can't help but hear my Mom, watch my Dad, see my Grandpa & think... "Well... that's how it will be if I change nothing. Now let's see how it turns out if I change everything." That's why I run.
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