Saturday, October 6, 2012

1st Runiversary!

The last race I ran was in June, it was the Mud Dog. I was on a running hiatus this summer. I can give you all of the excuses in the world, but at the end of the day I hate the heat and I hate running in the humidity. It is really that simple. It slows me down and I am miserable. So I set out with some goals and failed miserable because I was not running. Shit happens.

I went back to Weight Watchers in August. My Fitness Pal is great for some. What I witnessed is people eating for too little while working far to hard and not properly fueling their body. That does not motivate me. Neither does calorie counting, as all calories are not created equal. I wasn't getting the results I wanted and at the end of the day, I knew what I had to do.

So, I went back to the program that I knew would get me back to where I wanted to be, which is ON TRACK. I get asked all of the time, "Why Weight Watchers?" For me it is a simple area...I am and will always have a 200 pound girl inside of me. A girl that needs reminded on a weekly basis that she has to stay on track. I know I can have cheese fries, but I have to remain on track. I have to have the support of a weekly meeting that gives me fresh ideas on how to stay on track. I need the weekly accountability of stepping on the scale. I thrive on these meetings, I need to track my points every week, I need the support. THAT is why I go to Weight Watchers. And will continue to endorse a program that I truly believe in :)

Another thing that has helped with my journey has been running, but like I said, I have gotten lazy in the past couple of months. My weight loss has slowed. My doctor told me several weeks ago that her "ideal" weight range for me would be 158-163 pounds. As of Friday, I weighed in at 172.4. I am less than 10 pounds from my doctor's goal. My personal goal is to say I have lost 100 pounds, so that would put me at 155. 17.4 pounds to goal!!! Had I not gone back to WW and started lacing up my running shoes again, it is safe to say that I wouldn't be *this* close!

I have been somewhat back in the running game for about 6 weeks now, not running 3 times a week like I should, but I have been active. So last week, on a 4 mile run with a friend, she told me about a VERY local 5k that was scheduled for today. So on Monday I signed up and figured at the very least I would know how much damage I had done from taking several months off.

So this morning, as everyone else was asleep, I got dressed, and laces up my Brooks. As I did this, I realized that it has been exactly 1 year since my very 1st 5k!! I didn't go into today's race, expecting anything spectacular, but more so to see how much work I had ahead of me.

So as I line up and get my music and gps ready, I take a deep breath and remind myself to just enjoy the run. I have ran my fair share of races, let me tell you that the run today was by far the worst hills that I have ran in a race. I had a 36 minute goal, but that goal was squashed as soon as I started tackling rolling hills...or so I thought. Thanks to my running partner, I remained strong on the hills and completed the race with a 35:43 completion. I got my 2nd wind in the last half a mile and managed to finish strong.

As I finished, I had a lot on my mind . Primarily the fact that a few short months ago I was completing 5ks in under 33 minutes. I was so close to my sub 30 goal. But when I finished, it occurred to me, that I may not be as fast as I was, but I am still strong. This 5k made me realize that if I work hard for a couple of weeks, I can conceivably get back to where I was just a few months ago. Time to get back on track with my running! :)

If I can do it, anyone can!!!

Meanwhile, here are some pictures of my journey!

Here I am 1 year ago at my 5k, weighing in at 194 pounds

And here I am this morning for what was my 10th 5k in a year, I have also completed 2 10ks, a 10 miler, a mud run and a half marathon. That is a lot of running over the course of a year!
Until next time <3