I Passed Somebody!

Where I live, there are amazing trails along our "rivers" (I use that term loosely). That was our running/biking destination tonight. There is a one stretch that is approximately 1 mile long and we thought that it would be perfect for me to do my 23 min jogging stretch. So, armed with my friend Brie, my MP3 player, and our children, we headed out. Brie is an awesome friend/coach. She lets me get into my music and just run while she runs with the jogging stroller and chases after 3 boys riding their bikes.

Anyways, I was running at one stretch, by myself, and notice these two men jump on the trail ahead of me walking. I had a goal to put my head down, put one foot in front of the other, and pass these two. I did it. It was such a good feeling. I know, these guys were walking, but I still passed them. That means that I am running faster than a walker. That has to be good for something.

In fact, it was funny. I ran my scheduled 23 minutes (approximately a whole mile) and then I had to turn around and go back. We walked back and it seemed to take FOREVER! The more I run, the less patience I have for walking. Hehehe. That is funny coming from me.

I also want to mention a few more positives that happened to me on Wednesday. Sorry, I never got to the blog that day. I'm trying not to focus so much on my weight now. I'm trying to focus on the little changes that are happening to my body.

Positive things about Wednesday:

1. My butt had room! I took my son to the doctor and I sat down in a waiting room chair. I was just there 2 weeks ago for my twins too, but this time, I had a little bit more butt room in the chair. Yay for butt room


2. I look cute! I took all 4 of my children to our local Children's museum. I had a lady come up to me saying how much she admired me for standing there with 4 children (2 of which are twins). She said she was so frazzled with one toddler and couldn't imagine how I could have my hair done, my make-up on (rare occurance) and look so cute and come out of the house with the 4 kids. I thanked her and just smiled. She really made my day.


3. I got my eyebrows waxed. I couldn't believe how much that one little action boosted my self-esteem. I felt pretty.


4. I rocked it on my workout. I am learning that I NEED music. It helps me stay focused while I run. I ended up working out for 45 minutes and running 35 minutes of it.

I am loving everything that I am learning on this journey. Thank you all for your love, support, and comments. There are people following my blog that I didn't reallize. So, thank you. If any of this inspires you, please share it. One of the reasons that I started this blog was because I had never seen a blog of a person my size on their running/weight loss journey before. I want to share with everyone that you can do anything. It just takes one step in front of the other.

Have a great weekend!

I Ran a Mile!

I was looking at my Couch to 5k training program and noticed that next Friday I was supposed to run for 20 minutes straight. For me, that is approximately a mile. That scared the crap out of me. I haven't run a mile since I left high school 18 years ago! I am also 100 lbs heavier than I was in high school too so I knew that this would be hard to do for me.

So, when my hubby came home from work, I decided to take the older two of my kiddos and go to the local high school. I decided that I was going to run a mile today. I wanted to accomplish this today. I went to the high school track because I wanted the running marks so knew exactly how far I was running and it would be easier for me to track the time too.

A mile is 4 laps. I walked one lap to warm up a bit and I felt strong. Then came the running. The first lap was good, but the second was killing. I kept thinking, "Am I done yet?" lol. Funny thing is, though, is that I remember having these same thoughts when I ran this same track in high school. The one thing that I noticed, with the end of lap two and into lap three, was that my body had gone into a natural rhythm. My steps and my breathing were in sync with each other.

As the fourth lap came around, I was feeling good knowing that I would actually accomplish this goal. Then, at the last curve, I kept thinking about my friend, Brie saying, "Give it all you've got to finish." However, I couldn't push it anymore. I couldn't even feel my legs. I just kept my head down looking at the white lines indicating a lane. I can honestly say that I gave my all tonight. Then, came the end point. I was so excited. My kids were excited.

I weigh 350 lbs and I just ran (without stopping at all) a mile! My time was 20 min. 29 sec.

A Little Wiggle and a Little Woggle

My friend, Janette, commented on one of my previous posts that they like to call very slow jogging, wogging. I have amended that term to woggling. I was definitely wiggling and woggling today, BUT it was another awesome day of accomplishment.

I was dreading this day of training because it was pushing me a bit farther than I've ever been in
the last 20 years. I'm on Week 3 of the Couch to 5k program. It was warm up of 5 min. walking and 2 repetitions of the following (90 sec or 200 yds jogging, 90 sec or 200 yds walking, 3 min or 400 yds of jogging, 3 min or 400 yds of walking). I was REALLY psyching myself out with the 3 mins of jogging. BUT I did it and I had fun doing it. In fact, I felt so strong that on my last 3 minutes, I wanted to keep going. I made it another 100 yds or approx another 30 sec.

For the first time ever, I realized that I really can do this. As Kira and I were doing the cool down lap, I told her that this is my third program week, but I have really been at it for 3 weeks already. So, I'm starting my 4th week of walking/jogging. Kira mentioned some changes that she has noticed with me. First, I'm not sucking air anymore. Second, I am actually lifting my feet now instead of shuffling

like I did when I first started. Then, after we talked a bit more, she mentioned that all those changes have really happened in only 9 sessions of 1/2 an hour a day.

I am amazed at how my body is strengthening and healing itself in such a short amount of time. I am sure it will continue to increase its power the more weeks

that pass and the more weight that I lose. So, in only a cumulative of 4.5 hours, I've been able to increase my endurance and I am running.

Ok, I'm still woggling, but the important thing is

that I AM MOVING. I am starting to look forward to meeting up with my friends every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Oh, and the most important milestone that I hit today is that while going up that hill, I was not thinking bad thoughts about my friend Brie who was timing me. Now, THAT is an accomplishment. :)