I ran 30 minutes straight. Without walking.
Three months ago, I couldn't run 5 minutes straight, yet somehow, I did it. In fact, with my 5 minute warm-up walk, and about 8 minutes of cool down, I completed an entire 3 miles, almost the equivalent of a 5k, which is exactly what I'll be running on Saturday night.
If you know me, you know how impossible this sounds. My idea of exercise consists of the strenuous work of turning the pages of a Jane Austen novel. I consider baking to be one of my hobbies. For social activities, I just want to sit at Starbucks with a good friend enjoying a white chocolate mocha, that's all. Yet somehow, I find myself actually enjoying running.
In January, I watched my twin sister cross the finish line of the Disney Marathon for the second time. She ran 26.2 miles. Watching her made me want to do it to. Running, that is, not finishing a marathon!
She inspired my husband and I, so when my older sister reminded me about a 5k in March, a race to benefit the hospital where my son received the best care in the world, the same hospital that God used to save his life, my husband and I jumped at the excuse to start running.
He is fit. In fact, at 34, my husband has always been in great shape. Unlike my husband, not only am I overweight, but I haven't seen the inside of a gym since I was about 7 weeks pregnant with my second child, when my lovely friend, morning sickness, started. Exercise and pregnancy don't work out well for me, and I've spent the majority of the past few years pregnant and miserable. Since I'm not pregnant at the moment, I've decided to seize the day, carpe diem, and pick up a healthy habit to help me get in shape.
We started with the Couch to 5k program, which I'll review for you soon. Three nights a week, we load our three kids into strollers and run around the neighborhood. About a week or two into the program, we signed up for the Firefly Run in Dallas, to benefit Children's Medical Center. We were committed now, and would have no choice but to follow through! Two weeks later, we decided that we were truly committed to running, so we went to a local running store, where the employees analyzed our gaits, and then we bought "the good shoes" to prevent an injury. My husband still teases me that I'm only in it for the shoes. I'll never tell. But yes, I really, really like my hot pink Asics. My four year old daughter thinks they're pretty cool too.
And here we are, completely finished with the Couch to 5k program and ready to tackle our first race. In fact, we've already signed up for our second race in April.
Uh oh, I think I might be a runner.
Don't miss another post! Follow MamaGab on Facebook and sign up to receive my posts in your inbox.
Run mama run! That's awesome! My self confidence gets a nice boost when I'm running, just knowing I can do something hard!
ReplyDelete