I did it!!

8 weeks ago...the mere THOUGHT of running 3.1 miles at one time....without stopping...made me wince. There is NO way I could do that...I am "not a runner"!!  But I decided to give the couch to 5k program a try anyway.  If nothing else, for the first time I can remember, I would have a set exercise program and a goal to get there.  So, I dug out the running shoes I bought probably 6 years ago that had been worn MAYBE a handful of times, bought a couple new sports bras and shirts and downloaded some crazy app that was going to turn me into a runner...and off I went.

The first week you don't jog more than 60 seconds at a time, and that was actually very challenging.  You think to yourself, no WAY I can improve in 9 weeks to run for 30 minutes at a time!!  But each time, it felt a little better.  Matt showed me a path in our neighborhood that from our house to the opposite pool and back was 3.1 miles.  Sometimes I just do the time it takes to get it all done, sometimes I push it further to get in the mileage.  After recovering from memorial weekend I repeated 2 days to get back into the swing of things.  Before, I would have just given up.  But that bad run just made me more determined to get back into it.

Well, this morning....all dressed up in my new gear, I headed out for w8d1...the 28 minute run.  I put myself on course to do the 3.1 miles, even if I had to walk after the 28 minutes ended.  As the bell rang to indicate I survived completed the 28 minutes, I thought about walking the rest of the way home...and Eminem's Collapse came on...

'Cause sometimes you feel tired,

feel weak, and when you feel weak, you feel like you wanna just give up.

But you gotta search within you, you gotta find that inner strength

and just pull that $hit out of you and get that motivation to not give up

and not be a quitter, no matter how bad you wanna just fall flat on your face and collapse.

How can you quit when that comes on? ;-)  (another one of my push through songs is Brittany's Stronger...yeah, I am cool)  I felt good, and just kept going.  And I completed my first 5k.  

It wasn't on an official race, no fan fare, just me pumping my fists and grinning ear to ear in my neighborhood.  And I still can't believe I did it.  I love what it is doing for my health, my body, my energy, my relationship with my hubby (its encouraging him too and helps us both to be better!) and I find myself keeping up with my boys better.  

I am really excited about running my first race here soon.  I will probably cry when I cross the finish line.      I really hope this is just the beginning of my new relationship with exercise and running...and excited to see what else this old body can do!! :)

If you have EVER thought about learning to run, you can do it.  Give it a try, stick with it...and before you know it, you will be fist pumping in your neighborhood too!