My running world

Well, I had hoped to post the ice cream cake that I made for my daughter, but I am still battling it out with my computer. So, I'll do that when I have access to my photos again. Tonight I am using my husband's laptop to post a bit about my running hobby.

Ok, since I love food, I have put on several extra pounds over the years. It didn't seem like I could get rid of them either. If I went to the gym four times a week and did an hour of cardio, nothing. If I ate less, nothing. It just didn't seem to matter what combination I tried, I could not lose any weight. I actually kept gaining and THAT made me mad. I finally leveled off and managed to maintain my weight, but it was not in a place I wanted to be.

With my last pregnancy, I managed to get my appetite under control. Nothing like feeling nauseous for six months to help you cut back your calories. :) When I finally felt like eating, I started cooking out of the "South Beach Diet" cookbook. I never did the whole two week phase 1 thing, but the recipes are really good. I cooked those and tried to really listen to my body and stop eating once I was no longer hungry as opposed to really full. My problem is that I love the way food tastes, and most foods are best the first time around. I had to convince myself that it would still taste good left over, and if it didn't it was ok because I could always make it again some other time.

After the baby was born, I felt a renewed desire to get back in shape. How else was I going to keep up with four very active children? I met Wendy who was really into running...marathons and triathlons. I've never liked running. It is hard, it makes it hard to breathe, I get sweaty. Just not a nice fun sport. At least that is what I've always thought. But then I looked at my friend, who looked absolutely AMAZING just a month after having a baby. Well, what would it hurt to give it a try?

So, my hubby and I started to run. At first we could not even run a mile without stopping to walk. It was awful! Wendy kept encouraging me and told me that I should sign up for a 5k road race (that is 3.2miles). My husband ran his first one last August and I cried just being a spectator. What a great sport! Anyone can do it. You just have to compete with yourself. I saw all ages, sizes, levels, families, parents pushing strollers, and wheelchair racers. It was beautiful watching them run by and getting to yell and cheer them on. I felt really stupid that I was crying, but I wanted to be out there running with everyone else. So two weeks later I ran my first race.

I had been running and set a time goal for myself that was realistic for me. I was planning on winning, I just wanted to finish. The adrenaline really gets you going! I actually did 2 minutes better than my goal time and after that I was hooked. My husband and I both ran several more 5ks that year and we set a goal to run a half marathon in April of 2008. We trained and I actually saw a change in my weight and my body for the first time in years. I found that I was happier and had more energy. I lost 20lbs from July to April!

We ran that half marathon and it was wonderful. Once again, I was a big cry baby the whole time. I ran 10 miles before I had to stop and stretch out my hips. I just kept thinking how amazing it was that I went from not being able to run a mile to running 1o miles without stopping to walk in nine months. If we feed our bodies healthy food and exercise to make it strong we can do amazing things and I feel that this is within every one's reach. So find what you can fall in love with as a form of exercise, set some goals, and feed your body good food so you can get out there and do it.