Today was the Maine Marathon and I had some friends taking part. I wished that I could have gone to cheer them on, but I am on call for the hospital for the next two weeks. It's pouring buckets outside and I'm still sitting here in my jammies, sipping on a Starbucks Chai Latte, and thinking about how far I have actually come since January 1 of this year.
To recap, I started Jan 1st at 285 pounds.
I signed up for Weight Watchers at work, and started my journey to better health. I started researching running, and read for many hours on the subject, prepping my mind to start up again after a 25 year hiatus. I finally decided that I was going to take a minimalist approach, mostly because when I ran in my Asics 2150's, I would have ITB (IT Band) issues, and my ankle that I had surgery on, didn't do well in those shoes. After many hours of research, I decided on the Kinvara 2's.
I will tell you that when I started going to the University fitness center, I felt VERY self conscious and out of place amongst all those thin athletes there. I could barely walk the 1/10th mile track without having to sit down. I am serious. It was baaaaad. So many times I would think about running, but basically couldn't remember how... I know that sounds stupid but I was so overweight that I felt like an elephant with every step, making the ground shake.
Eventually I worked my way up to 1/10th walk, then 2/10th, then 3/10 and before I knew it, I was walking a mile. I made a decision to wait on the running until I felt I had lost a good amount of weight, in order to minimize the chance that I would get injured again. When I finally lost 25lbs or so, I started jogging a bit at a time. It was slow. It was NOT fun. I hated it, but in my mind I knew that I had to keep it up to be able to get back to where I was as a runner years ago. Now it's September 30th and I feel like I have made a fair amount of progress. I have gone slowly and taken my time, listening to how my ankle felt along the way. A fellow blogger, PAVEMENT RUNNER said it this way, "It was a slow approach to this point. But I've loved the journey." He was referring to the two 20 mile runs that he did this weekend. I had commented to him that I can't wait till I can say I ran that far. I in fact HAVE loved the journey. Every drop of sweat involved has been worth it all the way. Little by little I have mustered the courage to wear compression shorts without shorts on top. I bought some sports bras like everyone else wears. I run in skirts... I'm getting there, coming out of my comfort zone, little by little.
So far, I have run tons of 5K races this summer, most of them virtual runs. I have preferred to do those since the summer was pretty hectic with my dad passing away in June. These runs gave me incentive to run for a cause and keep moving through all of the stress I have gone through this past year. My longest run to date has been a half marathon, but I had to split it up a bit with a few breaks in-between. I have walked 15 miles at once on a weekend, and loved it all except for the blisters. My usual run is 4.8 miles around my neighborhood, lots of small hills included in that. I recently discovered that trail running is awesome! I didn't know if my ankle would hold up, but so far there's been no issues. I wish I had started running those at the beginning of the summer...
I am proud to say that I am a runner. I am not a fast runner, and that's ok. I am slow, and steady, and enjoying my journey to fitness. I hope that I can inspire or help someone else to take this journey also, it is so worth the effort. Thanks for listening to my rainy day rambles..
Love ya!
