Victory is MINE!!!

So it's Sunday and yesterday was the 10K. I rolled out of bed at about 6:15a.m. ready to go, excited but anxious. After all, I hadn't exercised in 3 weeks. That's right, 3 weeks and nothing, zip, nada. First there was the "I just can't get myself out of bed" week and then there was the back pain that just wouldn't go away. So, I really wasn't sure how well it would go, I was hopeful but uncertain. My goal was to finish in 1:45:00, about a 17 minute mile. I knew it would be a hard pace to keep especially given the lack of exercise lately.

Well, I headed off for the 10K which conveniently started and finished right down the street from my sister's house. I parked my car at her house and then she, my husband and I headed down to the start line. Now the race was advertised as a 10K run and 5K walk but I contacted the folks heading up the event to make sure it was OK to walk the 10K. With the go ahead from them, I waited at the start line fearing I would be the only person walking and for a while it appeared that would be the case but, just before the bell (the cow bell, yes, a cow bell, it's a small event) 3 more walkers showed up. And you know as well as I know that you can tell the difference between a walker and a runner and they could too as I heard one of them say, "Hey another walker."

Well, I took off at a fast pace, I-pod in ear, water in hand and my cheerleaders right behind me. I felt my heart rate increase as I kept pace with the music and my heart and lungs felt good. Apparently my recent hiatus hadn't hurt my cardiovascular system as much as I anticipated. My muscles though...that's a whole other story.

I was good from the waist up but I was not good from the waist down. The first pain was right in the bends of my legs, right in the hip socket. That started about 5 minutes in and never let up. Now I am not going to bore you with every ache and pain let me just say the I can barely walk today. I look like a penguin rolling along. The last thing I have to say about the pain is OH MY ACHING @$$!

The best part of the race was that I had my own personal cheerleaders on every corner. Never mind that I used to be a dispatcher and I knew most of the cops working the race, I am talking about my husband and my big sister. Now, she took off on a course parallel to mine and popped out on me twice during my mile long straight away. Now she was really scooting to run over a block, down the street parallel to mine and then back in a block to cheer me on but there she was smiling and waving and offering words of encouragement and advice. At the next corner, my husband had caught up and from then on they were popping out at every turn. My husband passing me a Reese's peanut butter pumpkin (don't judge, peanut butter is protein and I needed a boost) and a kiss at one point as I pushed on without pausing. I don't know many other folks that have that kind of love and support in their lives and I wouldn't know what to do without it.

A few more turns and switchbacks and I was near the five mile mark. I rounded the corner and my niece and brother-in-law had joined the party. My sister walked along with me until I turned into her neighborhood for the last mile, the rest of the cheerleaders headed to the finish line. Now, this being her home turf she knew what was ahead of me and told me everything to expect and just kept pushing me to keep it up. I had to make a loop through her subdivision and then turn back out onto the road where the race started to finish at the park on the corner. I was approaching turn 2 of 4 in the loop when there she was again with a fresh, cold bottle of water. She couldn't have shown up at a better time. I was slowing down, hurting, tired but still determined. More words of encouragement and some much appreciated company and she took off for the finish line.

I came out of her neighborhood onto the last stretch, finish line in sight along with my group of cheerleaders. I was the last one to cross the finish line but I CROSSED the finish line. I came in at 1:40:31 for 6.23 miles. That's a 16:10 pace and an average of 3.72 mph. I am ecstatic. I did it, 2 weeks ahead of schedule. Now I am going to rest and recuperate and set my next goal. No stopping now.

Thank you Honey. Thank you Gennifer. I love you.

5K, check. 10K, check. More to come so...

Don't Pity the Fat Girl.

Holy ptthhhhbt Has it Really Been a Month Since I Blogged?!?

It's been a fast month and a challenging one. Week before last I didn't exercise at all. I was physically exhausted, falling asleep before 9pm and not able to drag myself out of bed before 7am. I felt pretty bad about it until my sister said not to let it get me down that everyone, including herself, had to take a week off here or there. So I made my peace with it.

Then I rolled out of bed on the first Saturday this month and guess what? My back is out. It has been back and forth for the last week and a half, really bad at the beginning and end of the week and OK in the middle. Well, it's difficult at best to walk when every step hurts so I didn't. Plus I really need it to heal because guess what? I'm walking a 10K THIS weekend, not at the end of the month.

That's right 5 days from now. Zoinks! I am really feeling some pressure. I keep trying to tell myself that it will be OK and that I have 4 months of exercise under my belt but it's not so reassuring. I'll walk it and I'll finish it but I won't be fast.

Now you may be wondering why I am walking 2 weeks earlier well, that's a story within itself and I don't have enough time here on my lunch break to tell you about it so I'll have to put that on hold for a couple of days.

It'll be fine, think happy thoughts and...

Don't Pity the Fat Girl.

Yikes, Is There Really Only 7 1/2 Weeks Left?!?

Is it just me or is this year screaming by? Wasn't it just Spring? This is the time of the year that I refer to as "running the gauntlet". It starts September 1 and it's just one hit after another until New Years. I already have most of the weekends in October booked, a couple in September and I got a call from a friend last night about November. Now, I'm not necessarily complaining here, a lot of this is self inflicted but it happens to be my favorite time of year and there is sooooooo much that I want to do. Back to my point, the 10K is just around the corner for me so I really need to pound some pavement now.

We all have the best of intentions when we make our plan of attack and just assume that there will be no road blocks and things will go just as we want them to. I have already told you about some of the changes I've had to make for mine and this past weekend was no exception. My plan was to take my long walk on Sundays as the 10K is on a Sunday too and I want to get used to it. Well, my niece and nephew spent the night at my house Saturday and I didn't think I could leave my husband alone to tend to them for over an hour. So, I took my long walk on Monday. Not a big change and it worked out because my office was closed so there was plenty of time in the morning.

My point is this, things are going to come up, sometimes they will be small and easily worked around other times they won't and you'll have to decide if you're going to make it work or allow yourself to be defeated. So far, I'm choosing to make it work and I have been doing so for longer than ever before. The old me would sit back, make excuses and allow myself to lose sight of my goal. Now, I just figure it out, switch my schedule around and find a place for exercise. I can't allow the old me to fight her way back in and you shouldn't either.

As I write today I am sitting in the office on my lunch break eating the lunch I packed: a ham and provolone sandwich with only 1 slice of sourdough bread folded in half, a handful of grapes and a sugar free dark chocolate jello pudding. (For breakfast I had 1 1/2 servings of Multi-grain Cheerios with 1 cup of 1% milk and for my morning snack I had 1 serving of cinnamon Teddy Grahams.) I figure this will work in 3 ways: I'll spend less money, eat healthier and get some blogging done all at the same time. There just might be something to that multi-tasking thing yet.

Set a goal and do everything in your power to reach it. Don't allow "lazy-you" to win and...

Don't Pity the Fat Girl.

Another Milestone...Let's Not Celebrate Just Yet

Yep, another milestone, we'll get to that in a minute. Saturday I dragged my husband out of the house for a 2 mile walk (remember that he has to walk this 10K too).

The last time we walked together we didn't really walk together he walked ahead of me and I stayed back just fuming and getting my tail feathers all in a knot. You see one thing that I haven't told you is that I'm the sensitive type, a toasted marshmallow my mom says (crusty outside and gooey inside), I get my feelings hurt pretty easily. I interpreted his walking ahead of me as his way of proving that he was still in better shape than me despite my 3 months of exercise (Oh yeah, 3 months) and his lack thereof. I know that's not what he intended but I was hot and tired (and maybe a bit hormonal, sorry guys but it's true) and that's how it felt.

Back to Saturday. So I dragged him out of the house but not before I took my "are we going to walk together or are you walking at your own pace today" stance. He said, let's walk at our own pace. I grabbed my I-pod deciding that I should enjoy this walk and headed out the door. Pushed by the fast pace music bopping in my ear, I took off at a record pace and I didn't stop. As one of our neighbors said I was "putting it on him." I came in at just under 31 minutes, a 15:30 pace. WOO HOO! He came in 4 minutes later after stopping to chat with the neighbor who gave him a hard time.

I felt so energized, good pace, no fatigue, quick recovery, it all seemed to be coming together. Well, Sunday I decided it was time for a real test, 4 miles. This is the first time in a long time that I have walked that far. I got started later than I wanted to (like that's never happened before) and it was getting hot. I briefly toyed with the idea of only walking a 5K but I've done that several times. I shook it off and decided to keep moving. I took me a lot of sweat, sore feet and 1 hour and 12 minutes to finish. That's an 18 minute mile pace, not too bad.

I'm feeling pretty good knowing that I only have 8 1/2 weeks until the 10K. I know I will finish with no problem. Yesterday I walked another 2 miles, just like I'll do on Saturday and I'll follow up on Sunday with another 4 mile walk. I'll round out the week's exercise with 3 alternating days of kettleball exercises. I feel the need to get some sort of weight training/toning thing going on now (starting to feel perkier...) to round out my workouts. I'll let you know how that goes, I'm starting tomorrow, it looks like a fun plan. I'm still doing Zumba too, I can't get enough of that.

I know my posts haven't been coming in as often and I will do better, we all know how we allow life to get the better of us sometimes. I want to hear from you too. Let me know what what you have been doing, let me know if I can help...I'll do the best I can so tell me what's on your mind and...

Don't Pity the Fat Girl.

I Seem to be Hitting Some Road Blocks Lately

Well, I didn't walk 2 miles on Monday. I had a bit of trouble getting out of bed. By the time I did get up I only had enough time to get on the Wii Fit for about 20 minutes. I had a hard time on Tuesday too but this time I managed to come through for myself and I hit the pavement. 2 miles, 31 minutes, 45 seconds. That's less than 16 minutes a mile, not too shabby. You see, I had a new plan and it seems to have worked.

Keep in mind that I am out here in the country walking and part of my walk is on a fairly busy road and so far I have not used my Ipod while walking. I just didn't think it was safe, until Tuesday. I have met a few of the folks that live along my route and everyone has gotten used to seeing me walking and biking, it's always nice to have extra eyes looking out for you. Now the other thing that I knew I would have to do is keep the volume low so that I could hear traffic approaching me from behind. I don't walk in the middle of the road or anything crazy like that but there is no such thing as a shoulder, just a ditch, lots of tall grass and who knows what creeping and crawling in there. Uh, no thank you.

The Ipod was a pleasant change and I think the music definitely got me moving faster (the proof is in the numbers). I have to admit though that I had something else on my side...the weather. Yesterday's high was only 77. That is the first day under 80 degrees in 90 days (I told you it's been hot.) and even Coconut had an extra spring in his step as he charged out into the road right on my heels. It was cloudy yesterday too and there was a nice breeze, well, the breeze was nice on the way in but gave me a heck of a head wind on the way out making me work that much harder. All in all, I was very pleased at the end of the walk.

So today I took a rest day and tomorrow I plan to get back out on the road. Once again I will pound out 2 miles and maybe with the help of my new favorite walking tool (my Ipod, pay attention) I will make it back in faster than yesterday.

9 1/2 weeks to the 10K, full speed ahead. Send me some happy thoughts and...

Don't Pity the Fat Girl.

Time to Focus...or Refocus

It's Sunday, and it is just 10 weeks to the 10K. Yikes! Time flies huh? So yesterday my husband and I went for a walk, a 5K. It was hot and we got a late start which only made it harder for us. We started off at a good pace and even got past Coconut's house without being chased, at least on the way in, but our energy eventually ran out and Coconut came after us on the way back. About a half a mile from the end we slowed to a casual pace and finished in under an hour. (A bit slower than I would have liked but OK given the conditions.)

As promised I am going to be honest...there is no replacement for getting outside and hitting the pavement. I have been doing various cardio workouts inside due to the heat and I think my lungs are in good shape. However, my legs are sore today, especially right in the hip socket. Looks like I need to get my butt outside a little more often, heat or no heat.

With the summer (and the number of weeks before the 10K) winding down I am going to face some new challenges. The biggest is going to be when to get my daily walk in. The first day of summer is the longest day of the year and since then the days have been getting shorter. That being said, it's not hard to figure out that there is no longer daylight at 6:00 a.m. I have to start walking at 6:00 to make sure I am done in time to stop sweating and cool off before getting ready for work.

My best plan is to get up at 6:00 and get ready which will put me out the door at about 6:20 or so which should be bright enough for the next couple of weeks allowing me to get in a 2 mile walk each day. (I should be able to walk that in less than 35 minutes still giving me cool down time.) I will save my long walk for Saturdays and plan to put in 4 miles this coming Saturday. There it is, the plan for the next couple of weeks; walk, walk, walk.

Another thing I hope will help me along is the bootcamp class my husband and I are thinking about trying. It is offered through the county's Parks and Rec office. It's a one hour class six Saturday mornings beginning in mid September. I'll get back to you on that one.

Well, I have a plan in place, that's a start. Of course I will let you know how it goes, good and bad. Talk to me, are y'all moving yet? Rhonda, I hope you are doing much better and feeling well. Keep working on your health and we'll keep sending you positive thoughts. How about the rest of you? Set a goal and start working towards it and...

Don't Pity the Fat Girl.

I Think a Little R & R is in Order

Well, we are getting ready to head out for a long weekend at the beach. I am really looking forward to it. I got a manicure and pedicure this morning, picked up last minute supplies and packed our bags.

Our very good friends have invited us to their family's beach house to celebrate his 40th birthday. Yea for us and Happy Birthday Ed. Now in case you are wondering, I have every intention of getting in some exercise while we are gone. There is a pool and that's all I'll need to blast away some calories and strengthen my muscles.

With the weather still being so awful here (upper 90's to 100's and high humidity) I have either been getting my exercise in the pool or by Zumba. It's been in the upper 70's to low 80's even in the mornings and the humidity at that time is usually over 80%, not good for walking. But I seem to be holding my own with the exercise I am getting.

I hope that the weather will break early (especially since it got hot so early) allowing me to get back out on the pavement. After all, I have less than 3 months to the 10K, yeah, it's been sneaking up on me too. I'm not too worried though as I have been exercising for over 2 months now (hard for me to wrap my head around that one) and it's really become a habit. I don't even think about it now... or dread it. It's just part of my daily routine to get up early and fit in about a hour before work.

So, there it is. I promise, promise, promise to write more when we get back. I think it's good for me and I hope that you are getting something out of it. You've gotta know that if a fat girl like me can make exercise a part of her life then you can too. Now get out there and...

Don't Pity the Fat Girl.