I have started running. Well, my version of it anyway. It’s awkward and I only like to do it when I am alone…. Which has proven to be pretty much impossible. My first attempt was after my friend and I worked out with our trainer. Our trainer had my friend run laps around the hockey arena while she walked with me. She wanted me to run a quarter of the lap just to see where I was. I hated it. I felt so awkward and bad about myself because my whole body jiggled and shook and flapped about. It was horrible and I almost started crying because of my embarrassment. After they left I went upstairs to where they have a fitness room and was going to jump on the elliptical for awhile. The next day was our weigh in day for the biggest loser contest at work and I felt I needed to work harder. However, when I got upstairs there was a man on the elliptical. I got on the treadmill and walked waiting for him to leave. I was about to give up when he finally left. Since I was alone I decided now was the time to give running a try on the treadmill. Up until this point I have refused because I didn’t know what speed to set it at and I had horrible visions of not being able to keep up and flying off the end. So I hesitantly increased the speed until 5.2 mph. and do you know what happened? I was able to keep up! I even felt like I could go faster but I kept it at that speed because I didn’t want to risk it. I ran for a minute and then walked for a minute. I did this for 20 minutes and I felt like I could have gone even longer! I didn’t however, because it was getting late and I wanted to go home. It was probably a good thing too because the next morning when I woke up I was extremely sore!
The second time I tried walk/running was at anytime fitness. I wasn’t going to do it because I was embarrassed about jiggling my juggley about in front of everyone but then I looked around at the people there and thought “I don’t care what they think” and went at it. That time I walked 90 seconds, ran 90 seconds and did that for 30 minutes. Today, I walked a minute ran 2 minutes for a total of 40 minutes. I wanted to see how long it would take me to go 3 miles. It took me 39 minutes and 45 seconds. I know that is not that fast but I am proud of myself for trying and I hope to keep at it and improve!
Why the sudden interest in learning to run? Well, my BFF Adara has asked her friends to do a 5k with her for her birthday. She is an amazing friend that I feel very lucky to have. She has been there for me thru thick and thin. Literally. She’s been there for me when I weighed 298lbs and couldn’t find a bathing suit in my size that didn’t have bright, bold, obnoxious patterns screaming” look over here! Fat lady in a swimsuit” when all I wanted was a simple black one to try and hide my large-ness. She was there cheering me on when I started losing weight and got down to 189lbs. She was also there for me as I gained it back, telling me it happens to everybody and has been keeping me motivated to lose again. And so, with a friend like that, how could I say no? With her I feel no pressure. I know she won’t care if I end up walking the whole thing. I know she won’t judge me if it takes me all day to finish but be proud of me that I did it. So, on March 12th I will be participating in my first 5k marathon!!
