After high school, I spent a year working at a ministry (Teen Mania Ministries) in the Honor Academy in Texas. It was a year of discipline for me- spiritual, physical, emotional, etc. (I'm not a very disciplined person on my own.) In that year, I woke up almost every day at 5am to run with all the interns. This wasn't by choice...but a mandatory exercise. We ran every morning to train to climb Pike's Peak (14,114 elevation). Pike's Peak was a great journey for me but it was quickly overshadowed by nasty altitude sickness (all the way down the mountain). In addition to Pike's Peak, I also ran my first 5K that year. The discipline was great but solely because it was forced on me- as I said I'm not a disciplined person by nature.
After my year at HA, I went to college in South Florida. Surrounded by wealth, the beach and lots of skinny blondes, it was easy to feel compelled to become one (well maybe not the wealth factor- afterall I was just a college student!). Weight has never been a big struggle for me growing up. I was blessed to not be overweight but I've always had more loving around my waist than I wanted. But I also have always had a love for ice cream and anything sweet. I never learned the discipline to eat right. In my house it was always sweets over fruits. My friends joke with me because I still don't know all the melons! So in college, I was the tiniest I've ever been. However, not because I worked out or ate healthy but moreso because I didn't eat much! I learned the "Palm Beach" diet. It's funny because looking back I know that I didn't eat 3 meals a day and I was smaller but the food that I was eating was horrible for me! Aside from my staple Tuna & Wheat Thins, almost every other meal would include fried chicken! HA! Anyways, the point is that I haven't ever been disciplined to eat healthy and workout.
Once I got married, I saw the weight gain over the years. However, the closer that I got to age 30 the more I saw how my body was changing. The extra loving around my stomach wasn't going away as quickly. During my last semester of grad school, I signed up to run a Disney 5K with my sister and best friend (Becca). At the time, we all lived in three different cities in Florida so we never got to train together. From the day that I signed up for the race, I had less than 2 months to train by myself. At the time, my husband had already relocated to Texas so I was living alone. I had a crazy semester with grad school and working full-time in my clinical internship. However, I found the energy and discipline to run at night. We ran the 5K and I loved it. Okay well maybe love is too strong of a word. Just like the training, I hated every moment of running but LOVED the feeling afterwards. I felt accomplished and energiezed. Unfortunately, the running stopped after that 5K.
I finished grad school and moved away. I wanted to pick up running again in Texas but the summer heat (100-110) was just too much for me. In January 2012, I started signing up for 5K's again. This time I got to run with my husband. We are at different paces so I let him run ahead! Starting last fall, I also started going to a gym class (1-2) a week at my work. The idea of a half-marathon has always sounded cool to me. The idea of running it to say that I've completed it and adding the 13.1 sticker to my car has always been a great image. However, I'm not a runner! All of my 5K's have been a mix of jogging and walking. I can never seem to get the breathing down right so I walk. So I've 'loosely' added a Half Marathon to my on-going bucket list in my head. (Loosely meaning if I got around to it one day--great!)
Fast forward to May 2012. Erick & I went to visit our best friends in Virginia. Becca ran the Disney 5K with me in March 2011. Since then, I moved to Texas and she moved to Virginia. She started talking with me about the idea of a 1/2. I've known for a while that IF I were to ever attempt a half-marathon the Disney Princess one would be the one I'd want to do. 1) It's a fun run. 2) It's mostly women--PRINCESS themed. 3) There are characters 4) I've already ran one Disney race and 5) Hello-it's DISNEY! They always know how to do things! So she started
I've continued to be consistent with my gym class 2x a week for the last two months and started running 2-3 a week. My biggest accomplishment was running 3 miles non-stop last week. Like I said, I've always done a mix of walking/jogging and can't get the breathing thing down. I'm still working on the breathing! Erick & I are running a 5K this weekend (Too Hot to Handle- appropriately named for the Texas summer heat). My plan is to conintue signing up for 5k's and add in an 8k, 10k and 15k if I can find some before the big race. I've learned that my motivation comes by signing up for the race and then running.
So there you have it...Commitment Day 2012--I signed up for the 2013 Disney Princess in February 2013 (225 days away). So the three of us who set out for a Disney 5K in March 2011 will now be running (God-willing) the Disney Half in 2013! Now instead of training in three different cities, we'll be training in three different states (sad). As I continue into the 30's (not feeling like it's the new 20's), my personal goal is to become more fit. I'm learning that there are some things in life that I just can't control (as much as I'd love to) but there are some things that I can. So I choose today to take control of my weight and health. Of course, I'd love to lose 10-15 lbs but my main goal is to become fit and feel better about myself. I want to become a healthier individual now so that I won't have to face additional health problems in the future. It really is a life-style change...one step at a time!
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