How It Happened

this is me.  in the middle of december.  in the freezing cold.  running.  a 5k. the whole thing. without stopping.  it might not seem like much to you, but it was huge for me.  a few (well, 12 to be exact) weeks earlier, i had not run more than one minute at a time. ever.

it wasn't for lack of trying!  i had tried and failed the couch to 5k program many times.  i had also been very active, going to the gym for about an hour 6 days a week for about a year, yet i could not run.  even when i felt like i could handle the cardio aspect of it, my body could not handle the impact of it.  my hips, knees, back and foot issues would immediately stop me.

yet, something in me knew that i loved running.  since i had never done it, im not sure how i knew that. i guess it's because i just had this overwhelming URGE to run.  i'd be walking outside or on the treadmill and have to fight the desire to just start running.  sometimes i would give in and do it.  and then 60 seconds later stop because it hurt...or because my lungs and heart were about to explode.

so, when i heard about the No Boundaries program i was excited yet skeptical. it's a running program for EVERY level.  it's sponsored by New Balance and run at Fleet Feet. the beginner program (often referred to as "5K") promises to take you from not being able to run at all to running a 5K in 12 weeks.  i went to each group workout not believing i would be able to complete it. but i did. each time.  one of the things that got me through was the coaches, mentors, and other participants running next to me.  they would tell me how i COULD and WOULD be able to do it. they were so sure because they had done it.  and seen hundreds (in some cases literally) of people do it year after year.

so i played along.  i never missed a group workout or a homework session.  i needed to know that if i failed it was not from lack of trying.  and this amazing thing happened. it worked.  i ran the whole entire 5k. and i wasn't the last one!

i loved it.  so much in fact that my husband, who was dead set against doing it with me, had a total change of heart. he saw how much fun i was having and decided to join me for some home works.  then he saw my success and decided he wanted to experience it too.  so he is! he is doing it with me this session.  we are both doing the 5K.  (yeah, i already did it, but i was sometimes at the very back of the group....ok i was always last.  and i think i'd like to do it again, maybe keep up a bit more this time.  and it will be fun being in the same program as my husband.)

that's also great news for you guys! because i will be documenting the whole thing right here!! can't wait to share it all with you!

My Pacer

i love running.

i know, right?  i don't LOOK like a girl who loves running.  but i do.  i can prove it!! i do it at night...in the snow and ice....and i even pay real money for people to let me run.  see, here's a picture of me dressed up like a reindeer in public....yup, i paid to be able to do that.

surprised? so was i.  see, i had spent my whole life thinking that i hated running.  i mean, i thought i hated all exercise, really.  but running had a special kind of hate attached to it.  and i really didn't do it. like ever.  never ever.  

you know how in school they used to make you run the mile every year?  i was always "sick" that day.  and the rare times they snuck it on me, i would walk out of the locker room in my stupid gym clothes, take one look at what was about to happen, and turn right around and go back inside.  if it was a male gym teacher, a simple "i have my period" was a good enough excuse...otherwise i had to fake a sudden onset illness.  but whatever it took, it was worth it.  so i managed to graduate high school without ever running.  not once. (pretty sweet, huh?)

i know this will surprise you...but i was a bit of a chubster in school.  well, always, really.  it bothered me of course. mostly when it came to shopping for clothes and things like that, which only crept up occasionally.  for the most part i was ok with it.

until one day, after a visit to the doctor, i wasn't.  

thus began the Great Weight Loss of 2007.  i lost about 50 pounds in 6 months and did it by EXERCISING. a lot.  like a LOT a lot.  it was pure torture.  

until, one day, it wasn't.  

i actually started to look forward to it.  when i got to the gym after work i could think about my day, have time with "me" (doesn't that sound completely ridiculous?) and just unwind and relax.  in a way that nothing else could make me relax.  usually all these thoughts are running through my head and i can't turn it off.  but when i was exercising, everything just started to slow down in my head and it felt great.  so, turns out, i'm kind of an athlete (like in the most casual sense).  crazy, huh?

well, the Great Weight Loss of 2007 was followed by the Great Weight Gain of 2008.  and that sucked.  not only for the obvious reasons, but mostly because i couldn't be active any more. and while that was all well and good before i had lost weight, now that i knew that i loved exercise.....it was kind of awful.   but don't worry!  this story has a happy middle.  

there was a Great Weight Loss of 2014.  like 100 pounds great.  see! i told you this story had a happy middle. i say "middle" because it's far from over.  in fact, i'm pretty sure there is not going to be an "over" or an "ending" because the thing about changing your life is that you can't stop moving.  you just keep going....and going.  wow, doesn't that sound completely awful?  

but the thing is, it's not.  it's actually kind of fun.  ok, it's really fun.  at least for me it is.  once i figured out that "keep going" doesn't mean "keep going at break neck speed" i have actually come to realize that i have wasted a lot of time in my life chasing Perfection.  stupid seductive Perfection.  when what i should have been running after was happy Medium.  and that's what i'm going for now.  happy Medium is my pacer.  

so, that's what this blog is going to be about.  me (because i love talking about myself), my progress with running (don't worry, you haven't missed much), my dog (cuz he's adorable and i'm a classic annoying pet owner),  recipes (they will all be so ridiculously easy that they are borderline boring.  ok, they'll be boring.) and most of all finding that happy Medium.