Posts Tagged ‘tara’
My First 5K
I found that I couldn’t sleep. Was I actually nervous for my first 5K?
Apparently, yes. Even I didn’t realize it until I went to bed Friday night.
The next morning was going to be the 15th Annual Run and Walk for Children.
It was going to be my very first 5K. I signed up for the walk portion, but Tina and I planned to do as much jogging during the race as possible.
March 26, 2011 was a COLD day. We’ve had temperatures in the seventies for the past several weeks. What was the temperature range for the day of my first 5K? 42 to 47 degrees.
Crap.
Still, I’m tough, I can stand a little cold, right? So I put on my track shorts and a new navy blue t-shirt and decided I would just tough it out.
Bad call. At my next race, if it is not in the sixties, I am going to bring a hoodie or something. Tina was smart; she dressed in layers. I, too, dressed in layers. Unfortunately, my two layers consisted of underwear and then shorts and a t-shirt. I should have added at least one more layer. Oh well.
We got there around 6:50. The race didn’t start until 8:15, but the roads to the park were closing at 7:30 and we still hadn’t picked up our registration packets.
Once we got that (and I got a cup of coffee just so I would have something warm to hold. We killed some time in the car to warm up and talked about the race. I suggested that since we can both run at least 20 minutes without stopping, we should start there and just see how it goes. Around that time, I also decided I should eat the tiny breakfast we brought, so I ate a 100 calorie blueberry bagel. That blueberry bagel would come back to haunt me later, but not in the way you might be thinking.
We also took a quick photo of ourselves before the race with an automatic timer. Yes, I look so tense because I was FREEZING.
We then discovered that a gymnasium at a local church was open and providing bathroom access, so we went in there, used the bathroom, and warmed up. By that time, it was almost 8:15, the sun was fully out, so we went out to join the starting line throng.
Now, before I start telling stories about my race or posting the handful of pictures I took during, I have a quick story to share.
A few weeks back on The Biggest Loser, Jay wrote the weight he wanted to weigh at that week’s weigh-in on his arm as motivation in sharpie. I thought that was a great idea, and I decided to do the same. I was going to write the names of everyone who helped me get ready for this race on my arm. It would be a great way to motivate myself by looking down at my forearm during the race, seeing those names, and get spurred on to keep going. After all, this training has NOT been in a vacuum. I have had people either cheering me on directly or they have been indirect motivations, because reading about their first 5K or their exercise and weight loss struggles have kept me going.
So I got a 3×5 card and I wrote out the names of everyone who had, in one way or another, inspired me.
Uhm… my arm isn’t that big.
Tina (my wife and partner in everything, including 5K training)
Tara
Steve
Brandon
Joe
Jess
Carla (aka MizFit)
Jody
Mary
Craig
Erin
Lynne
Josie
Foodie McBody
Ryan
Josie
Emmie
Kerrie
Seth
Hanlie
Jody
Those were the names that immediately came to mind. I’m sure there are more if I keep digging.
So instead, I came up with a different idea. I plan to do a LOT of 5Ks. This is just the first. And every 5K I do, I’m going to write the name of someone who helped me get there in some way or another.
For this first 5K, I wrote two names.
So thank you, Tina, for helping me in everything. And thank you, Tara, for showing me that we can make our bodies do anything we want. Thank you EVERYONE whose names I couldn’t put on my arm just yet. I know this list will be growing, and hopefully, I won’t develop sharpie poisoning from drawing on myself before every race.
Okay, back to the race. We were clustered at the starting line, just waiting.
I was expecting a gun. There wasn’t one, but suddenly, we were running.
Tina and I found ourselves near the middle of the pack almost instantly. There were a LOT of walkers. We started jogging, and I felt great. I’m going to jog for twenty minutes!
Eight minutes later, I had to stop. We continued walking. This couple was in front of us for almost the entire race. I took their photo because their shirts were from the Family Enrichment Center, which is who the race was benefiting.
We ran a few more times, but I had no fuel in the tank. I definitely learned that I MUST eat more than a 100 calorie bagel before a race. Next Saturday at my 2nd 5K, I’ll eat a bigger breakfast. Running (even walking) requires fuel, and my tank was empty.
Still, we kept on keeping on. Run for a bit, walk for a bit longer. I did a LOT more walking than I did running. I was sure that I was going to be somewhere around 53 or 54 minutes. In fact, I told myself, “At least you won’t be slower than your first 5K at almost 57 minutes.”
Why was I so self-defeating during this race? That’s one of my mental health issues I’m going to have to work out. Clearly, I am afraid to succeed at some things. I’m not afraid to succeed at work. I have an incredible job that I’m good at. But when it comes to things involving weight loss and my physical health, sometimes, I doubt myself.
And then I remembered the post I made on Wednesday night, after I ran for 1.55 miles for the first time ever. I am an athlete. So many of you said such wonderful, supportive things to me after that.
I look at Tara’s name on my forearm. I knew that she was off somewhere right then running a race, too. So even though I was running on fumes at that point, I walked faster. I jogged when I could. Tina supported me through the entire race, right by my side, even though she could have easily jogged off and left me and gotten a much better time.
There were cheering teams everywhere all along the track. There is truly no feeling like crossing the finish line with people cheering you on. NOW I know why people run races. That feeling was INCREDIBLE!
What was my time?
48:06.
Best time yet. (And yes, this was my first race, but I time myself on the treadmill, too.)
Next Saturday will be even better.
I’ve learned a few things about myself through this 5K process. I still have some issues to work on, both physical and mental. The physical = learn to change my stride. I am still doing too much heel pounding when I run, and I am feeling it today. I’m going to concentrate on shifting my impact toward the front of my foot.
The mental = tons of things. I’m way better, but I’m not there yet. I may never be as mentally healthy as I want to be, but I’ll never stop trying.
All I do know is this.
I ran my first 5K this weekend, and I am an athlete.
Related Posts:
Things That Happen on a Treadmill
I did something tonight.
Something big.
Something I’ve never done before.
I pulled a Tara in the gym. (Love you, Tara!)
So what do I mean by that? I went crazy hardcore and impressed everybody?
No.
I teared up. Emotionally, I had a freaking major breakthrough on the treadmill.
So, why did I almost turn into a blubbery, crying mess on the treadmill?
And what on Earth does Hoku have to do with it?
I put the song “Perfect Day” on repeat on my iPod. (Don’t judge me for my music tastes. It’s just too easy to do, and there’s no real sport in it.)
I turned on the treadmill, prepared to run one minute longer than I had yesterday.
I didn’t do that.
I ran for 1.55 miles.
Without stopping.
Did I mention that the farthest I’ve ever ran before without stopping was half a mile?
I don’t know what all contributed, but it was several things. I know a lot of you are supporting me in my efforts to become healthier and, dare I say it, become a runner. Thinking of you all helped. A lot. So thank you for being in my corner.
And it was this particular set of lyrics in the song.
I’m in the race but I already won,
And getting there can be half the fun,
So don’t stop me ’til I’m good and done,
Don’t you try to rain on my perfect day.
I realized I was making my body do something it had never done before, and it wasn’t even that hard. Challenging, yes, but certainly doable.
I realized I’m an athlete. I may weigh over 350 pounds, but I am an athlete.
And it hit me – I’m going to do this.
I’m going to make it to goal weight, and I’m not going to live the life I always wanted to have someday.
I’m living it now.
Related Posts:
Tara’s Guest Post: Spouses & Weight Loss
I remember the first time I found Tara’s blog, 263 and counting. At the time, she was in week three of Couch to 5K. In the past year, I have watched Tara physically transform herself from an overweight woman into a smokin’ hot triathlete. I can’t even begin to say how honored I am to have Tara fill in for me while I’m away. 
***
I carry around a small notepad with me wherever I go. It has several different functions: I use it to keep track of my calories and to write down ideas for future blog posts. Through out my day I will often hear things come out of people’s mouth and I immediately think “oh that’s going to make for a good blog post someday”
Today is one of those days. When Jeremy asked me to do a guest post for him while he’s off getting hitched (Congratulations!), I quickly perused my list and what did my little blogging mind come across?
The word “spouse” is loosely used for this particular post since not everyone reading this may be married. Think of it to mean as anyone in your life that you think needs to lose weight. We all have someone in our life that we wish would get on the same band wagon as us and make better choices with their food or move a little more. We start to get a taste for what it feels like to lose weight, take control and actually meet some goals and all we want is for the ones we love to get what we’re getting…
Nine months ago, my husband and I weighed a combined 600 pounds. Let me say that again: 600 POUNDS! I woke up one day in December and decided enough was enough for me. Not too much longer after losing my first 20 pounds I decided it was time for my husband to get on the band wagon…bad Tara bad. Why is that bad? He wasn’t ready and more often than not instead of making decisions based on what I needed I continued to make decisions based on what he wanted. I wanted to make better food choices. He wanted to eat out. Guess who won? I wanted to eat appropriate serving sizes. He wanted to go back for seconds and thirds. Guess who joined him on those helpings? I wanted to walk to the ice cream parlor for one scoop of pralines and cream. He wanted to go to food store and buy quarts of peppermint ice cream. Guess who drove?
I started to resent him. I started to blame him for my lack of determination. I blamed him for my inability to move more and eat less. I mean hello, we’re fat let’s get this party started and lose some damn weight. Then I realized something:
I was ready and I needed to stand up for myself and not let his decisions influence my decisions. I needed to understand that this was my journey and not our journey. I needed to let go of the resentment and move forward even if that meant leaving my husband sitting on the couch while I cried on the streets running the second week of the couch to 5k program (and all the subsequent weeks that followed).
I lost the weight I needed to lose. I learned the skills I needed to learn to make healthy choices. I relied on my own determination to keep going. I got thinner, faster, fitter and stronger. My husband continued to sit on the couch and make excuses…
Fast forward to today and as I write this post, my husband is on the Wii* sweating like a man on a mission. We no longer weigh a combined 600 pounds. We’ve lost a small sized woman (about 130 pounds) and his food choices are nothing like what they were 9 months ago. He’s determined to move more and eat less. He’s determined to make healthier choices and he’s determined to move forward on this journey…
When we stop forcing others to behave like us and focus on making ourselves the top priority something magical happens: We become role models. We show those around us that change is possible, that change is good and that goals can be achieved. When we stop blaming others for what they aren’t doing and take the responsibility for what we are doing, we are showing the one’s we love that we’re important enough to ourselves to take control no matter the situation…
* It took me over an hour to write this post and guess who is still on the Wii?
Related Posts:
Week One was Survived!
Gah, I’m so fricking fickle. That’s probably why only about three and a half people read my blog a week. But I’ve always said this is a blog for me, so my blogging schedule will probably always be ridiculously variable.
What did I say I was going to do? I said I was going to post my food and my weight daily.
I’ve already changed my mind. If I’m honest with myself, I skip over food entries in blogs unless they have cool pictures or an awesome recipe, and I like to read people’s weekly weigh-ins. So that’s what I’m going to do, starting tomorrow.
Today’s post was made because I have completed Week One of the Couch to 5K!
Oh, and what’s that note I have on my page today? Yeah, Tara at 263andcounting.com is completing her first triathlon this weekend. I was reading Tara’s blog when she was doing Couch to 5K. Tara, you rock, and I can’t wait ’til I’m there with you. (Except for the triathlon part. Totally run with you, but I suck at swimming and I suck harder at biking. I’d probably end up looking like this about twenty feet into the cycle portion.)
But back to C25K, seriously, you have NO idea how big of a deal this is for me. I am prouder of having finished Week One than I probably will be of completing my first 5K in (what I hope is) a few months.
Running outdoors (well, slogging (i.e. – slow jogging)) is the key for me. I can’t do it on a treadmill; I’ve tried and it causes joint pain. Outdoors, I’m with Tina (my fiancee) and Malcolm (my puppy) and I just concentrate on shifting my weight to the ball of my foot rather than my heel. I suspect I probably look a little goofy when I run (not that I would look not-goofy otherwise), but it’s completely eliminated joint pain for me. I can already feel my heart and lungs getting stronger.
I am SO excited to start running 5Ks and adding t-shirts to my closet. (The raising money for charity part is nice, too.) I want to have Jess make me a sign. I want to see what it feels like to run for thirty plus minutes without… well, dying.
I don’t know if I’ll stay on track and be done in seven more weeks, but we’re sure going to try. Any advice out there from you 5Kers?
Tomorrow is Friday, and in the past, Friday was my weigh-in day. I’m going to treat Sunday’s 337.9 as “last week’s” weight, and Friday’s will be my consistent day from here on out.
Related Posts:
