Eye of the Tiger

Today I did something that I honestly never thought I would do. 

I ran a 5K.

Feeling a little apprehensive in the chilly wind and rain as we waited at the starting line.

For some people, running a 5K is like walking the dog. For others, not so much. Seven weeks ago, I couldn't even jog to the end of my block and back without gasping for breath and experiencing stabbing pains in my lungs. 

And then my sister started talking about doing the Couch to 5K program. The same running program that my lovely Aunt recommended (who only started running three years ago and has already run three half marathons!), and that our good friend from college was also doing. Now realize that even though I was athletic all through high school and played inter mural soccer in college, I was never EVER a runner. I HATED running. My lungs always hurt, I couldn't breath, and worst of all, my knee always seemed to do something funky and thus created an amazing excuse to simply say, "I can't run because I have a bad knee."

Getting our groove on for the run!

But motherhood has been a little hard on me lately. I wasn't making any time for myself and wasn't exercising and just wasn't feeling very good in general about life and my self image. And my pants were starting to get a little tight. Too much cake or something. 

So instead of mope around, I decided that I could do something about it. 

And I did. 

After crossing the finish line

For the last seven weeks, following the C25K program (I used the free android app on my smart phone) my sister and I have been waking up to run at 6 AM every other day, without fail. We are usually home by 6:45ish, just in time for me to give the girls their good morning hugs, water the garden, and make lunch for Eric while he gets ready for work.

Since starting to run, my quality of life has improved dramatically. I am a happier person, I have more energy, and best of all, I feel really good about myself. Not in a self-conceited kind of way, but in a "I am doing something for myself that I never thought I could do" kind of way. And the weirdest part is, I LOVE RUNNING now! I feel myself getting stronger each day that I train, and I love that feeling. And my three-year-old keeps asking me if she can go running with me. :-)

Today was race day. Despite cold wind and rain, this race turned out to be SO. MUCH. FUN. In fact, it was way too short (that's what good training does for you!), and I was bummed at how quickly we crossed the finish line. Granted, running on the lake shore and having tons of color thrown on you makes the run just a bit more exciting, but still...

Feeling like Rocky. Where are my stairs?

My sister looked like a neon sign. She cracks me up.

 Eric came to the race with the girls to watch. Meeting up at the finish line, he told me that it looked like so much fun, he wants to do this run as a family next year (they allow kids and strollers)!!! I love this guy!!! He even took us out to BBQ for lunch as a celebration for our accomplishment.

My awesome sis who doubles as my running buddy - I would not have done this alone!

I just downloaded the free android app for the 10K trainer. 

We start Tuesday. :-)