I ran my first 5k race this morning. I did pretty well - crossed the finish line running (although there were many walks along the way), and finished it in 44:02. I know there is lots of room for improvement, but the first one is now under my belt.

The thing I found the most surprising was how emotional I was coming across that finish line. I knew my girls and my mom were waiting for me, but I started to tear up about 200m from the finish, and with all the people around I didn't want to be crying - which made me almost hyperventilate. Fun.

I've already figured out what my next race will be, because I know that if I don't have another one lined up, I won't have the motivation to keep running. I do need to figure out a plan for getting me running more, without the walking - I'm thinking its back to the podcasts for me, working on Weeks 7 - 9.

... if you aren't "dieting". I hate that word.

So we are going to Disney World mid-November with three sets of grandparents and our wee family. I'm super excited, and can't wait! Well, I couldn't wait until this past weekend.

Thanksgiving just happened, and it was HARD on the food front. Turkey and dressing and pieeeee, oh my! I was reasonable with my eating - yes I overindulged, but not as badly as other years. That's still not good, but I'm dealing. So after feeling kinda gross with the eating, I starting thinking about this trip.

When people go on vacation, and this includes me, we get this "I'm on holidays, and I don't care this week" mentality. I know I'm going to want to eat the yummy stuff, and I know I just need to keep my eye on the prize and keep it under control. And sit and watch everyone else stuff their faces. Ever watched people eat? It's disgusting. Maybe I'll just watch others eat, and be so repulsed that I won't want to eat anything.

How am I supposed to enjoy my trip when I'm going to be surrounded by all this great food, and I shouldn't eat it? How am I supposed to do this when I'm the only one of the 10 people in our party who is going to be trying to watch what they eat?

So I'll have little treats. Try to make the healthiest choice. I'm still going to be a little bitter about the food, though, as James loads yummy waffles and bacon and french toast onto plates for himself and the girls.

Sunday is the day. My first race. Oh boy.

I've been freaking out about the race, panicked that I will finish dead last, that I will die trying to finish - that sort of thing. My fear is mainly because the race is an unknown thing - I've never done this before! Also, the fact that I have never gone a full 5k distance was a bit of a barrier.

So to remove that 'barrier', on Tuesday night I went for my run, and travelled my 5k route. I say "travelled" because I feel silly saying 'ran' when I walked some of it. Not as much as I would have thought, but there it is. I ran that 5k in 42:41, which I was really happy with. Now I know that I will finish the race, and with a bit of race day adrenalin I might even do a bit better than that!

I feel like I've fallen off the wagon a bit, and I'm a bit discouraged with my running. I have run for 30 minutes straight (no walking) only once about 3 weeks ago, and I can't seem to do it again. It seems like I can only do about 15 minutes and then I need to walk, and I'm really annoyed with myself.

I have my first 5k race on October 18th, and I'm really freaked out about it. Nervous about doing something I've never done before (and had never even thought of doing before June of this year). My only goal is to cross the finish line, but I don't want to take forever to do it either - I will be embarrassed if it takes me an hour to run a 5k (yes, I know I should be happy to finish no matter what my time is).

My brain is getting in the way of my running, I think. I sometimes think about the race while I'm running, and I start convincing myself that I can't do it and end up walking for 60 sec. before I start running again. I also think that the fact that I have yet to actually run a 5k distance is getting to me, but I know that if I try right now I will only be more discouraged by my results/effort.

I'm really not sure how to get past this - I'm sure that it will be better after I've done the race, but its a few weeks off yet, and I might go insane before then.

My Face
10 pounds is a lot, but I find it hard to see. I think the biggest change is in my chin and neck - more definition there now.



My Profile
No real change here, except again in the neck. I think I'm going to get James to take profile headshots. The new running clothes are much snugger than the somewhat baggy red shirt, so it shows more of my 'curves'. Ugh.

My Front
Double Ugh. The snugness of that running shirt is awful, but give a realistic view of my body. Not sure if I can go out running in it now that I see what it looks like on...

Well, since my last post I have moved through the C25K program and I am now half way through week 7 (a 4k run). Right now it is taking me about 36 minutes to run that 4k, which I think is just fine! I'm walking a bit during the run, but I'm hoping to eliminate some of that walking as I progress over the next couple weeks. I don't think I'm going to move on to week 8 (4.5k run) until I can do week 7 without stopping.

Getting into the running has been good. I'm burning a ton of calories, which is helping with the weight loss, and I'm actually enjoying it. And that is kinda scaring me. Let me say that again:

I am enjoying running.

Actually, I'm starting to obsess about it. I want to run. I enjoy my nights off, but I sometimes think "hey, I should go for a run". I'm spending my spare time reading running blogs and forum posts, browsing the interweb for running clothes, and reading reviews of running gadgets. James and I had a date night where we did some shopping, and I was so excited to get some cool weather running gear. I'm even thinking of running outside in the winter. I don't know who I am anymore! Who is this person? I used to say 'exercise is bad', and think that runners were insane (especially in the winter). Now I want to be one of them? Maybe runners are insane, and I'm just joining the ranks.

Besides the shopping, what is it that I am enjoying about running?

• I like the therapy - pounding out my day on the road. It's some alone time, and if I'm frustrated with the girls, I can calm down a bit on the run.
• Running gives me some time to think. Once my body starts getting in that running groove, I can think about things and ignore what my body is doing.
• I love the post-run euphoria. I love finishing my run, and thinking "hell yeah! Look what I did". After my run the other night, James and I were watching "The Biggest Loser" (rerun) and even though it was 30 minutes after my run I would nudge James and be all excited about my run. Craziness.

James signed us both up to run the Oktoberfest 5k on October 18th, so I will be able to get an official clocked time to measure my runs against. I'm nervous, but excited at the same time. It's a new experience for me, as I've never been an athlete. Guess I'm kinda turning into one...

I started on the Couch to 5k program (from coolrunning.com) about 5 weeks ago, to learn how to run and actually get my cardio exercising in. The program develops your running ability by having you do walk/run intervals which increase each week. While this is a 'run 3 times a week' program, I'm usually running the week's program 4 times to make sure I'm ready to move on so it is taking me a bit longer.

Yesterday I started on week 3:

• 5 minute brisk walk to warm-up
• 90 second run
• 90 second walk
• 3 minute run
• 3 minute walk
• Repeat the walk/run intervals again
• 5 minute walk to cool down

A 3 minute run. 3 MINUTES. TWICE. It doesn't sound like much, but I wasn't sure I would survive. There is a little hill on my route that looks innocent, but is actually nasty to run up - seems like it is going to go on forever. I ended up walking it yesterday, and today I will change my route to avoid the hill. I did end up surviving the running, so that is a step in the right direction. Apparently when you run you should be able to talk and not be breathing kinda normally. Obviously I have a long way to go.

How is my knee with this extra exercise? Well, after my first week of running, my knee was pretty sore and Kim recommended I take a break and rest my knee. I did that, and it is much better now! I find that my first run interval is usually a little touchy, but it gets better as I run.

My goal with the running is to get in my cardio workouts in a simple and convenient way, and to run in the Octoberfest 5k in October. I'm not sure what I'm going to do in the winter - running for half an hour on a treadmill doesn't sound all that exciting to me. For now, I will enjoy the nice evening weather for my running.