Virgin Blogger

OMG... I am actually doing this. I said I would never do Facebook and I would never be a blogger. Well, guess what, I am new to Facebook and now new to the blogging world. I want to blog because I think it will motivate me and make me accountable while I am training to run my first 1/2 Marathon in LaCrosse, May 2009. Yes, I am going to do it.

It all started a little over a year ago. At the age of 41 I had a reality check. I was not taking care of myself and was running in a million directions... trying to be a wife, a mom, a career woman, and a friend. We have all been there, some us handle it better than others. I thought I was super woman and could do it all. Well, it all piled up inside of me and I exploded one day. Well not really, that would have been a mess. But my body could not take it anymore and I had an anxiety attack or what I call MY WAKE UP CALL. I thought it was a heart attack.

I had lost my sister a few months prior to brain cancer and she left behind 2 great teenagers and a wonderful husband. I saw my life flash in front of me and did not want to leave my kids at the age of 41.

What had happened to me? I grew up an athlete... a girl jock... I was better than most boys... and I. Loved. It. Well 24 years later and 2 kids later I was not that athlete anymore - not even close. So I decided in June 2007 that I would start to take care of myself a little better. I joined the YMCA and started to work out and I also started to run. Running had not been a part of my life for years - I had blown both of my ACL's in my knees and had reconstructive surgery on both. I thought it would hurt to run and that it was not worth the pain. I should say I dabbled in running... nothing big but I had worked my way up from not being able to run around the block to being able to run 3 miles. It felt great and my stress level was way down... running was a perfect way to end a stressful day.

I ran my first 5K in 2007 and also my only one. So it went okay and in January 2008 my husband and I committed to running a Ragnar Relay in Augusut 2008 - what the hell was I thinking? I was going to have to figure out how I was going to train to run 15 - 17 miles in a 24+ hour period of time. I ran a couple of races - Crazy Legs in April 2008 which was brutal because it was cold and 5 miles... I did not think I would be able to run 5 miles, but I did it. My husband ran with me the entire way and sacrificed his time to help me through it. Without him, I would have quit and never finished. Then there was another 5K race in July and the rest is history... a lot of miles around the neighborhood. I was going to a body pump class at the Y that I loved.
Life was good, and then the girl that taught the class at the Y got a raw deal and was not teaching the class anymore. She was the one... we all loved her... sadly, they replaced her but the class was not the same. I hated it so I quit going. All that was left for me was running... so that is what I did.

2 weeks prior to the Ragnar Relay, my first leg in the relay was changed from 6 miles to 9.5. What the hell?? How could they do this to me? I had never run more than 6 miles at one time. It was August... hot, humid, gross... 2 weeks... 9.5 miles my first leg. I could not believe it and wanted to throw up. This was the longes leg of the entire relay... and I was the one that had to run it. Crap...

I did run a 9.5 mile route in my neighborhood the week before Ragnar. I needed the self confidence but what I really needed was to know that I was not going to die. I was afraid. Very. Afraid.

So the relay was here... I did not sleep the night before... our team consisted of 12 people... 11 were real runners and then there was me. I did it... my first leg was 9.5 miles ... I finished it and did not die. I was not fast... It took me 2 hours... but I did it.

This is when I decided that if I could do this with only 2 weeks notice, then I could run a 1/2 marathon and train for it. That was August 2008. It is now December 9, 2008 and since then I have only run about 10 miles. Ragnar absolutely killed me, but it was a blast and yes, I would do it again. I don't know why, but I have pretty much taken the last 3 months off. I have done N O T H I N G!!! My body shows it.. I was starting to get into pretty good shape... well 3 months off with very little exercise and I need to mention that I love to eat.... so I have gained some weight and I feel pretty crappy about my body... I need to work on this and be serious about it. I would love to lose about 20 pounds and the running would be a lot easier.

I have a training plan and it started tonight - I did 2 miles on the treadmill. I need to stick with this. I will be running the LaCrosse 1/2 marathon on May 3, 2009 which also happens to be my 43rd birthday. This is going to be my birthday present to myself.

So I will be blogging to keep me honest and motivated. I need to find an exercise plan that will help me lose some weight. I don't lose weight with just running. So I have a few DVD's that I am going to be using and I am also going to get my butt back to the YMCA and do my own workouts.
Wish me luck. I can do it and I will do it.