Happy Thanksgiving!
I did my first official run this morning. It was a five mile Turkey Trot.
Prior to starting, I had butterflies in my stomach and a faint feeling of the need to throw up was in the back in my head. I was nervous.
I’m not sure why.
Was it because I was about to run five miles, a distance I have never done before? Was it because I was running with my husband, a person I have never run with before and who just so happens to be a runner? Would I slow him down? Would he think I run funny, or listen to the wrong music or whatever?
For the record, my husband was awesome-ly wonderful. I felt like I had a personal coach alongside me the whole way, reminding me to keep my pace, to slow it down, to go the distance, not too fast, to cheer me on on the hills, to knock knuckles with me when I felt good, to encourage me again and again on those damn hills, to shout runner’s advice to me as we ran along. He stuck to my pace “because he wanted to do it with me”. He could have run faster, he could have finished at his normal pace (9-10 min miles), he could have smoked me. But he didn’t and we crossed the finish line together.
When the race begun, I got very emotional, almost to the point of tears. All I could think about was where I was ONE year ago. One year ago, I had a 2 month old newborn (third child), I was obviously still carrying the post-pregnancy weight, I was TIRED, trying to figure out how to juggle 3 children 5 years and younger, my husband had just been laid off from his job, we had lots and lots of stress, plus the holiday season to boot.
I HATED the way I looked, I HATED the way I felt, I HATED having pictures taken of me. I wasn’t exercising, I was eating any and everything. I was just SURVIVING.
Fast forward to TODAY, I have lost 18 lbs since last Thanksgiving, I had just run FIVE MILES, I am beginning to enjoy the way I look, I have a semi-handle on my kids, my husband has a job (although he is traveling way too much for my comfort but hey, at least he’s getting paid, right?!), and I LIKE having my picture taken again.
So yeah, I was very emotional as I started my run this morning. I could not have done it without the support, love, encouragement of this group, sometimes a good, swift kick in the ass from time to time.
This Thanksgiving, I have so many things to be thankful for.
I am thankful for The Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans.
Official Stats: 5.0 Miles, Time of 58:35 minutes (pace of 11:43/mile), 737 calories burned
