Summertime at its finest!

My little gardener! I could just eat him up!

Running

Me and Dad post-race!

This post is long overdo...Just over 2 months ago, one of my Mom friends at the Y invited me to join this 5k training program that was meeting twice a week at Womble Park in Holly Springs. I was super excited and jumped right in. I had actually downloaded the C25K (couch to 5k) free app a few weeks prior and was well in to week 3 of training.

To say I am NOT a runner is the understatement of the year. I have never been very athletic and certainly had never run any substantial amount at any given time in my life. But, this was one goal I really wanted to check off the bucket list- training and completing a 5k.

That first week I could barely do the short 60 second of running with 90 seconds of walking in between. It seemed so very hard, my lungs were screaming out for air while my legs were begging me to stop. The next few weeks we gradually increased in difficulty and I felt myself improving by leaps and bounds. I found that the challenge would alternate from lunge capacity to my legs feeling like I was dragging bricks. None the less, I kept showing up each week faithfully completing the two group runs on Tuesdays and Thursdays and then I would make sure to get in my 3rd independent run on the weekend.

By week 5 we had worked up to 8 minutes of running with 5 minutes of walking. AT the end of that 5th week we were suppose to complete a final run of 20 minutes of consecutive running with no walking built in. When I realized that I was thinking, "there is absolutely NO WAY that I can do that! I will have to walk." The kind women that were leading our group told us to hold off on the 20 minute run that weekend. They understood the mental challenges of completing this first long run and wanted us to have the support of the group. The plan was to run together on Tuesday and then head out to celebrate over frozen yogurt.

I have to confess, the night before I was so nervous about the following days run and so much self doubt as to whether I would be able to complete it or not. The next day I prayed on the way to the park and the Lord showed up! It was by the grace of God but I completed the 20 minutes feeling stronger than I ever had. I could not possibly begin to explain the excitement I had knowing that this was the first day of my entire 29 years that I could EVER recall being able to run for 20 minutes straight!

From there things got soo much easier and each week leading up to our race I was able to run further and further without getting winded and continuing to push myself. I should have mentioned in the beginning though that I was and still am the worlds slowest runner. But even with that truth I was ok. My goal was to simply complete the upcoming race without walking even if that meant coming in last place!

Me and my buddy Melissa post-race!

We all signed up and got registered for "Run the Quay" an annual 5k run put on by the Fuquay Chamber of Commerce. The course took us through the historic old neighborhoods in the downtown area. The night before the race I could not sleep. I literally stayed awake until 4am!!! I was so nervous battling the discouraging thoughts that I would not be able to complete the race even though in my heart I new I was ready. I had been disciplined about the training and was as prepared as I could be. The next morning I woke up with only a few hours a sleep and headed out with the plan of meeting Zak and Will there once the race began.

We took off about 8:00am and Praise the Lord I completed the whole thing. And it was HARD!!! Lots of big hills and the last half mile of the race was completely up hill. But once I saw Zak and Will and the rest of my family cheering me on I just kept pushing harder. My Dad finished wayy ahead of me and came back and ran the last 1/8 of a mile with me encouraging me that I could do it. When I crossed that finish line I just felt like crying. It was such a rush of emotions! I was exhausted, excited, thrilled and so very very proud of myself! I completed the race in just over 42 minutes.

Needless to say, I've caught the running bug! I love it now. I even started training for a 10k! Nothing makes me feel as strong as completing a hard run. And while I haven't noticed major changes in the scale I have noticed significant changes in inches lost from both my legs and mid-section which has been very encouraging. If you've always thought you could never complete a 5k or grow to love running I would challenge you that you can! If I can do it you DEFINITELY can!

*** Side note- Some of you may have read on the blog back in September my Dad had a silent stroke followed by a seizure. It scared us all pretty bad because to look at my Dad he looks healthy as a horse. I asked Dad even before I started training with these women if he would want to train for a race to do together as he had previously been a pretty good runner. He eagerly agreed

and I think was looking forward to having the motivation to get out and exercise. Dad did soo great in the race and I was so proud. He ran just over a 10 minute mile which was awesome for having only trained for a month!

*** Second side note- Hilarious me, did not think to ask until about a month into our running schedule why all these women we were running with had their school aged kids running along side. Little did I know, but Melissa, Linda and I had joined a homeschooling running group! Dingy me. Hahah I still laugh about it. That's why these kids weren't in school! No I am not planning on homeschooling as that is the obvious next question! Definitely don't think I'm cut out for that, but I so appreciated them letting us train with their group!