Oh Holy Smokes. I'm doing this. I could be crazy, but I've signed up for two half marathons this fall. The first one is with the support of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team in Training Program, where I'll be getting coaching, team support and more. And guess where I'm running it; Disneyland! Of course, I'll have to bug everyone and their mother for donations to reach a fundraising goal, but even that doesn't sound SO horrible.
The second half marathon is in the beautiful San Luis Obispo area. I planned that one first, but realized, after breezing through to my 10K distance, October 14th was a very long ways away, even allowing for injury, fatigue and vacation (or "Idawanda" time). When the Disneyland one popped onto my radar in September, I figured that one could be my first, plus I might even get my picture with Mickey ("One side, kids, I just ran my butt off! I get to hug Mickey first!")
My former self would never have imagined running such lengths. The most I'd ever run was five miles, maybe five and a half, at my fittest. Somehow training for 13.1 seems do-able now. I think something in my brain might have warped from all of this California sunshine. Or maybe I'm just that much more confident in trusting myself.
Fitness and weight loss, I've juggled books, videos, gym memberships, diet shakes and guilt for many years. I never truly believed that fitness and lightness would come to me. I always had thin, fit friends. A couple of years ago, my thin friend and I used to run along the beach a few days a week after work. At that time, I felt like a lumbering walrus, struggling to drag my thick flubber across the boardwalk pavement. She, on the other hand, ran near the shoreline, her thin limbs sleek as a dolphin's as she skimmed lightly along the glittering water. My envy just weighted me down further.
There comes a point at which you just have to take responsibility for yourself, your actions, your inactions, and find a way to live your life that is loving and healthy. Once I let go of the hate, the guilt, the envy, I merely had to deal with reality. Reality is a number of things:
1) You didn't gain weight overnight, you won't lose weight overnight.
2) Food isn't going to make you feel better if emotions have the best of you (and neither is alcohol).
3) Exercise does help you feel better, if emotions have the best of you (and so do friends and family).
4) You're not in any kind of competition-everything you do, do it for yourself.
5) Don't count your failures, just learn from them and get back on the horse.
I've rarely ever been past my plateau weight. I'm working hard to get there. I'm currently 15 lbs away from the normal plateau, and 30 lbs away from my skinniest adult weight. I don't feel that it's all that interesting or novel for me to write a weight loss blog. I'm less than 50 lbs away from my ideal weight, but I'll post my goals here, just so you know what I'm up to:
Current weight: 170 (size 10-12)
First Goal: 150 (size 8-10)
Ideal weight: 135 (size 6)
Dream fitness regimen:
Run 25-30 miles/week
Bike 30-50 miles/week
Pilates 2 hours/week
Swim 1 hour/week
(plus walking the dog, hiking, horse riding)
Current 10K training time: 63 minutes
Goal 10K training time for May: 60 minutes
Goal Half Marathon time (race in Sept): 2:00
At any rate, what I've learned from all of my ups and downs is to keep going, find support when you need it, and, oh yeah, don't stop til your feet cross the finish line.
I'll be posting more about my half and my progress here (in case you want to give me some money--or maybe just throw an "Atta girl!" my way).
Here goes nothing!
