Running? Who me?

I have been somewhat quiet about my diet and exercise as of late- which is usually an indication that I am doing well and sticking to it. I started exercising March 1, 2011. Initially, Nick and I had an exercise challenge. We competed on a weekly basis to see who exercised more. If I won, I got a back massage. If he won, he got a back scratch. We both love these things and usually dislike giving them, so this was motivation. Needless to say, we kept up the challenge from March until June. I won more than he did. I don't care what he tells you. I did.

At that time, I realized that I couldn't concentrate on dieting and exercise given everything we have going on, so I picked exercise and I kept at it, 5-6 times weekly. The only time I got lazy was the two weeks following Owen's first VEPTR surgery. I just was emotionally spent and exhausted and at that point, I had lost 10 lbs or so and gained 4 back in Philadelphia. Oh my Lord, there is a place that conveniently delivers to the hospital called the Greek Lady and it has vegetarian gyros made with veggies AND french fries. Odd, but delicious, I assure you. Well 8 of these later, I packed on 4 lbs. I won't be repeating this mistake again in October.

I picked it back up in July,(exercise- not the gyro)and became really serious about my diet too. Unlike other times, I was not thinking of it as a diet but more as a life style change. I went to BBQ's and ate. I had a piece of birthday cake. For once, I did not let those things ruin a perfectly good eating day otherwise. I credit this to a website called My Fitness Pal (MFP for short). At the risk of sounding like a commercial for MFP, it is amazing. It's free and has a facebook type set up where I log my food, exercise and progress every day. It really helps to see the numbers. It helps to see that if I exercised hard, I can eat that cake and I don't have to worry about it another minute. For anyone who wants to lose, check it out. You have friends and there are chat rooms and people make up challenges for the month and you can join them. It's really so helpful to have a place to put it all down. People who don't "diet" don't realize, it's kind of like an obsession. Every morsel, every calorie, the adding, the subtracting, the meal planning etc... It's time consuming.

But back to my exercising. When I started, I walked and walked and walked. Then I started biking. I walked and biked. I biked all over my neighborhood all summer with Nick and without. On MFP, I joined the July Move Your A$$ Challenge and made a pledge that I would walk 65 miles in July. I ended up logging 83 by the end of July and I was fascinated and hooked on paying attention to how much I was moving. I walked on lunch. I walked in the morning. I biked in the evenings. Nick and I took long bike rides on Sundays.

Then came August (as it generally does) and it was time for our family reunion. My whole family is running. My cousins Christine, Katie and Kathryn are running. They are long and lean and they are running. And I feel inspired. I am not built like them and they are all thin, but I started thinking that I had been walking and biking a ton and maybe it was time for a challenge. I joined the August Move Your A$$ Challenge on MFP and I pledged 85 miles for August and about halfway through the month, started C25K. C25K is the "Couch to 5K" program. Each week you walk/run intervals starting with 60 seconds at a time and working your way up to 30 minutes of running which if you run fast, is a 5K. By the end of August I surpassed my 85 mile goal and ended up logging a total of 93 miles.

And here we are in September. I pledged 100 miles for the September challenge. As of today I am at 83.75 miles and have no doubt I will surpass 100. If this post is up on my blog and you are reading it then this morning I just finished week 5 of the c25k program. (I wrote this post Monday and it should be Friday if I was able to complete week 5). I waited until Friday to post this because as of today, I was able to run 20 minutes straight which is 1.7 miles on my route. Based on my timing as of late, that means I am running about an 11 minute mile. For someone who never ran and who just started, I am pretty proud of that. I am so proud of myself and how hard I have worked that I signed up for my first 5K which is November 20, 2011- the 43rd Annual Mamaroneck Turkey Trot. I have 3 more weeks of the c25k program to finish where I will take that 20 minute run and increase it by 5 minutes each week until I am running 30 minutes a day/3 times per week. Then I have about 4 weeks to work on my speed. I also have left myself enough time for Owen to get his VEPTR and for me to take it a little easier that week if need be, although, I have mapped out a 3 mile run for Philadelphia nearby the hospital.

I have no goals for my first 5K other than to finish it running. I want to prove to myself that I can do it. I have been working so hard and actually enjoying the feeling of being able to do this. Today (Friday- as I am editing this now) I felt amazing to finish my 20 minutes. I looked like a complete idiot with a smile plastered on my face this morning during my cool down walk, as I gasped for breath. But I don't care.

In addition to the biking, walking and running, I take a yoga class once a week and have joined a gym that I go to twice a week for weight training and light cardio on my "rest" days.

I have lost 27 lbs and 5 inches off my hips, 4 off my waist, 3 off each arm and calf. I am down one pant size.

I have a long way to go, but I wanted to share. I am pretty excited.