Thursday, November 17, 2011

Not sure how to proceed so.....

I'm just jumping right into it! So some of my girlfriends were talking about starting up a weight watchers group and I decided it was time to jump on board. I had done WW before and had great results but this time I just wanted to make healthy eating a part of my life and be accountable to someone for a weekly weigh in. We started on October 11th which was just over 7 weeks ago, and so began my journey.

That first week I was a juicing machine, we had always had a juicer sitting in our storage but it NEVER got used. Turns out I love juicing! Its a great way to get in all your veggies as well as getting all the awesome vitamins from those leafy greens without having to eat salads all day. I hate smoothy's and juice, they give me brain freeze and I have just always been a milk and water type girl. Every morning I would get up and have an 80cal piece of toast to fill my belly and make me thirsty and then just chug my juice. I juiced everything! Carrots, beats, apples, kale, spinach, tomatoes, you name it I was juicing it. I lost 4 pounds and felt like a million bucks. My good friend Nicole came over one afternoon and said, hey come run a mile with me.

HA HA HA HA HA!!!!

My philosophy has always been, I only run when being chased, but her persistence won out and I ended up lacing up my sneakers and heading out for one LONG, HARD mile. Now I know that a mile is a mile, TECHNICALLY there is no such thing as a long or short mile but I am telling you not all miles are created equally! That first mile felt like a marathon and if it wasn't for Nicole chatting away beside me I would have giving up long before hitting the one mile mark 11plus minutes later. But you know what, it felt good. I realized right then and there that I didn't want to find myself 50 pounds and 10 years down the road saying, "I only run if being chased!" Stupid! I wanted to start running and so, I DID!

I started with one mile five days that week, and then 1.5 miles 5 days the next week, and after one month I ran my first two miles without stopping at a 10.21 pace. It felt great! The weather had been perfect and I had yet to experience any major resistance. but as we move from October to November my beautiful sunny afternoons turned into foggy mornings and rainy afternoons. I didn't care though, I was running 5 to six time a week and found myself thinking of ways to improve my time and push myself further, I was starting to actually LIKE running.

Last Monday I ran my first 3 miles and I ran it at a 10:11 pace. Once I knew I could do 3 there was no going back, it has basically been 3 everyday since then, aside from Sundays, and I have managed to hit a 9:31 pace. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?!? Not only that but I have run 3.1 and 3.2 miles on two of those days. In six weeks I have gone from a 11:00 minute mile of death to running 3 miles in the pouring rain at a 9:31 and still smiling. I feel great at am ready to start keeping better track of my journey.

Tomorrow is my first 5K and lets just be honest, I'm terrified! I have never done anything competitive in my whole life so I am not sure how it will effect me. I am nervous that all the people passing me will make me feel slow and want to quite but I am counting on the garmen to remind me that I am on track to my 30 minute goal. I also am not really sure about what to eat an when, I am still trying to figure out what works best for my body but I will just have to do my best and be happy with the results, WISH ME LUCK!

here's a little photo update:
me after 3 weeks: (horizaltal pictures are week one)






Me after my 3 miles in the pouring rain:

5 comments:

Nicole W. said...

I am sitting here crying! You are so friggin inspiring to me!!! I am so proud of you Lace. SO PROUD! I forgot that it was ME who came and convinced you to run that stupid mile that day! HA!!!! so glad that I did! you are a running MACHINE! don't be afraid tomorrow. put that game face on and just RUN! I have seen you at the end of your 3 mile runs and I KNOW you can push yourself. you are a fighter....you are NOT a casual runner! you have SO much potential and the fact that you have made such FAST improvement says someothing about talent AND about your determination. I really think that watching you cross that finish line tomorrow will be one of the best moments of my adult Life! I could NOT be prouder of you Lace. 30 min, 29 min, or 40 min! YOU are amazing b/c you got here! You got OFF the couch and OUT the door and you have EARNED this!!! so many people are still sitting at home complaining about what they WANT to be while YOU are out creating it! I LOVE YOU!!!! see you at 7:15am tomorrow!!! xxxxx

Michelle said...

Hi Lacey! so glad to have found you!! I am so excited to hear all about your race tomorrow. You are going to do so awesome and when you are done, you will be thinking of the next one you want to sign up for! You sooO GOT THIS! I will be thinking of you and cheering you on!!!

Jenn said...

Super inspiring story Lacy!!!! My greatest feeling EVER, the feeling after my first 5K. I didn't know if I was slow or fast. I just knew that this feeling was euphoric and I LOVED it!! Excited for YOU to have that tomorrow!! BEST of luck to you! May you have an amazing race. A CELEBRATION of the dedication you've put in here! You've found a treasure in Nicole! What a cheerleader and an amazing running inspiration to have on your side! Go get 'em girl:)

Danielle said...

I was reading a post from Nicole's blog and it said I MUST come here... and she was right!!! You are doing AWESOME! your story mirrors mine SO much! I went from, only running if being chased to running all the time. I also gained 50lbs with each pregnancy. The first was relatively easy to lose. The second, not so much! it's still a fighting battle most days :) but I am getting there!!! Good luck in the 5K you'll LOVE it!

Amanda@runninghood said...

Hi Lacey! Thinking of you tomorrow! So wonderful. What a great new direction you are taking your life. Go get it!