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Health & Fitness

From the Couch to the 5K

Setting goals has been an instrumental part of my weight loss success. My biggest goal to tackle was running. Read how I went about incorporating running into my routine.

I have always been inspired by athletes. I just love the motivation, endurance, physical capabilities and passion they have for their sport. As a child and teen, I would go to my brothers and sister’s games and watch along the sideline as they would run back and forth along the field. I never had a jersey of my own, but that was okay because I was good at a lot of other things. The real reason I didn’t belong to a team or sport was because it was difficult to keep up as an overweight person. 

It’s so interesting how things strike you over time. As I started losing weight and really enjoying exercise (yes, I really like it now!), I started to become really proud of my progress. I was now able to use cardio machines for longer periods of time. I found myself looking at the gym schedule for classes that I could start incorporating into my week.  Classes have really changed up my routines and help keep me from becoming bored by doing that same exercise over and over. I have also met a lot of people at Club Fit who share similar goals which has been great.

Some of my favorite classes are Spinning, TRX and Body Pump. However, there was one exercise that I really wanted to tackle, and that was RUNNING. I used to think to myself, “not even if I was being chased.” I wouldn’t even attempt to run down the driveway. That seemed like one exercise that was so unattainable to me. So I would just watch and wonder. One of my dearest friends is a marathon runner, and I am always so impressed how she is able to just keep going. 

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So this brings me to the importance of setting goals in my journey. When I reached the 100lb weight loss mark, I wanted to do something to celebrate. Shopping for new clothes has been great, but I wanted it to be something that I physically couldn’t do before. So my sister Kristen and two friends came with me to go indoor rock climbing! Imagine that! This was definitely something new to me…and it was awesome! That was a goal, and I did it. 

My next goal was to incorporate running into my routine. I had my sight set on a 5K…that’s 3.1 miles. This was going to be huge! I started off slow…just a minute or two on the treadmill. I had my iPod loaded with fast moving music and would just keep adding a little more each time I tried it. Pretty soon I was able to run 5 minutes straight, then 10 minutes.  I decided to sign up for a 5K last October. I think I was nauseas all the days leading up to it from nerves. 

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My friend Tina, the marathon runner would run it with me, and my family and friends would be at the finish line. There is something about pinning that number onto your shirt. I remember standing at that starting line and thinking , “I am going to do this!” My run lasted for 34 minutes and 58 seconds. I had no idea if this was a good or bad time…I just wanted to finish it. I wasn’t the fastest, there were people passing me, and I was totally out of breath as I went up those hills, but that wasn’t important to me. My goal was to get to that finish line…the prettiest banner I had ever seen!

I continue to run for exercise. I don’t particularly enjoy it yet, but I keep at it because it’s hard for me. I’m not the most graceful person out there, but I am determined to get better at it for endurance and fitness purposes. I now have four “bibs” (numbers) from races that I have saved as both a reminder of my accomplishments and motivator to keep going. I even find myself looking for more races to work towards. 

I recently did my second 5K in May just to see if it might be a little easier or faster.  My next one is set for June 4. My goal for this one is to see if I can shave a few seconds off my time and run up the hills more (yes, I do take walking breaks when needed). This is a short term goal I am working towards.  I’ll let you know how it goes!

Don’t forget to . I share my goals with him, and he helps me work towards them. It’s never easy, and he pushes me to my limits, but we keep going. It doesn’t have to be a 5K you want to accomplish…no goal is too small!

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