The Pay Off

I love to cook and eat.

These last 18 months have been a huge challenge for me. When our 4th child was born, I was way overweight, and having been on partial bed rest for most of the pregnancy, I was out of shape!

In the fall of 2009, I stared walking on the treadmill and counting calories. I could only manage 15 - 20 minutes of walking at a time. I put my laptop on the shelf above the treadmill to watch DVD's on, but I just hated it. Couldn't stand it.

Did it anyway.

By a year later, fall of 2010, I had lost 40lbs, worked my way up slowly, and had been running quite regularly. So, I signed up for a 5k road race. The summer had been hot, I had worked my way up to an IT Band (overuse) injury, and was hoping to just finish in less than 40 minutes. I worked so hard all summer on my running and just wanted to make a 12:59 pace!

September 2010, 5k, 39:49 (13:15 pace)

In the next 6 months, I would loose 20 pounds and continue to run and lift weights. I did a round of P90X, learned to love cycling and even did a little swimming. I hurt my knee during training for a Half Marathon, and was told that walking breaks would help that not happen again.

I signed up for 10 mile race to test my marathon meddle. Injured, but recovering, I switched to the 5k at the last minute.

March 2011, 5k, 32:32 (10:30 pace)

Mind you, I don't run like that all the time! We train to race...so my training runs are more like and 11:00 pace, but you get the idea. In six months I have managed to whittle away 2 minutes from my average pace on a 3 mile run.

I feel really happy about that! I sometimes think that the scale isn't moving fast enough, that my "baby belly" will never be gone, that my arms will always do the "double wave." But the truth is - there IS a pay-off. Progress HAS been made.

I will continue to stick with it - excited to see what I can write in another six months!