Happy Thanksgiving Mom!

Dear Mom,

It's hard to believe it's been a year and eight months since you passed. I miss you every day.  Today is Thanksgiving and I'm so thankful that I had a wonderful mother like you.  I think you would be pretty proud of how I am (finally) starting to fulfill my promise to you, mom.  At this point I've lost about 27 lbs since the spring.  It took me a while to get going but I don't think I've ever been more committed to exercise than I am right now. Beyond the weight loss, I just feel good!

This morning I ran the Race with Grace 10K!  It was by far the longest I've ever run and I am so excited to tell you that I ran the whole thing.  Dad came out to cheer me on. As I ran through the finish line I thought of you and what you would be thinking of this whole thing.  I know you would be proud and perhaps a little surprised.  I know I am surprised.  There have been a few things in my life that I have really set my mind to and accomplished something amazing. This is one of those times. 

Whenever I get tired or discouraged and think I can't keep going, I think of you mom.  Not only how doggedly you fought your disease, but also just how doggedly you lived your life. You had a lot of loss and tough things happen and you just kept going, picking yourself up and moving on.  You left us all a wonderful example to follow.

I miss you tons and wish more than anything I could drive to your house and tell you this in person, but I guess I'll have to rely on the heavenly internet. 

Happy Thanksgiving Mom!

One year ago...

I'm all packed up and ready to head out to the cottage (see photo below) for our week of vacation. I'm pretty excited for a week off from my busy job.  This week marks an important anniversary though.  It was one year ago when I was on vacation at the cottage that I decided to embark on this journey of weight loss and getting healthy.  While I haven't achieved everything I had hoped for I thought it would be good to give an update on where I have been.

First, I started last year with great intentions and motivation.  But as with everything else, life got in the way.  I never gave up, but I cannot deny that I have had some really tough and trying times in the last 12 months.  So this goal sort of took a back seat.  Understandable but disappointing nonetheless. I originally hoped that I would have lost a lot more weight by now.  Oh well...

Second, the good news is that I have not given up and I am making real progress!  One of my goals for 2012 was to run a 5K (in fact a few of them).  As you may know, I'm nearing completion of the Couch 2 5K running program. I started and stopped it a few times before late April when it finally took hold.  I was reflecting the other day and realized that I've been doing this running 'thing' for over 60 days now...so I believe it's officially a habit! :)  I'm only a couple weeks away from finishing and then to try my first 5K.  I'm still deciding which one but I hope to run a few before the year ends...including the one I am in charge of "Race on the Ridge" in the fall!

Third, I have started to lose weight again.  I find that the exercise I am doing makes me want to eat healthier.  I'm trying to listen to that voice inside which says 'eat healthier' and I think it's finally starting to come together.  I'm not doing anything organized (such as weight watchers). I will need to eventually, but I'm trying this for now.

Finally, I have had several people ask me if I still plan to do my trek to the Himalayas.  The answer is both yes and no.  Realistically, I cannot commit to the trek that is going next November because I don't know that I have the time to get in shape the way I need to.  However, YES I do still plan to do this.  The group I was going to go with also leads yearly treks to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro.  That would been a pretty cool alternative and I wouldn't have to wait as long.  In fact, my Aunt Donna, who passed away in October, had planned to climb 'Kili' so if I do this, it would be very fitting.

That's the long and short of the situation. I'm not where I had hoped to be but I am moving in the right direction.  Thanks for all the great support this year.  Let's see what the next year brings, shall we?

Working out on vacation

I am up at our family cottage for the Fourth. Almost the whole family is here (not everyone though) so it is quite hectic. This morning I woke up and decided that I needed to continue my training. I was worried if I took too many days off I might not get back. That is a pretty momentous decision in and of itself for me. Usually when I am on vacation I take a break from working out. So not only was I breaking from tradition this would involve a bit of a drive. See the cottage is set amongst a really hilly part of NY. Though I have seen vast improvement in my endurance I knew I wouldn't be able to run those hills. So I drove out to the nearest high school track. Thanks to North Rose- Wolcott I was able to get my run in! Now I can get back to relaxing. Have a great day! :)

An Update of Sorts...

Wow, so it's apparently been 3 months since I've updated my blog.  Shame on me!

The good news is that I have been busy in that time.  After starting and stopping the Couch 2 5K program three times I am pleased to report I just finished Week 5.  In fact, today was a big milestone. Every other day so far has had running and walking intervals interchanging.  Today I just had to run 20 minutes. I say 'just' but that is a BIG deal for me.

I could never do the mile run in high school gym class. I was actually an athlete in high school, playing tennis and softball, but running was not my thing.  As I've worked through these weeks of training I have definitely noticed the change in my running ability.  I have lost a few pounds, not a lot yet though. That will come.  Once I can run the 5K I plan to make running a regular part of my routine!

So today was a pretty big deal.  The girl who couldn't do the mile just ran more than a mile.  The best part was that I felt good at the end, not like I was going to die. Haha!

I promise to keep better tabs on the blog, especially as I train for my first 5K.  It's only weeks away it seems! :)

Day 3

Today was my third day of working out.  I did the week 1, day 2 workout for Couch 2 5K. Yesterday I did 60 minutes of yoga.  I hope to alternate the two workouts over the next few weeks. I admit, I'm pretty sore tonight.  I want to be careful how much I increase the running at this point so I may end up repeating week 1 again. 

Today I was inspired by this quote:

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain

 If there is anything I learned by going through things with my mom's illness, it is you shouldn't put off tomorrow's plans forever. I'm a terrible procrastinator sometimes.  Sometimes you have to be. You can't possibly live with a "Carpe Diem" attitude every single day.  That said, I want to slowly start changing my attitude.  Get out of the rut. Do the things you dream of doing.  You may not accomplish them all at once, in fact, you may never accomplish them at all.  But I am firmly convinced that the journey is worth it.

So, what's your inspiration?

It wasn't pretty...

It was a beautiful, sunny and surprisingly warm March day. I was laying on my couch reading the paper. Suddenly I had a thought.  I had been meaning to look up the "Couch to 5K" program for a while now, but life (as it always does) had gotten in the way.  Today was a rare and wonderful day where I had absolutely NOTHING on my schedule.  I grabbed my iPhone and a few minutes later had downloaded the "Couch to 5K" app and was on my way.  I popped up and started to get ready, shortly thereafter I was out the door and on my way.

It wasn't pretty I'm sure, but the important thing is I did it! I completed the Week 1, Day 1 (W1D1) workout and I feel pretty good.  The theory is that anyone can run a 5K with 9 weeks of careful training.  You basically alternate running and walking until you are able to run the whole 3.1 miles. 

So hopefully this is just the beginning of a new workout regime.  Actually, I have also been doing some yoga in the last few weeks too. I am hoping to alternate that with the running workout.

People have been asking me about my goals and how I am doing. Why hadn't I updated my blog? Was I still working to lose weight? Had I given up?  The short answer is that life got in the way.  I had a stressful fall, and then bought a house this winter and so my time and attention was diverted for a while.  Did I give up? Well, no not in my heart but I admit that I had to take a break from this while I focused elsewhere.  I'm hoping to be a bit more faithful in posting now (and in my workouts).

But here I am, back at it.  For some reason, buying a house seems to have spurred me on to doing things I never thought I would do, such as becoming a neat freak. ;-)  All I know is that it's one step and one day at a time and if I continue to work hard, I can do this!  Thanks for the support!