Born to Run? Mmmmmm..... not so much.

If you're a friend of mine on Facebook you probably already know that i've incorporated running into my work-out schedule. I actually started running sometime back in January because I found that I was losing even more weight that way. I still look back to last year right around this time when my wonderful neighbor and I decided that we were going to start running. HA! That was funny! I couldn't even go a yard so I quit because it was just too hard. As of this morning I am currently at 6.37 miles.! Whew! Now, let me make something clear.... I don't like to run, in fact, I think I kinda hate it. In the beginning I used to try and talk myself out of it but opted to go because I knew that i'd berate myself for the rest of the day if I didn't . I still semi-try to talk myself out of it but quickly remind my brain of how I feel AFTER the run. The sense of accomplishment, the hard earned sweat and how much closer I am to my goal. I've commited to running a half marathon in January so I'm half-way there! Yay! :o) I was having trouble understanding why I hate to run, it's way, way easier than CATZ and i'm the boss on the treadmill. Well, today it came to me.... it's the first mile and a half!!!! That first stretch of every run i've done since day 1 has tried to be the death of me!!! I don't know what it is but I HATE it! I also hate the warm-up at CATZ but I do it because I have a performance coach giving me the stink-eye if I slack even a little bit. I guess I have to come up with something to get me thru that first 20 minutes of running. I have a great play-list and the rec center where I run is absolutley beautiful, but I do need ideas on how to get past the first part of my run without wanting to stab myself in the throat. Funny though, that I ran the distance I did today.... On Saturday I eeked out 3.50 miles and told myself today that I wasn't going to push myself and just do what I could in one hour. It always amazes me to see what I can tell my body to do and it actually listens! :o)

A STRONG Start..... maybe?

So..... like I mentioned yesterday, today was my weigh in for Week 1 of the CATZ Fitness Challenge and it proved to be a successful one! :o) I managed to drop a whopping 5 pounds... YESSSS!!! I do have to confess that I was not really all that surprised at the significant drop. It's very common for an individual to lose anywhere between 5-8 pounds at the beginning of a weight loss program. However, in my case, I never really stopped eating clean and exercising BUT.... when I did my initial weigh in last week I was 2 days from starting my cycle which as women, we all know that can cause a 3-5 pound weight gain/water retention. So... technically I only really lost 1 pound.....right? Ok, so maybe I cheated but to be honest, a huge drop at the beginning was a huge motivator at the beginning of the last challenge I did and I was in the same position THEN. Lets not forget that my last challenge was a huge success, baby!!!! The games we play with a stupid, dumb scale are sooooo funny! Every man i've talked to about weight loss and fitness has told me how perplexed they are by us women, and that's MOST of us, and how fixated we are by the scale and a number. So we can comfortably get into a size 8, BUT the scale is not reflecting the weight we feel we should be at, therefore we beat ourselves up. WHY IS THAT???? Do you talk to yourself? I do, and every morning when I get on that scale and it's not where it should be, I yucky-talk myself. I tell my daughter she's beautiful in every way, but I can't seem to manage to even think those words about myself after I get off a scale. ESPECIALLY when it's not at the digits I feel it should be. I could be a pound off and I will negative talk myself at least until noon. The good thing is that now when that happens I don't head straight for the refrigerator! :o) I know that I shouldn't base my self image and worth on a number but unfortunately for some reason it's what most of us do. Why do we do that????

Anyway, those were my results for this week and I couldn't be happier!

Here We Go......

Blogging is something i've seriously contemplated on doing for a very long time but neglected to do so because, well..... because I was intimidated. Would I be eloquent enough? Would I misuse punctuation and apply terrible grammar? Or even worse, would I ramble on & on to where a reader or two would sigh and say: "Oh lady, who cares!!!!!"  You see, I read a lot of blogs penned by amazing orators and writers, stay-at -home-moms with funny stories and individuals going thru tough times who bravely tell their stories on the web. What makes me so special?  So, I figure I'd just jump in and see where it goes.... I mean, if it gets to be too much, I could always just stop, right? Anyway, welcome to my blog and I hope you kinda like it. :o)

At the beginning of this year I embarked on an amazing journey. One that I never thought I'd even consider traveling! I made the decision to exercise and live a clean healthy life-style. Yep, you read right.... E-X-E-R-C-I-S-E. For those who are close to me know that a year ago, I would not even have considered such a feat. It all started 3 years ago, when my daughter's soccer team started working out at CATZ (Competetive Athletes Training Zone). It's basically sports conditioning but on steroids. Shortly after that a few adults on the team thought they'd start working there as well and would NOT stop talking about it. I was excited for them but not completely sold. Unsurprisingly, in a matter of months they all began to shed major pounds and that's when I decided that something needed to change but it took me almost a 2 years to snap into action. I signed up for one of their 8 week challenges and was able to lose 20 pounds! It was seriously one of the hardest things i've ever done. I, like the parents before me, could not stop talking about it! I thought everyone should go and experience what I was experiencing. One of the moms suggested I start a blog back in January and here I am. Preparing To Be Great.....

At the beginning of every challenge one is handed a paper with some set goals and a brief synopsis of what to expect during a challenge. There were only 4 words that jumped out at me on January 4th, 2010... PREPARE TO BE GREAT! That was it..... I was sold because I knew that they knew I would succeed and I did. Now, 40 pounds lighter and feeling better than I have in a long time I sit here ready to share my successes, failures and everything in between. I've started another challenge at CATZ which started last Friday and I could not be more excited! My first weigh in is tomorrow... wish me luck!!!!!!