Okay, one of the reasons {among many} I started this blog was to have a place to document my journey to The5K, health, fitness, lifestyle change, and to be held accountable to the goals I had set before me...
Sooooo to be totally honest there was a bit of an Ice Cream binge this weekend!! Okay... a BIG Ice Cream binge!!!
BUT that is over!!! There will be NO MORE BINGEING OF ANY KIND for the next 74 days!!! That's right, TODAY marks the beginning of the serious training for the 5K. TODAY marks the beginning of the countdown. Eleven Weeks, or 74 days until I RUN the 5K at the Gratiot County Fair for Youth.
So, in honor of starting the countdown, I'm going to go back and recap, why exactly I'm doing this! {If you've heard this story, feel free to ditch out now! If you don't want to hear the story that's cool too... I do tend to ramble on!!!}
Alrighty...
In late July of 2011, Maddy and I were at the fairgrounds, sitting at a table, in the food booth, piling down a mountain of pancakes and sausage. Wait wait wait, I'm getting ahead of myself again. In late May when Kathy, so wonderfully offered to let Maddy show Chip, I knew it was going to be a lot of work for Maddy, especially given the short time to prepare him for fair in late July. She was also working a 40hr a week job in MtPleasant and working with/raising a feeder steer. Thankfully she got help along the way from Shelli and Coleton and even Kathy and Katie, but I knew I would be of little or no help to her. My skill with, or knowledge about, the animals is pretty limited. So I did what I could, occasionally pushed a broom, shoveled poop, braided a tail and banded a mane. If you've never shown animals at the fair or had children who have, let me tell you it's exhausting hard work. You are up at the crack of dawn, out in the hot sun all day, running from barn to barn, cleaning stalls, working with animals, bathing animals, readying them to show, going to bed late. This year also brought with it the added stress of Chip having a horrible Thrush issue that required a farrier, special shoes, pain meds, and being kept in a very dry, clean stall for a couple of days. {Did I mention that Chip doesn't particularly enjoy being cooped up in the stall???} Let's just say, when he finally got the green light to work again he was a bit rambunctious!!! Oh, and let's not forget the late night phone call to tell us, that Chip had tried to kick his way OUT of his stall, and we would need to come repair some hinges!!!
And this brings me back to the July, the last day of the fair. ~Maddy and I are sitting there exhausted, staring at our empty plates, having just consumed copious, colossal amounts of sugar, in a record amount of time. Discussing what needs to be done today, getting Chip back home and such. We discussed how emotionally overwhelming the week had been and how well she had done showing. I had this sudden welling of pride in her ~all the hard work she had done to get there, how hard she had worked all week to get through this, and how important Chip's health had been to her-above all other things, and of course the ribbons she had earned. I knew I had NOT done enough, as a parent, to help her prepare for this {but yet I had done all I was capable of doing} and I felt this insane, sugar induced need to find a way, ANY way to prove to her how proud I was of all her HARD work. I looked out the window and saw all these crazy people getting ready to run the 5K, and I blurted out... "Next year I will run that 5K for you!" And she said "It's a deal!" {okay there were more details to this conversation, but those are the highlights, and the important stuff} So right then and there a pact was made. She would work her ass off and show again next year, and I would run a 5K to prove to her how proud I was... Now this may seem a bit crazy and in your minds you may be thinking what does running a 5K have to do with proving to her how proud I am???? Well, you see Maddy is all about working hard, physical fitness, eating healthy, determination, and proving to yourself, that you can be your best. So THIS seemed the best way to honor her. OR maybe it was the sugar from that giant stack of pancakes, either way the deal was made and there was NO turning back! I do what I can to NEVER break a promise to my kids and they do their best to NEVER break promises they've made... so I was locked in, to a promise I'd made!!
Keep in mind that at the time, I was at my heaviest weight, EVER {yes, even exceeding my 9month pregnancy weight, by 30+ pounds!!} and in the worst shape of my life {hadn't run since my Freshman year in high school!}, and my diet was horrible, {consuming a 32oz fountain Mt.Dew, a king size Reese's peanut butter cup, and a sausage muffin with cheese for breakfast EVERY day!!}
I knew I had a long way to go and that it would be a constant struggle to achieve the goal of ~Running a 5K and NOT dying of a heart attack!!! I stand here, today with 11 weeks left to train and STILL a long way to go. There are days I still doubt that I can accomplish my goal, but I will NOT stop trying. I've lost over 13 pounds, I'm eating healthy, and I can walk a 5K... maybe NOT big accomplishments to most people, but for me HUGE progress. Maddy is working a 40hr/week job, working Chip/readying him to show, and training for a half marathon herself, I will not stop training.
I WILL NOT stop training! I WILL keep trying. I WILL NOT have any more binges until this thing is DONE!!!! ~I WILL soldier on for the next 74 days!!! I WILL RUN that 5K, and prove to my daughter just how proud of her I am!!! I MIGHT make a fool of myself, but I will RUN!!!
LET THE COUNTDOWN BEGIN!!!
For the next 74 Days, it's ALL about her, NOT the ice cream!!!
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