Sunday, March 19, 2006

I Am A Warrior!

Last May I started running (actually, I think the better term would be wheezing while walking briskly). I was VERY lucky I had a good friend who was a runner and she agreed to get me going. Jenny you are a very patient, and dare I say it, blessed woman with an abundace of whatever gene it takes to stop yourself from screaming at the whiner behind you 'MOVE YOUR ASS!' - Jenny I truly salute you! I also have to say that Jenny started me running in a way that really worked for me. So many running books say to do 1 minute walking, 1 minute running. ARE YOU KIDDING ME! I smoked and I was over weight that not only would that have killed me, but it would have turned me off of running flat. What Jenny did is she had me walk 5 minutes, run 1, which I can tell you nearly killed me the first week. Then we increased this to 2 minutes running, 5 walking. We did this up until week 5 when I was running 5 minutes and walking 4. Jenny also suggests that you do 2 weeks of 3 minutes of running and 5 walking, as the 3 minute running mark seems to be a hump point for people. Good advice indeed. Well last night I amazed myself as I completed my first 6k run in 48:45! (Mark did 10K in 59:20, good job!) There was a serious character building hill at the end. I thought I would die but I kept checking my breathing and it was still good, my legs were tired but NOT that tired - it was all mental. So next month I am going to do the LCC/Flaman 4Mile run, in June I am doing Ladies Fest (8k) and then in September Jenny, Brad (Jen's Husband), Mark and I are going to do the Melissa Run in Banff which is 10k. I would never have believed that I had it in me to do this. I never thought running was for me, but take it from me when I say it is ADDICTIVE, you begin to crave it. I am happy to say that since I started running I have lost 15 pounds, droped a dress and bra size, miled out my FIRST pair of runners (something I am more proud of them the weight loss) and found a whole new groups of people around me that are doing the same thing.

4 comments:

Stephanie said...

that is a grate acomplishment

Anonymous said...

Wonderful Job Heidi! You should be very, very proud of yourself.

Squirrelly Girly said...

Heidi, that's fabulous! I'm so happy for you! Great job!!

Anonymous said...

Hey Heidi!

I am so proud of you!! Don't give me any credit at all, this is all you baby. All I did was encourage you to shake your thing in runners & funny spandex clothes.

Kudos for sticking to the program. You're an athlete now!!

Jenn