My first race: Days 1, 2, and 3 of training

Hi there!

This is my first entry for my training blog. Here is some info to start with.

This is not:
...a race for me to lose weight.
...about my trying to kill off my inner fat girl (the one who craves 3 slices of pizza with pepperoni, a large soda and cake if I'm hungry for more than 4 minutes).
...is not about me being faster than anyone.

This is about how I get from here to there. There of course being a real runner, who runs races. And maybe down the road one day, wins one.

I started out as a chubby kid who ate partially out of boredom, and partially out of a solid LOVE for delicious, interesting, flavorful things to eat. And I was lazy. The thought of sweating made me ill- let alone making myself sweat on purpose~! Exercise was so much effort. I had so much more fun lolling about on a couch watching tv, or playing video games. Besides- I'm an artist, why do I need to workout?

MANY reasons. Firstly my genetics predispose me to many unappealing illnesses like: Diabetes, high blood pressure, and being over-weight (which comes first the fat or the diabetes/chicken or the egg? Ah, all of these esoteric questions....). Now who the hell wants to be sick and fat? Not I! And looking at my father be heavy and take all of these medications- and looking at my extremely healthy (but diabetic) grandfather...I foresee some challenges. But thats another thing that I like;Challenges. I'm stubborn and have an innate drive to make myself the best version of me possible. Also, when I see people who were heavy lose weight- it just pushes me more.

So fast forward past adolecence, and into adulthood....and past my wedding even. About a month after my wedding I saw Sara Rue. She had lost a ton of weight! (which she has now gained back and is currently shilling faux food and false hope on behalf of Jenny Craig). Well, being as she was so heavy, and I was so heavy (pushing the scale at 188...only 10 lbs less than when Matt had proposed), I thought if she did it, I can do it. And so I did. I started eating better (tons of fruits and vegetables, lean protein, whole grains) and avoided processed foods if at all possible. It was great. And I began working out for an hour and a half, two hours every day.(I never ran or did the treadmill...however I did enjoy the elliptical, spin classes, yoga, and step....) Slowly but surely I got down to a normal weight. Not my goal weight, which at this point is just a number because the way that I feel will always trump that...But I digress.

Fast forward to now. I've managed to keep off my weight because I CHANGED MY LIFESTYLE, and continue to stay active. Not everyday for two hours active, but I still move.

And here I am now, at the precipice of another change. Do I want to commit to being a runner? I hear that the runners high is amazing. I'm willing to commit to 6 months of running, and races. March 13th is my first race. An 8k (five mile) run through central park. It's not going to be the longest race I run, nor will it be my last.

Training, day 1.

Warmed up for 5 minutes...3.2 mph and a slight incline (2.5)
Ran for 1 mile. (5.5 mph) and did it in 11 minutes.
(total miles 1.55)

Training, day 2.

Same warm up.
Ran 1 mile, 11 min 35 seconds.
(total miles 2.34)

Training, day 3
warm up, walked no incline for 5 min.
Ran 2 miles, first mile 10 min 43 sec and the second mile was 11 min and 24 seconds.
(total miles 3.15)

Tomorrow I will repeat todays training but will add a half mile to each run ever two days. (so tomorrow I'll be running 2.5 miles, and will move that up to 3 miles on Monday...and then on Wednesday it'll be 3.5)

Eventually by March 10th I'll have run 5 miles in my training. And the 11tht and 12th will be days where I do yoga and meditate for my race.

While this might be making a mountain out of a mole hill- for me it's important and I hope that I can inspire you, or you are able to share your own stories and advice/insight.

Thank you!