Up and Running

THIS IS HOW I FELT AFTER MY RUN

I've been struggling with eating lately and have slowly been getting it under control. But it's a process. I realize I will struggle with this for the rest of my life... that's been a hard concept to accept since having the lap band done. I (foolishly) thought my eating problems would be solved once I had the band put in. I was hoping they'd magically disappear. That is hardly the case. My eating problems are still there, but I've become more conscious of them. I like food. I like the taste of good food. I enjoy cooking. I enjoy cooking good food. And I need to be careful about what I put in my mouth!

So while working on the whole issue of food, I've been thinking about exercise. Yes, thinking. I know I should be actually doing it rather than thinking about it! I've been thinking that I want to be a runner. I used to run in the Army, and I was good at it. I could run fast! I could max my run on my PT test! I could run in the fast running group and I could run with the men! However, that was different. For one, I was 15 years younger and for two, someone was always yelling at me to run faster! I was running away from the drill sergeants who were yelling at me! One of my cousins is 6 weeks older than me...she recently ran her first marathon. I thought, "If she can do it, I can, too." And so this morning, I dusted off the treadmill. Initially, it wouldn't work...I couldn't get the darned thing to turn on. I almost gave up, but since I was already dressed in my running best, I fiddled around with it and figured out why it wouldn't turn on (I forgot to push something called the ON/OFF switch.) And I ran. I ran 1.5 miles in 21 minutes. Jacob plugged in the fan and told me my hair looked funny because it was bouncing up and down. Somehow, he thought that would cheer me on. By the end of one and a half miles of hell, I was hot, sweating, my face was red, my legs hurt, my lungs hurt (my legs still hurt) and my hair had bounced up and down and looked terrible. But. I. Did. It.


And tomorrow, I'll add more footprints to the dust that's still on the treadmill.

THIS IS HOW I FELT BEFORE MY RUN