Well, tomorrow is the day.  The BIG day!

I can’t exactly say I’ve been training for this, because honestly that’s not how it started out.  I began running because I started a clean eating detox that made me feel amazing and energized and I wanted to get off my butt and take full advantage of all that healthy energy.  So I started walking, with short jogging intervals.  Then I walked less and ran more… suddenly I found myself completing 1 mile in 17 minutes. Then 16 minutes… then 15 minutes.  Then I decided to push myself and run 2 miles.  I ran 2 miles a day (almost every day) for about 3 weeks before feeling strong and badass enough to stretch it to 3 miles.

Thats when I got the brilliant idea to sign up for a 5k. I have always wanted to participate in one, but was too scared to ever try.  Having run 3 miles atleast 5 days a week for a straight week gave me enough courage to reach out to my friends and see if anyone was interested in joining me.  Luckily someone was and I went ahead and registered.  It was done.

It was at THIS point that I began wrapping my mind around what it takes to complete a 5k and how exactly would I train for something like this… I’ve never competed in anything like this since middle school Track, and even then I was horrible at it!  Anyway, I took my 3 miles very seriously and concentrated on improving my form and my time.  I concentrated on my diet and nutrition and kept plugging along.

Turns out, my body loves this whole process and as of today I have lost 30 pounds! IT seems like such a huge number to me. I have been watching the weight slowly and steadily drop off and only this last week was I able to notice a real change in my clothes and the size I wear.  I dont know where the weight is coming from but I am happy to see it go! I started this journey back in August thinking I would just change my eating habits and then I saw how much my body loved the clean eating program and I just kept going.  I am so proud of the work I have put into my body and so excited to continue to see changes.  What an exciting time in my life this is.  I told my best friend yesterday… I have not weighed this much(or little, however you want to say it)  in 11 years, since before I had kids.  Thats a HUGE accomplishment in my mind.  It only gets better from here.

I keep imagining this race tomorrow in my head.  I keep feeling like I am going to putter out and not make it to the finish line or panic and mess up my breathing and give up.  I imagine all the worst things that would realistically never happen, but I picture them happening anway, and suddenly im crying and overwhelmed with anxiety… over a silly stupid little turkey trot.  Then on the fliip side I think of how 15 years ago the 25 year old me would have laughed in your face if you had said in 2014 I would be RUNNING the Turkey Trot with a 14-15 minute mile pace!  Me?! The Kid who could barely get ONE mile done in less than 20 minutes in highschool…. yeah…. you’re funny.  

I think of how hard I have worked, how many days I pushed through being tired, sick, sore, on my period (sorry boys)… I still did it.  I’ve involved the kids in my new lifestyle and they LOVE riding their bikes alongside me. I’ve embraced this stupid crazy Vizsla dog I got stuck with… we lovingly adopted and have seen a whole new side to her. She loves to run, and loves running with me.  She constantly looks back to see if I am ok, to see if we can go faster,  to see if shes doing good. I love the company and I love seeing this side of her.

So it’s not all fears and worry… Some of my tears are proud, joyful tears because in 3 months I have accomplished the begining of a journey I never dreamed possible.  A journey where more and more doors are opening, the possibilities of the future are becoming endless.  I am not sure if I have ever done anything so physically demanding and also rewarding before in my life except maybe having kids… the rush of emotion and the overwhelming joy that comes with realizing you  just did it…. YOU DID IT. … that’s how i feel… and I havent even done it…

….yet.

p.s.  did I happen to mention the fact that YOU all helped me raise OVER my goal of $250 for the Polycystic Kidney Disease Foundation…. you are all so amazing. Thank You. 

Happy Turkey Day!

Also if you’d like to TRACK me while I run tomorrow morning my start time is 8:40 and you can go to the Oceanside Turkey Trot website, scroll down until you see the login info to track a runner and just type in my name after registering.  Thank you again for supporting me!