Maybe I'm an athlete afterall!

This past year (Sept to Sept) I made it my mission to lose some weight. I was carrying around 2 babies worth of leftover baby weight, and was just tired of feeling "fluffy". I am proud to report that I lost 25 pounds in 5 months and have kept it off. How did I lose it? The Biggest Loser way....healthy eating, counting calories, and exercise. I am now realizing that the real work is trying to maintain where I am.

I love the Power class at the gym. It is an hour long group class lifting weights to good music. It really is fun. And since the weight machines out on the gym floor bore me to tears, this is my strength training of choice. My problem now is cardio. I just cannot motivate myself to do anything remotely aerobic lately. I will head to the gym having psyched myself up to do my power class and then get on the treadmill for 1/2 hour. 30 minutes! That isn't asking alot of myself...I am not setting out to run a marathon, just burn a few calories for goodness sakes. And then during the cooldown in Power, I start talking myself out of cardio. I have all these errands to run, it would be better for Will to get to play outside before we go get Jack from school, I mean it doesn't take much to let myself off the hook.

So I thought, I'll sign up to "run" in a 5K and that will give me something to train for. Now if you have ever seen me "run" before, after you pull yourself up off the floor from laughing, you can attest to the fact that I use that term very loosely in regards to what I do. It ain't pretty and it surely ain't fast. But whatever works, no? So I do an internet search for upcoming races in our area because knowing that I will be going to the race alone (I am sure the boys won't give up a Starbucks run for this) I don't want to be driving all over our little town at o'dark hundred on a Saturday morning. I found that the lung cancer awareness race that I "ran"3 years ago is scheduled for Nov 8, so that is the one for me! I "ran" in the inaugural race in 2005 in memory of my grandfather, so it is special to me. So I click on the website to find out all of the details and who do I see? I'll wait while you go look for yourself (and then come back)....

http://www.stjosephsatlanta.org/cancer_center/events/lungcancerwalk/home.html

Yes, that is me on the left in the very front!! Are you laughing as hard as I am?!?! If you didn't know any better you would think I am leading the race!! Why, I feel so athletic! Sadly, it is just being at the right place at the right time. If memory serves me, I think I started off in the middle of the pack and finished right about the middle of the pack. Which is a win for me.

And just in case you couldn't see me clearly due to all of that inconsiderate writing over me, I am also on the cover of their sponsorship materials, see...

http://www.stjosephsatlanta.org/cancer_center/events/lungcancerwalk/LungCancerSponsorshipPacket.pdf

Well, you can bet I'll be "running" in the race again in November, and maybe this time I'll wear some of my cute workout clothes!