You've Come A Long Way...

Coming up on three years since the day I decided to take charge of my health and body once and for all. A lot of good things have happened because I finally took the bull by the horns. Running has been one of the key factors in the equation of eating less and moving more to result in my weight-loss and it had brought a new joy to my life. Running has made me an athlete, a competitor. I have goals for my runs. I want to run faster. I want to run further. There's always room for improvement.

My first 5k was on June 5th, 2010. It was hot as hell, and I was still a good 40 pounds overweight. I had started running but I could not run the entire 3.1 miles. I finished with what I thought was a great time of 42:42.

That's me, on a scorcher of a day, wearing denim shorts! What was I thinking??? Oh, yeah, and the 80-something year-old man did come in before me!! Bastard!

After that 5k, I went on to train with the Couch to 5k program and ran my first entire 5k, the Smithpoint Bridge 5k, on 9/11/10 with a much-improved time of 34:40. I definitely caught the bug after that. I wanted more. I expected more from myself.

Last year I ran the LIMA 5k on 6/4/11 with a time of 31:55. Better, but not my best. I wanted to run under a 10:00 mile, for God sakes! We then did the Damon Runyon 5k at Yankee Stadium on 8/7/11, but with the heat of an August day, the narrow course through the stadium, along with all those stairs (about 300 of them), we were happy to finish, let alone come in at 37:33! So, on to the Smithpoint Bridge run again. On 9/10/11, I finished in 30:36, under a 10:00 mile! Ok, so I tackled the 5k. I tried my luck at a 10k the following week on 9/17/11 (my 16th wedding anniversary!). Since it was my first ever, I didn't know what to shoot for. I also had to contend with a HUGE hill, also known as the Ponquogue Bridge. Done. 1:04:09. About a 10.5 minute mile. Not bad.

Ponquogue Bridge- grrrrr!

So, that ended my racing season for 2011. Who AM I that I talk like this now??? I'm a runner! Yesterday was my first race of the year! I was so excited to get back out there! Why did I wait so long to race again! Almost NINE months since my last race! That's stupid. ANYWAY, my first goal was to come in under 30:00. My "pleased as punch" time would be under 29:00, but my "happier than a pig in shit" time would be under 28:00. Well, Jupiter must've been aligned with Mars with Mercury rising in the east because I DID IT!!!!!! 27:51:9!!! I came in 626 out of 1655 participants, 36 out of 122 women in my age group of 40-44!!!! I beat 70% of the women my age!!!!! Ecstatic beyond belief!

Me and my Charlie after the race.

So what did I do to celebrate? I signed up for another 5k on Saturday! It's a small race in the next town. Hopefully that means less competition and maybe I could even place in my age division!