Plenty of sleep? Check.
Protein for breakfast? Check.
Mental determination? Double check.
I awoke this morning a little before 7am to get ready for my very first 5K run. A bit intimidated and unsure about how this experience would turn out, but I was most excited to see how far I've come in the last 13 months....
You see, I have never been athletic or into fitness...not really. I didn't regularly exercise until I was in college and graduate school. Even then, it wasn't something I made an absolute priority. I was more concerned with weight loss back then; it was my only motivation.
My whole life I have struggled with weight issues and so I have always associated exercise as a necessary 'evil' towards reaching the physical ideal. I would do some cardio to 'get it out of the way' and move on to the next thing on my 'to do' list. Exercise wasn't a mindful activity or something pleasant I looked forward to doing.
It wasn't until January 2010 that I made a stronger commitment...to that of fitness. While I still would like to lose weight (and have been/still am), I have learned these last 13 months that being healthy and having strong muscles is more important than what the numbers tell me when I step on a scale. I have learned so many things since I started going to a gym and working with a trainer....plyometrics (strength training), weight training, different kinds of dance, how to push myself a little harder each time so I'm always tricking my body/prevent from hitting a plateau, and the importance of stretching. And muscle weighs more than fat, don't forget! Pay attention to how your clothes feel as you lose inches of body fat, not water weight!
Sometimes I go running outside in my neighborhood or on the treadmills in the gym, but I've never done a race of any sort. I always thought that was just for 'real runners'.....which is why I was a bit nervous and intimidated about my first 5K today. And I ended up totally rocking it! Who knew!
I arrived early so that I could get a parking spot since I heard there were 3,000 people expected to be participating. With my fingers crossed for the sky to be rain and wind free, I walked onto the path of the lake searching for signs of the 'start' area. I didn't see any signs.
As I was listening to my ipod and holding a banana in my right hand, I saw out of the corner of my eye this pigtailed young woman wearing a blue Jingle Bell Run tshirt waving her hands at me. I pulled the headphones out of my ears and approached her. She saw that I was wearing a Valentine's Day Dash Love 'Em or Leave 'Em shirt and thought maybe I knew where we were supposed to go, but I didn't know either. We chatted briefly and heard from someone else that the registration area was at the boathouse, which was probably 1.5 miles away from where we were standing on Green Lake. It was 45 minutes before race time, so I leisurely walked as I ate my banana and headed towards the 'start' area. Fortunately, the weather was great....in the 40's and partly sunny, no wind.
15 minutes prior to start time, I was waiting in line for the women's restroom and this woman behind me started talking with me for a few minutes. She looked to be in her early 50's and mentioned this was her first race. "My daughter runs marathons, but she couldn't be here today because she has to take care of her 3 year old son." I told her it was my first race as well. She went on to tell me how she's been in a relationship that she's not sure whether to stay in or leave. "So this race is kinda symbolic for you?" I inquired. "Well, good luck!," I added.
"You too!" she said.
I've wondered how in races everyone can start at the same time when not everyone is near the starting line. I found out today. There were different mile markers of where to stand, depending on how fast you think you can run in minutes per mile. It started with 6-7 minutes and went all the way up to 13. I'm not a fast runner, so I went to the 13 minute marker. I honestly didn't care about being fast. Endurance was my main focus. For me, it was more important to run at a moderate pace and not get tired. I was determined to not walk AT ALL...and I didn't! (I usually have to stop and walk at some point when I'm running by myself)
What I liked about this race was that there were people of all ages and fitness levels. It took away the intimidation factor. I suddenly felt I belonged there, that I could do it successfully. And I did! I was in some kind of 'zone' and it felt amazing. I had my music going and it was as if time stopped...or either I felt no sense of time as I ran. It felt like I just started running and before I knew it, I was done (34:04...not bad for a first timer!). Didn't feel long at all, or even hard. It's true that 90% of it is mental. With that said, I can't wait for the next race.
Making fitness a lifestyle choice has had me reinvent myself in ways I could never fathom before, not to mention it's shown me how if you really set your mind to accomplishing something you CAN do it!!!
Showing posts with label fitness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fitness. Show all posts
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Show me the muscles!
Although I have never remotely been what one may deem a gym kinda gal, it has somehow steered me in the right direction...motivating me towards a healthier and more confident version of myself. I remember the first gym I stepped into was on campus during my college years in San Marcos, Texas...thanks to my good friend Carla. Funny enough though, I more so remember she and I running on the track behind the gym more so than I remember us working out inside the gym...although I do remember the day we took a kickboxing class together. Damn, that kicked my ass alright. I sweat buckets and ached for a good two days at least! It was Carla who was instrumental in getting me to see the benefits of exercise, a friend who still inspires me in such a way to this day.
After college, I didn't go to a gym again until four years later in Chicago. A friend of mine generously gave me a gym membership as a gift. At the time, I was juggling grad school, an internship, and work. Stress and fatigue were quite the norm, as you can imagine. My friend's gift couldn't have arrived at a more opportune time. I was in utter gratitude, as working out at the gym was my outlet and gave me an extra boost of self-confidence. As financial circumstances would have it though, I could not afford the membership once I was expected to make the payments a few years later....so I stopped going. Though I would continue to exercise, running along Belmont Harbor in the single digit temps with the potential to slip on black ice just didn't provide the same motivation, structure, and "comfort" of a gym.
While it is certainly not as cold here in Seattle as in Chicago, I feel the same way....I need motivation, structure, and the "comfort" of a gym setting. It's too easy to make excuses as to why I cannot run outside in my neighborhood....too rainy, too windy, too dark, blah, blah, blah. I cannot do this with a gym though, especially now that I have the means (car and money) to join a gym! I made a spontaneous decision about 3 weeks ago that this year fitness is going to be a top priority for me, whatever it takes. Not only did I join a gym, I also signed on for my own personal trainer! I will be meeting with her once a month (though I feel like I have met with her alot already just in the past 2 weeks!).
All of this is somewhat intimidating and weird for me because as I said, I'm SOOOO not an athlete by any stretch of the imagination. It's the one thing that has always been my weakness (athletic ability), which is probably why I have avoided it for so long. I've spent much of my life living inside my head with intellectual and emotional pursuits, less so really in my body (if that makes sense). Now I find myself wanting to be less in my head and more in my body.
This doesn't come without challenges and the need for patience. I have a tendency to do too much too fast, or be too hard on myself if I don't reach at or beyond the bar I set for myself when it comes to achievement. I've noticed this is even more so the case with this fitness undertaking. I don't want to disappoint myself or my trainer. She's super sweet and encouraging. My first workout with her was a bit challenging (particularly the exercises to work my core), but I did it and was proud of myself. The second workout I did with her (on Monday) was difficult, as it involved various weight training exercises she came up with for me to do the next 3-4 weeks. Even though I didn't know if I could do all of them, I kept at it and didn't quit...no matter how powerful the burn. The human body is a strange thing. The following day after that workout my legs ached a bit, but I was surprised my arms didn't bother me much (the arm exercises were the hardest for me...especially the three different bicep curls she had me do). The second day (yesterday) my legs were feeling better and my arms were slightly achy.....but today my arms REALLY hurt. I feel like someone ran over my biceps with a Mack truck; no joke.
For some reason, I really got frustrated with myself about this. I think it's because I am trying so hard to stick to my goal of going to the gym 3-4 times a week (I really need to do weight training 2-3 times per week) and yet I haven't been able to go back since Monday's weight training session because of my muscle aches. I don't like doing things slowly, when it comes to important goals anyway. Hopefully my arms will be back to normal tomorrow, as I am meeting with my trainer tomorrow night for her to show me how to do the abdominal exercises on the plan she gave me.
Will I be able to transform what has always been my greatest weakness into a newfound strength (literally and figuratively)? I hope so. Perseverance will reveal itself, hopefully sooner rather than too much later....
After college, I didn't go to a gym again until four years later in Chicago. A friend of mine generously gave me a gym membership as a gift. At the time, I was juggling grad school, an internship, and work. Stress and fatigue were quite the norm, as you can imagine. My friend's gift couldn't have arrived at a more opportune time. I was in utter gratitude, as working out at the gym was my outlet and gave me an extra boost of self-confidence. As financial circumstances would have it though, I could not afford the membership once I was expected to make the payments a few years later....so I stopped going. Though I would continue to exercise, running along Belmont Harbor in the single digit temps with the potential to slip on black ice just didn't provide the same motivation, structure, and "comfort" of a gym.
While it is certainly not as cold here in Seattle as in Chicago, I feel the same way....I need motivation, structure, and the "comfort" of a gym setting. It's too easy to make excuses as to why I cannot run outside in my neighborhood....too rainy, too windy, too dark, blah, blah, blah. I cannot do this with a gym though, especially now that I have the means (car and money) to join a gym! I made a spontaneous decision about 3 weeks ago that this year fitness is going to be a top priority for me, whatever it takes. Not only did I join a gym, I also signed on for my own personal trainer! I will be meeting with her once a month (though I feel like I have met with her alot already just in the past 2 weeks!).
All of this is somewhat intimidating and weird for me because as I said, I'm SOOOO not an athlete by any stretch of the imagination. It's the one thing that has always been my weakness (athletic ability), which is probably why I have avoided it for so long. I've spent much of my life living inside my head with intellectual and emotional pursuits, less so really in my body (if that makes sense). Now I find myself wanting to be less in my head and more in my body.
This doesn't come without challenges and the need for patience. I have a tendency to do too much too fast, or be too hard on myself if I don't reach at or beyond the bar I set for myself when it comes to achievement. I've noticed this is even more so the case with this fitness undertaking. I don't want to disappoint myself or my trainer. She's super sweet and encouraging. My first workout with her was a bit challenging (particularly the exercises to work my core), but I did it and was proud of myself. The second workout I did with her (on Monday) was difficult, as it involved various weight training exercises she came up with for me to do the next 3-4 weeks. Even though I didn't know if I could do all of them, I kept at it and didn't quit...no matter how powerful the burn. The human body is a strange thing. The following day after that workout my legs ached a bit, but I was surprised my arms didn't bother me much (the arm exercises were the hardest for me...especially the three different bicep curls she had me do). The second day (yesterday) my legs were feeling better and my arms were slightly achy.....but today my arms REALLY hurt. I feel like someone ran over my biceps with a Mack truck; no joke.
For some reason, I really got frustrated with myself about this. I think it's because I am trying so hard to stick to my goal of going to the gym 3-4 times a week (I really need to do weight training 2-3 times per week) and yet I haven't been able to go back since Monday's weight training session because of my muscle aches. I don't like doing things slowly, when it comes to important goals anyway. Hopefully my arms will be back to normal tomorrow, as I am meeting with my trainer tomorrow night for her to show me how to do the abdominal exercises on the plan she gave me.
Will I be able to transform what has always been my greatest weakness into a newfound strength (literally and figuratively)? I hope so. Perseverance will reveal itself, hopefully sooner rather than too much later....
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