So far, I’ve been keeping this on my computer so it’s gonna be a long first post:
Sun Sep 30, 2007 5:25 pm
Tomorrow I begin DAY ONE www dot halhigdon dot com/marathon/novices2
Over the summer, during the hottest months in this area, I’ve pretty much been doing maintenance running to keep an edge on my physical conditioning. Today I did my first long run since last May. At one point I was getting a bit psycho from dehydration.
DH and I picked the Austin Marathon on Feb 17, 2008 as our goal because 1) we have lots of friends in Austin, 2) there are lots of my friends in Austin, and 3) it will allow us to do the longest training runs during the coolest months of the year for our area.
For those of you who don’t know me, I started out on LCF when I did LC for the first time. In 3 1/2 mons in 2003 I lost 39 lbs doing strict LC. Two days after I made goal weight (less actually, I went from 173 to 134) I conceived my 2nd child. So I know a lot of you from the pregnancy and mommy threads. During that pregnancy I went from hypO thyroid to hypER thyroid. I had severe tachycardia and eventually severe arrhythmia when Brianna was 3 mos old. But my pediatriacian is also my endocrinologist and he knew how important it was for me to breast feed for one year. He and the cardiologist agreed that if I really could not stand the arrhythmia (it’s terrible when you feel your heart beating out of control, terribly frightening) that I could take a beta blocker for 3 days in a row without affecting Brianna through my milk. Instead, I started running again; hard running. At first I could barely do 1 km, then 2kms then 5….But the hard cardio workout controlled my arrhythimia. I still had a resting pulse rate of 95 to 100, but at least it wasn’t going bump BA BUMP ba ba ba BUMP de BUMP thud thud THUMP.
I’ve been a life long runner even though I smoked for 27 years. Started out w/high school cross country and kept it up every time my weight got out of hand or I was trying to quit smoking. But I would run on and off, it was not consistent until the last 3 years. I finally quit the ciggies for good when I took the pregnancy test for Brianna. Jan 13, 2004. Thank water bottle!
Bam has been a great influence. He was also a life long runner and smoker. Our paths are very similar. Jeez, if you haven’t seen his before and after photos, look them up.
Another influence has been my aunt. She started "jogging" on the beach when I was running cross country during highschool. She was in her mid 50s. She kept going an going, sort of like Auntie Gump, and ended up being the top woman’s half marathon runner for her age group (55 to 60) for several years in a row. She ran a full marathon in Alcapulco. She is now 78 years old and still runs 5Ks almost every weekend. She laughs about just beating the "gal in the wheel chair" by a hair. When I am 78, I want to be that woman. I do not want to be an overweight smoker hacking my lungs out.
Both of my children have taken a great interest in running because they see DH and I training all the time. Brianna is a running fool. So much so that she has almost been hit by boat trailers and cars while running home during an evening stroll. She just starts going and tunes out everything and everyone around her. We’re trying to channel that energy with soccor (futbol in Mexico) and next week she’s going to start Tae Quan Do 3 hours a week. Often in the evenings we go out for a family jog of 1 or 2 kms. It’s so much fun. Usually DH and I end up carrying the kids back; we have boys against girls races (the boys always cheat). But I am so happy for my children to be growing up with an athletic attitude toward life. My parents were both smokers; but neither of them was ever overweight and they both had excellent physiques all their lives. It sucked to be the daughter of a woman with legs like a fashion model; my sisters and I all have cellulite elephant legs. My mother never did anything to tone her legs, it was just hereditary. You know how they say that you can’t do spot training or any kind of exercise to reduce fat in a specific area of your body. That’s pretty much true. However, after 2 years of hard running the shape of my legs has changed dramatically. I still have lots of loose skin from gaining and losing 40 lbs and 2 pregnancies. I still have terrible celluite. I stand in front of the mirror and pull the skin up at the top of my thighs and my legs look awesome. In tight pants my legs look awesome. But hey. I am 45 years old; I’ve had two children in my late 30s early 40s. I was 40 lbs overweight for 6 or 7 years. My skin is not elastic. But I am in dayum good shape. And running makes me feel so alive, so powerful, and so happy.
I’ve seen a thread on exercise and what makes you stick with it…all I can say is that I love to run. Always have. The only thing I loved more was riding horses; I was a trainer, instructor, and all around horse girl for almost 25 years before I moved to Mexico. Riding does wonders that Kegel never even thought of…but it’s too hot here for me to put on all those pants and boots and…I’m too old to get dumped even though that was a very rare occurrence. I do miss the spiritual connection of woman and animal; there is nothing quite like riding to make you feel totally connected to an animal and through that animal you are also connected to the earth. Especially dressage which became my specialty as I got older. My XH called it ballet for horses. It was ballet for the rider too.
But that was then and this is now; running fits my lifestyle and I have become addicted to something that has always been a passion. I’ll never be fast, I’ll never be great; I’ll never win a race or an award; but the sense of personal accomplishment is incredible.
So if any of you are interested, I’ll start posting my running log here.
Special thanks to Bam for helping me believe in me.
Hubby went to the dr. thursday for his annual physical. Blood pressure was down and I asked him if he told the dr that he was doing Atkins. He said no. Well I find out tonight that might not be the whole story. While playing cards with friends, he let it slip that the dr told him Atkins was fine for awhile, but he shouldn’t stay on it long term. 
Not two seconds later, another bootay, a 10 on a 1-10 scale, fills the screen. I think I counted 6 perfect derriers milling about that resort. I didn’t see one dimple of cellulite or lack of tone on these women. The message the media sends out, loud and in HD, is that this is what we are supposed to look like and if we don’t, we’re not sexy. I went on a rant, telling DH that this is the exact thing that makes me run and hide and want to cover up with a mumu. Seriously. I loathe myself when I am compared to THAT. ….. And I know that I’m the one doing the comparing, but still…….in MY mind, my husband must look at that and then me and think…. 
. He said all of the right things but I know I can never measure up to that kind of perfection no matter what I do or how much I lose. I can’t be the only one who feels this way. Forgive me for whining…..usually I can keep my self-esteem from dropping so low, but things like this just tick me off. Hmmm…guess I have a new New Years resolution to work on……
