New Year's Challenge

Ok, so as you know my New Year's Resolution is to do a fitness challenge every month in 2011. It is not about losing weight this year but about staying active.

So here are the 5 W's:

Who: Independentmami

What: 5K, 10K, half marathons, marathon??

When: 2011-every month

Where: In Houston and surrounding areas

Why: This is one deserves a whole entire explaination. See below:

First let me start by saying that I have found a new love for running. Ok, so years ago, my bestfriend invited me to join her in a 5K WALK for a great cause. I did, and we crossed the finish line. That was fun. We always saw the runners and never thought we would be one of them one day. You look at them and see how in the zone they are about running. The gear they have on to help them run is impressive too. But never in a million years would I have thought that would have been me. Throughout the years we have continued to do several 5K walks every year. Well my bestfriend invited me to do a 10K RUN this past Thanskgiving. How crazy was she to think we could do it? How crazy was I when I said ok? Well we did it. We crossed the finish line and that is how I became runner. The sense of great accomplishment. I pushed my body to those limits and I went there. It was great. A little after that we did the jingle bell run and I bombed. It was a 5 mile race and my body was dying. My knee started killing me. I couldnt breath. I have attached pictures from this dreadful day so have proof for one day when I look back.





Here are my times:

Alba Turkey Trot 6.2 miles 1:19:24

Jingle Bell Run 5 miles 1:06:32

Remember with the 5Q's always comes the big H.

HOW??

So I decided that it would not happen again. Yes, I am running again. As of January 1, 2011 I have started TRAINING. Yes, I train. It is a word I use for exercising. I started out slowly walking. I downloaded a free ap. (Endomondo) It keeps track of the miles I do. So it turns out that my entire neighborhood is a little over 3 miles. I manage to do the entire neighborhood in 1 hr walking for the 1st week. The secong week I start running. I ran my entire neighborhood in 37 minutes the first day. I average 38 minutes the entire week. I am hoping to improve my time every week as I continue to train. My knee still kills me sometimes but I keep going. At times I get home I dont really feel like doing it but then I get out there and I do it. And here is the best thing of all, I have not entered a gym at all and I have lost 10 lbs. I am eating healthy balanced meals including snacks everyday. I am at the half way point this month and am very happy about how I feel and the results. On Jan 30th, I will be running the El Paso 5K. I hope to do the run in under or right at 30 minutes. I hope to continue improving my time as the weeks pass. I will check in after the race and give you my results, thoughts, and reactions.

Help?

I dont know about you but I use my help button. I am not doing this alone. I recommend you get a partner if you need help. My husband is helping me achieve my goals. He has helped me with the food, gear, and advice. Not only has he done that, but he is beside me everyday on my runs. He runs faster, way faster than I do. But I hope to be at his pace soon! My bestfriends are running as well. This is something that has changed all of us.

To be continued...stay tuned for my shoe review. Find out what shoes have helped me.