Running The Race

I did it!. I participated in the Hopebuilders 5K for Levine Children Hospital in Charlotte yesterday with a group of co-workers and some of their families. It was my goal to run the entire race without stopping, and I was able to do it in 38 minutes, which is my best time for running over 3 miles. I was a little nervous the night before, because 1. I didn't want to make a fool of myself. I had told everyone that I was going to run the entire time. If I didn't, I would have been very embarrassed. 2. I ran 3.5 miles the night before with BGR (Black Girls Run), I was fairly tired and so sore. So the night before, I packed my Race Recovery Kit which included a bottle of water, a towel, some pain reliever, and peanut butter and cheese crackers. I woke up at 5:30 the next morning, ate my healthy multigrain slice of bread with nutella and banana spread on top, put on my race t-shirt, packed my headphones for my Pandora app on my phone, and headed out the door. I wasn't sure if I was completely ready, but I went to the race on a mission. I was determined not to fail.

A little after 8 am, the whole group, which made up several hundred people, took off. I had trained myself to pace myself, keep my arms close to the sides, and to pay close attention to my breathing. About half a mile in, I stopped only to tie my shoe. At about 2 miles in, I began to get delirious. The path was fairly simple, through a beautiful neighborhood in the Dilworth area. It was a gorgeous morning but cool. There were some slight inclines that just about killed me, but I kept going. I remember the first song that got me pumped was Martha Munizzi's "Glorious". Some people might have thought I was crazy singing this song out loud, but the beat got me going just a little further. As I was nearing the 3rd mile, I slowed down a bit because I noticed my other shoe became untied and I seriously was not about to stop to tie it. I was so friggin close to finishing. Thank God for Israel's "I am a Friend of God" because at that moment I needed to know God was my friend and he was going to help me make it to the end of this race. I got to the finish line and I saw some of my co-workers cheering me on. I looked up at the clock and it said 38 min and some seconds which I really didn't pay attention to. I just knew I finished!

True to my emotional self, I broke down in tears. One of my co-worker's husband probably thought I had lost my mind. I knew he didn't know about the journey It took to get to this point. He didn't know that 2 months ago I could not run a mile. Nine months ago, I was well over 200 pounds. Nine months ago, I was also crying like a baby because I so desperately wanted to change from the inside out. So all of these emotions just poured out of me because at that moment, I reached a huge goal. I really didn't care about how silly I looked, because I was able to achieve what I set out to do. Later on, I went to church which was the perfect end to my day. It is always good to hear an encouraging word. Today, I spent most of the day in bed recovering, which is what I deserved to do....

WEIGHT LOSS TO DATE: This week was a big shocker, I lost 6 pounds guys! I am 19 pounds from my goal!