Next week, I am going to attempt, no I am going to run my first 5K. Now, I have really been trying to push myself to get a run in at least three times a week in addition to my regular strength training. My personal life and work schedule make it difficult to be committed to running everyday. I acquired this 5K Training Schedule, which I have been able to follow roughly the past 8 weeks, and by this week, I should be up to 3 miles (currently I am at 2.5), and theoretically should be able to run the full 3.2 miles by next Saturday. Now let me let you all in on a little secret: I don't really like to run. From the moment I start until the time I finish, all I can think about is finishing. The only thing that keeps me going is the Pandora line up of one of my favorite worship leaders, Israel Houghton, and a lot of prayer. There have been times when I just broke down and cried after running, because it takes everything I have to get to the finish line.
Well, now I am even more encouraged. Recently, a fellow facebook friend turned me on to a movement called Black Girls Run. There are literally groups of black girls running regularly all over the country, and participate in various runs as a group. I was fortunate to find a group here in Charlotte. The skeptic in me said, "Really, there are black girls all over the country running? Get the heck out of here!". I mean, I love my sisters, but honestly, I have never seen a whole group of girls who look just like me, running. It has been assumed by society that in a lot of African American communities "Black women don't like to exercise because they don't want to sweat, or get their hair messed up". And while this may be true for some of us(which I have posed the question before, is it really worth losing your quality of life just to look pretty on the surface?), there are actually beautiful women of color out there who are not afraid to get sweaty, not afraid of their hair getting "nappy" all for the sake of good ol' fashioned physical activity. I met women of all different sizes, backgrounds, and levels of activity who were committing to being healthy. Running with these ladies helped me to push myself a little bit further. Though I wasn't the fastest, I wasn't the slowest. I was able to run non-stop. I also respect the group's motto, "No woman left behind", so even the one's who were slower were assured of their ability to get to the finish line, and the leader stayed in the middle so we all stayed together.
Even though running is my least favorite thing to do, I know that it is just another challenge that I will conquer. Hopefully I will began to really enjoy running now that I know there are other ladies out there who look like me and are running with purpose. Although I may not be able to make all the runs, my goal is to participate in at least one group run a week, and one organized run every 3 months to keep my skills up. One of my life goals is to be able to run a full marathon by the time I am 40. I might be ahead of schedule....
WEIGHT LOSS TO DATE: Still holding fine at 50 lbs lost. I have loss some inches however! I am still encouraged!
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