Sunday, February 28, 2010

Running!!..................Wait....WHAT??

Yep, it's true! If you had told met to run a week ago, my automatic response would have been......"Why?? Will someone be chasing me?" Seriously, running?? No way, not me. I have never been the "exercise" type. Sports? YES!!......Situps/pushups/basically anything else? NOT REALLY!!

And then the strangest thing happened to me the other week. I quit Weight Watchers. While I had managed to lose almost 20 lbs doing the program, I began to get bored, and frustrated when the scale stopped, and then started going back up. I felt like I was so low on points (21) that I was relying on the same foods over and over again, just to stay within my daily points. And then it occured to me that I was heading down the road of exactly what I didn't want to have happen and that was to get bored with my food and be unable to find that variety that we all know we need.

But I wasn't sure that I could "trust" myself to make good choices on my own, without being somewhat accountable for what I was eating and doing. So, I asked around on ..........where else??.......Twitter, and Ryan (@nomorebacon) was using the website www.dailyburn.com , so I thought I'd take a look.

What I didn't want was something like WW's, where I spent so much time planning and counting and cringing and crying and well, okay not crying, but you get the point. So I thought what I would do was sign up on the Daily Burn, and not "track", but "record". Is there a difference? Well, in my head, tracking is planning, sweating, and "crying" about what I can and cannot eat. Recording is eating what I want and then recording it and putting my choices to the test.

And what do you know, I didn't do too bad! I managed to come in well under my caloric intake goals everyday, without what I consider the stressfulness of "dieting". I ate food I enjoyed, and made good choices and I'm very proud of this! (I'm the true definition of a junk food junkie - but I'm recovering)

Okay, so enough about food.....here's the good stuff:

Along with calorie/nutrition tracking, the Daily Burn also offers a workout tracking option. I was able to select the type of workout that I wanted to do and the days I wanted to do them. Honestly, I really didn't give this option that much thought..........as I said earlier, SPORTS, not EXERCISE.....in fact, in my mind, these two things have nothing in common....although I realize that isn't a fact, sports seem so much more fun!

And then, on the day of my first Daily Burn workout, they sent me a reminder to my email. The very first exercise?.....Run 1K. HUH?? Who are the freaks that thought this up? So I DM'd my girl Lori (@slorunnermom), curious if it was even possible for a non-runner to "run" 1k straight out of the gate.

Lori, oh how I love her, suggested that I give it a try and if needed walk/jog the 1k. And then she said something that will forever stay with me everytime I run. She said she was "SO PROUD" of me. Well, less than an hour before that DM, I had basically written off any possibility that I could run the 1k and honestly didn't even want to try.

And then these people flashed through my brain - Lori (@slorunnermom) LOVES to run, and is so kind, inspirational, loving, encouraging, and on and on. Jen (@jeninRL) this girl is a firecracker! LOL! Always the one to take up a challenge, also a non-runner who signed up for a freaking 5k!! My Mo (@FitinMyHeart) this girl never ceases to amaze me and I was so excited and proud the day she ran her first 5k! These are just a few of the amazing people that inspire me and encourage me and amaze me every single day.

So, I did it. I sucked it up and jumped on the treadmill to "run". Even with Lori's encouragement, I honestly just wasn't sure I could even do it. I pictured myself "running" for like a minute and then keeling over in agony. But Lori's DM kept running through my head. She was proud of me....and I hadn't even done anything yet. Shouldn't I have the same faith in myself as someone that I have never "met" has in me? HELL YA!!

So I ran, and ran, and ran, and I didn't run a 1k, I ran a mile! That very first time, a freaking mile!!! I was on a high that I can't even explain....I was so excited....I thought I might burst. And I couldn't wait until my next run. That next run I ran 1.5 miles and I felt AWESOME!!

Am I an official runner? Ummmm....I guess I'm not sure, but for the time being, I'm taking a cue from all my twitter loves and I can't wait to get to my next one and see just how far I can take myself!!