Guest Post: My Own Personal Victory

Another guest post for you ladies! This is from Melissa, who is truly a person I consider a great friend to me. Not just in blog land, but in real life as well. Even though we have never met in real life, it that makes any sense. I feel a great connection to her and I asked her to write this guest post today. She recently accomplished something and her story inspires me everytime. I hope you enjoy her story as much as I do.

Well hello there! My name is Melissa, and I author AngelFoodie Eats…& Runs. Lisa has asked that I write a guest post on my recent personal victory: running my first 5K race.

Me and my daughter Hannah

My sweet daughter Madelyn

For many of you, running a 5K is a simple task, and for that, I admire you. However, for me, it was not. I’m 27 years old, and I have two little girls: Hannah, 3 years, and Madelyn, 9 months…and it shows in my figure. I have struggled with my weight since I can remember, and I have tried in every possible (well, almost) way to lose the weight. Most of it is for vanity reasons, to be honest. Not a lot of people want to admit that. When people go forth to lose weight, most people will say it’s for health. Well, sure it is!! However, most of us want to look in the mirror and not want to cry. Most of us want to see ourselves in a different light: a better looking one.

That’s been a goal of mine for years. I wanted to be “the hot girl.” I wanted to look as good as my younger sisters. I wanted to be chased after. This led me into a very deep depression in high school, and it wasn’t until college that I came out of it. (I didn’t think I’d make it to college, to be honest with you. I thought something was seriously wrong with me.) When college came for me, it was like something broke free. My personality blossomed, and so did my desire to get into shape, and no, not just for vanity reasons.

I started going to the gym 5-6 times a week, and I lost some good weight. Enough that it took my mom several seconds to realize it was me walking toward her when she came for my graduation. Man, I still wish I had discovered earlier in my college years that the gym would do that for me and that I would become addicted! When I went home after graduation, I no longer had the convenience of a “free” gym (you know, since my out-of-state tuition paid for that bad boy, I’m sure!). I also met my husband two days after returning home. You know what they say about relationships right? It’s true. You gain weight. I didn’t gain too much weight, and after two years of being together, we got married and brought home a St. Lucian honeymoon souvenir: our beautiful Hannah.

Pregnancy. It does a body good, let me tell you. I’m I did get down to my college weight after Hannah was born, and I was striving to lose more before planning to try for another. Haha. Life has a funny way of throwing things at you when you least expect it, and viola! Madelyn was ready to make an appearance: fashionable late, of course. My bod withstood a 9-pound, 22-inch baby two weeks later than it needed to. No complaints about having to put my body through two pregnancies, though…I couldn’t be more blessed!!

Cue November 2009. My humongous desire to try running became pretty overwhelming, and I’m positive that it had a lot to do with trying to lose my pregnancy weight and then some. To back track a little, I ran a 14-16-minute mile in high school. I attempted running a million times after that, and I could not make it past 30 seconds of jogging even if it meant saving my life. So, why I thought that running would even be a possibility for me after having a second child is beyond me.

And then it happened: Susan G. Komen announced its inaugural Race For The Cure 5K in my city. It was meant to be. I picked up my Target brand kicks, my iTouch, and headed for the treadmill. I will never do that again. Talk about some might fine shin splints!!!! Of course, all this time I’ve been blaming bad knees, shins, and ankles as my reason…when it was really just cheap sneakers.

Two weeks later, I was back at it, and let me tell you…I will personally admit, every single time, that it was never and inability to do so. It was purely mental for me. Impatience was a problem, too. Whenever I wasn’t seeing “results” on the scale, I would give up. This time, though, I was bound and determined. I used the Couch To 5K program, and I will stand by that program 100% for the rest of my life. It starts you off running only 30 seconds, and well, we know from my past that 30 seconds was the limit for me. When week two started, I was required to run one full minute, and I did it. Okay, making strides. When I ran three minutes in a row, I was super excited…and then it hit five minutes. What!? Five whole minutes!?! At my pace that was almost a whole half a mile!!! In high school I could barely even make it a quarter of the way around one lap!

I covered the screen, and I ran five full minutes. And I cried. I did it.

Then I decided to test my abilities. (What a concept for this lazy butt!) I covered the screen the next time I stood on the treadmill, and I ran. I kept running. A few minutes into it, “Spotlight” by Usher came on. Don’t ask me why it got to me, because it’s an Usher song. Haha. However, the whole song’s based on a girl being in the spotlight. It’s like I was meant to hear that when I was making huge strides personally. I was in my own spotlight.

I ran 12 minutes straight that day. I ran over a mile, and I never looked back.

I ran my first 5K April 10, 2010. At that point, I had only trained to 2.4 miles. I still hadn’t worked the last 0.7 miles in yet. However, I woke up, did my normal routine, got out the door and arrived fully expecting to have to walk some of that race.

The gun went off, and I ran. Larger people passed me. Thinner people passed me. I passed larger people, and I passed thinner people. I got to the first mile no problem. The second came and went. I even finally grabbed for a water cup and missed my own mouth. Note to self: set up your own water stations when training next time. It seems that I need to practice drinking more so than running.

I swear to you, I got to the last tenth of a mile and walked. For two seconds. I saw that finish line and bolted to it. I saw my husband standing there at the end, and I ran right past him. Poor fella. I thought I was going to see that drop of water I actually got down my throat at the water station again, but I didn’t. I took a few breaths, and hugged the crap out of him. I cried. A little. Not as much as I thought I would, though.

And it wasn’t until three days later that I realized the actual length I ran.

“Babe! I just figured something out! I ran from Exit 140 to Exit 143!!! Can you believe it!?!”

Number 1002! Running my 5k

That was the phone call my husband received on my way home from work that following Tuesday. Oh the things you think of on your commute!

I still wear my bright orange d-tag. Not to show off. Not because I’m lazy, but because it’s a constant reminder that I can do anything I want to as long as I want it bad enough. Those neon yellow Nikes got me to the finish line physically, but it was my faith in myself, my drive, and my newfound confidence that really got me there.

I won’t mention my time, because it’s not important. I didn’t place first, and there were over 100 people that finished after me. What I will say is this: it wasn’t until after that race that I considered myself a runner. Why? Because, if I had quit before really trying like I did so many times before, I wouldn’t be one. I made it to that big, pink, blow-up finish line, and I earned the title “Runner”.

I’m currently still trying to lose my weight, and it’s coming off. I’m also training for a half marathon that I’ll be running with the beautiful Lisa next year!

Thanks for reading my story, because honestly, this is the first chance I’ve really been able to write about it since the race! Man does life get in the way sometimes! I apologize that it’s so long, but when it’s taken a lifetime to reach a goal, you kind of expect it!

*For anyone that wants to get to his or her first 5K, pick up Couch To 5K. It works. (And send me a picture of your d-tag when you finish!) And for the people out there that don’t believe in themselves enough to reach a goal, don’t fool yourself. Your mind is capable, your body is capable, and if you let it, they’ll both bring you more pride and joy than you ever thought possible.

What kind of personal victory have you had lately? Two come to mind for me. The first is conqouring my fear of Chemistry. This class has taught me so much about life and to not fear things–just go for them. Second, it would be my relationship with food. I’m finally binge free and happy.

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