Ran my first 5K!

Since Tough Mudder is a 13 mile course, with lots of running between each obstacle, I figured I better get my endurance in order. I started the Couch to 5K program on the treadmill. I got 4 weeks into the program and on the first day of week 5 I was in a really bad mood. I was ANGRY! I started running as the APP told me to, but when it told me to walk, I didn't want to. I just kept running until I ran 5K! I ran it on the treadmill in 30 minutes. Everyone says switching to pavement is a lot harder.... you will be using muscles you don't need to use on the treadmill. I ran my first real 5K on April 20th. Yes it was harder... I had to stop and walk out a cramp in mile 2... when I was coming around the corner to the finish line, I expected the clock to say 40 minutes... but it said 28 minutes!! I finished the race in 28 minutes and 56 seconds.... and as for using the muscles you don't use on the treadmill? Oh yes that is true... I felt like I had been hit by a bus for the next few days lol. I have 2 more 5K races in the next two weeks and I am excited to see how I will do.

The Plateau...

Feeling discouraged...
though I am getting stronger and faster, I'm not seeing the results in my body's appearance. I wish this last 10lbs of fat would come off already, so I can start toning and showing off my new muscles.

...and so it begins.

For as long as I can remember, I have been lazy and unhealthy. Sleeping as often as possible, eating anything and everything, the fattier the better. 1LB of bacon all to myself? I'll inhale that in 5 seconds flat! Heck, I even considered jumping into competitive eating. I think part of the reason I allowed myself to live this type of lifestyle, is that I have never had to worry about my weight. I could eat and sleep and do nothing else, yet I wouldn't gain a pound. Three pregnancies had me looking like I never even had a baby just a couple of weeks after giving birth. All good things come to an end, right? Enter my fourth pregnancy. I gained about the same amount of weight as with my others and was looking forward to it melting off again, as it always had. I had my baby on 11/20/12 and three days after I gave birth, I turned 30. I've been told for years, "just wait til you hit 30, your ass will blow up". Well I guess maybe they were right. The pregnancy weight didn't come off... not one....single....pound. Three months later and I am still in maternity jeans because I can't bring myself to buy fat jeans. I decided I need to make a change. Four kids and 30 years of being a couch potato has got my body fed up. I will not use four babies as an excuse to be overweight. It's not just about the way my body looks though, I have a craving to be healthy. I get winded walking up a flight of stairs. I want to be able to keep up with my children and not have to stop to take a breather. I don't want to end up in the morgue with clogged arteries. I started my journey on February 1st, 2013. I began by buying a workout DVD. I lost 3 lbs my first week. Then I decided I would go to a Zumba class on Monday nights. My 2nd week I lost another 2 lbs and decided I would like to train for a 5K. Really? I get winded walking up a flight of stairs and I am going to try and run a 5K? Really! My 5K is in May and I can't wait. This seems like such a small goal though. It is, this is my mini goal. My ultimate goal, I've decided, is to complete the Tough Mudder in October. Every single obstacle. It's dubbed as the toughest competition in the world (or something along those lines), and I'm gonna do it. I believe I have the mental endurance and the pain tolerance. I have given birth without any kind of pain medication three times...ask anyone who has done that, it's not a walk in the park, especially when there are ways to quickly end your misery. (for the record, I have had an epidural once too and I know that's not an easy way to give birth either, so those of you who loved your epidurals can lay down your pitchforks and torches. You give birth how you want and I will give birth how I want to) I didn't do that for bragging rights, I just really hate the way medication effects me... I'd rather be in pain than be high... But THIS... Tough Mudder... I am doing it for a few reasons, bragging rights included. I want to prove to myself and anyone who doubts me, that I can and will do this. It's going to be a rough road. It won't be easy to get into shape when I am busy with 4 kids and a 10 hour a day desk job. Yeah, I'm a girl, yeah I'm only 5 feet tall, yeah I can barely do 5 push ups now, but I will become a well oiled machine. I will complete every obstacle on the Tough Mudder course. I will pass up men who are crying like babies on their hands and knees. I will offer to help them up off the ground, but they would probably be too ashamed to accept help from someone like me. I may have only just gotten off the couch, but in 7 months, I will be covered in mud, sweat, and maybe even a little blood... and I will cross that finish line and collect my orange sweatband and my free beer.

Couch Potato: February 1st 2013

Weight: 122lbs
Waist: 34.25"
Hips: 37"
Arms: 11.25"
Thighs 21"

Tough Mudder: October 5th 2013.