First 5K!

Friends when I tell you that a year and a half ago I struggled to walk very short distances, I am not exaggerating in the least.  Just contemplating walking a mile seemed like something way way out of my hemisphere.  Then I changed my life and began slowly increasing my distance in quarter mile increments.  By my side was one of my trainers, Marisa, who would trick me into going a little further each time by making me think we were just going for a stroll and a little girl chat.

Last December I made a goal to do my work's annual 5K this year. I dreamed of having some numbers on my chest and crossing a finish line, as I'd cheered on runners at other races over this past year of getting healthy.  Still, it didn't quite seem real when I picked up my race packet yesterday and pulled out my very first race bib with the number 81 on it. 

Well, it was a day of miracles, the first being that I actually hopped out of the bed at 5:30 am on a freezing morning (or any Saturday morning really being the night owl that I am).  I thought I would be dragging, but I was pumped and ready.  Still, as I was getting ready to go, the old fears crept over me and I remembered all too sharply the way I used to feel walking: out of breathe and lower back cramping making me feel like I was involuntarily curling into the C position. I haven't felt like that in a long time but would that happen today?

I sucked in my fears and headed out to the race with my cousin Devon (who was doing it with me), my husband and my Momma who had made me a sign that said, "Go Mint!" (one of my numerous nicknames in the gym).  Immediately I ran into Marisa and my wonderful Transformation team mates and the excitement started to grow!

Ready for the race: Krysta, Emma, me, Flo and Millie

Flo, me, Devon, Mary, Millie, Krysta and Emma

Who would have thought we'd be doing this a year ago? Almost time to race!

The air was frigid, but our spirits were up as we pinned on our numbers. My nerves started to grow again though as we lined up, Devon and I at the very back.

Almost time!

 Then the countdown began and we were off!  I waved goodbye to my husband and mother and felt fear clench in my stomach, why the heck am I doing this, I can't possibly finish. I was scared friends.  Even though I've been working out for a year, have flipped a 365 pound tire 18 times in 100 degree weather, and completed a two hour Zumba marathon, the distance factor was wigging me out.  That and the police car that followed behind Devon and I as we were the last ones in the pack.

But, as Devon and I always do, we started talking and laughing and the first blocks went by.  Along the way awesome volunteers cheered us on through the streets of historic downtown Wilmington.  We went up and down some big hills that in the past I have avoided like the plague and refused to set foot on.  We walked all the way down and past a restaurant that a group of co-workers walked to once at lunch and when I heard that they did it, I thought never in a million years could I do it myself.  We navigated cobblestones, waved to people and dogs, played a little Tupac and danced a little bit, and commented on the beautiful gingerbread houses of the historic district - all the while escorted by our own police officer who was very encouraging. And I didn't have to stop once.   My breathing was fine and I didn't feel tired at all.  

Soon we'd passed the half-way point, then the two-mile point, and then were on the home stretch.  We turned the corner to begin the straight shot back to the finish line and off in the distance I saw Millie (who had already finished) and Marisa heading towards us.   My heart swelled and I started waving my arms at them and picked up my pace. Then Lakshmi joined us and Marisa told us to jog.   As we always do what our trainer says, we picked up the pace. 

I started to get winded and Millie said, "Come on girl!  Your husband and your mother are waiting for you!" I picked it up, then slowed back down.  Marisa said, "Come on jog! You can do it! I've seen you do some amazing stuff in that gym!"  I picked up my pace.  We got closer and I could see the crowd.  Then I saw my husband and mother and started grinning.   Next Mary and Flo joined us and I was surrounded by my trainer and my Transformation girls.  With them I know I can do anything!   The crowd cheered and my husband stepped out and joined my side and we all jogged in together.  My cousin Devon even said, "This is like something out of a Lifetime movie!"  It was all just as I had pictured in my head that it would be and when I started lagging, Millie hooked my arm in hers and Eric got the other.  When we got close to the finish line though, I dropped their arms and picked up my pace to finish on my own steam.

Coming in.

A little blurry, but check out the looks on their faces; love this team!

YES! First 5K, done!

There were a lot of tears of joy and hugs all around, and an amazing sense of accomplishment. My Transformation group looked around at each other as if to say, can you believe we did that?

With our trainers: Flo, Mary, Marisa, Jeff, me, Millie, Lakshmi and Devon. Look at how far we've come!

Today was a major milestone, and Devon was right.  It was like something out of a movie.  I seriously doubt anyone will ever make The Jennifer Minter Story, but if they ever do, today's scene will definitely be in it!






 

Endurance

At the beginning of step class, Marisa announced that the goal today was endurance. We all looked around at each other as if to say, "Oh snap." And true to her nature, it was epic and just what I needed.  In my time working out, the word "endurance" has come up quite a bit and, when used in the gym, always means you're in for it. 

Endurance also is:

• Making it through a tough class, or a new class, whether you hit all the steps or not.
• Facing the scale on a regular basis, even you'd rather gouge your eyeballs out with a spoon.
• Getting back on track after a bad meal.
• Feeling defeated but fighting back anyway.
• Showing up every day, no matter whether your workout is perfect or not.
• Modifying what you can't do and making your workout fit your situation.
• Facing your fear, whether it be the gym, fit people, or foreign equipment, and sticking in there until eventually the gym is your happy place and those fit people are your friends and you know what to do with that equipment. 
• Shutting up that inner voice that tells you that you're tired, or you're fat, or you won't be successful. 

Even after these many months, these are all things that challenge me still.  Just today in step class, I felt tired and like I hadn't eaten enough prior to coming to class.  My inner voice listed all the reasons that I wouldn't be able to make it through class half-way in. It told me that I was too tired, too hungry, too sore, etc, winding me up until I almost gave up....then I recognized it for what it was and told it to SHUT UP!

I'm not super woman, but I've learned that even a former couch potato like me can endure. The secret is to simply quit thinking about all the reasons not to, or who's looking at you, or any of the other various things that our minds can craft to hold us back.  Miracles can happen when you tell that inner nay-sayer to SHUT UP.

 

 

Landmarks

Before the days of mapquest did you ever give or receive directions to a location based on landmarks? Like, "drive one mile and then you'll see a convenient store, turn there then go up three blocks until you see a used car lot.  Turn left at the car lot then go down to the second driveway on the left, the one with the mailbox that looks like a cow"?  I personally think this is much more effective that mapquest any day.

Back before we knew the proper names for equipment in the gym, we used to remember workouts this way.  Once, on one of our days without our trainer, Millie and I were getting ready to do a workout that we'd written down based on one we'd done with Marisa.  Examining the paper in her hand, Millie had told me, "Okay so we're going to do squat presses, then burpees, then rows, then we're going over to that machine where I cried that day and then we're going to do more squats and curl presses, then we're going over to do that exercise where you cried that day, then we're gonna..."  It was hilarious because without a beat, I nodded along and knew exactly what she was saying.

Today we broke out that old workout, only this time we knew the proper name of everything we were getting ready to do.  We still laughed about our old terms for everything because, after over a year of working out, we've definitely made "landmarks" all over our gym.  Instead of their proper names, certain spots in there could very well be called, "the place where I almost threw up that time," "the place where you called out for Jesus that time," or "the place where I refused to do it and then walked away and cried and then came back that time" among others. They could also be called "the place where I ran the first time," "the place where I realized I was getting stronger," or "the place where you pushed me forward that time" among many other wonderful "firsts."

Today Millie and I did a workout that we've done before, but this time we were able to push ourselves harder, step up our weights, and knew the proper terms for the equipment we were using.  We've been taught a lot and have gone past the novice phase of our transformations.  We can look back on times that we felt unsure of ourselves to the point where we cried and now find humor in it.  To me that just drives home the point that this process is truly a journey, something you have experience as it happens, not all in one fanatic burst. And learning that "that place where I cried that time" is really a smith machine is just the tip of the iceberg.

The Greatest Gift

Whew.  I think I survived Thanksgiving mostly unscathed. I wasn't perfect, but I wasn't awful...and as my wise friend Katie says, "it's persistence, not perfection" that counts.  Maybe we ate bad on Turkey Day and maybe the leftovers called our name the day afterward, but as one of my favorite characters from literature and movies, Scarlett O'Hara was famous for saying, "tomorrow is another day."  Maybe a holiday weekend of treating ourselves can motivate us towards a stricter plan for the upcoming weeks that will ultimately spur, not hinder, our weight loss. 

This is easily the most trying of times for dieters.  We're rushing around trying to get the right gift for everyone on our list, get preparations made for all of those holiday parties and family get-togethers, and trying to balance the usual family and work obligations.  It's a wonderful but stressful time of the year, two things that combine to make healthy eating and getting in regular workouts a challenge.  Like last year, this Christmas season I am going to try to keep at the forefront of my mind the fact that the greatest gift I can give myself and those who love me is health.

The Great Feast

Happy Thanksgiving to all!  It was a great day in our family spent the day in Sanford, NC. My aunt, AKA the Southern Martha Stewart, had the house decorated beautifully with flowers and greenery, pumpkins, and turkey centerpieces made by the younger generation of our family.  And you should have seen the spread!  Aunt Kathy always manages to make sure to have everyone's favorite Southern dishes like dressing and gravy, collards, turkey, cranberry salad, creamed corn, pumpkin pie, peas, roasted veggies,spinach casserole, rice, pork roast and on and on.   As the littlest one of our family, two-year-old Maggie, said to me when we arrived today, "Welcome to the great feast!"

I couldn't resist the dressing (my favorite) but I managed to enjoy myself without gorging so I will call Turkey Day a success.  Then, instead of crashing on the couch in a lunch-induced food coma, the majority of us headed outside with the kids to play games.  The old me would have had a few more rounds at the lunch buffet then crashed out for a nap, but the new me wanted to go outside and move. That assures me that I have truly made a lifestyle change.

Three generations enjoyed the sunshine and good temps outside by starting off with a game of duck-duck-goose, and for some reason the kids kept picking me to be goose. They did me a favor for sure because hopping up from the ground time after time and chasing the kids around the yard got my heart rate up and my blood pumping. Want some cardio?  Challenge a two, three, and five year old to a game of duck-duck-duck goose.  You'll be sweating in no time!

Next up, putting the kids on our backs and running around playing horsey, then some yoga moves on the lawn before taking a ride out in the country air as my uncle pulled us along in a trailer with his tractor.  On the ride home tonight, I told my husband that I don't take anything for granted since changing my lifestyle.  If you've ever been overweight and felt held back due to it, you can appreciate the simple acts of being able to jump up and down off of the ground and run after a child or being able to hop up into a trailer.  For years, the old me sat on the porch, watching everyone else play and wishing for all the world that she could participate.   Today as I sat on the ground in a ring with my family, sweaty from being the "goose" yet again, I looked over to the porch and smiled to myself, thinking of all the many small things that I have to be thankful for.

With Maggie and Andi, love these girls!

Turkey Day

Turkey Day is fast approaching.  Some of us will be sitting down to one of the biggest meals of the year in thirteen hours or so.  With the average Thanksgiving plate totaling up to around 2,400 calories (eek!) how do we dieters survive not being stuffed like the big bird?

This is my second Thanksgiving on my health journey and last year I must admit that I did really good. So here are some of the strategies that worked for me:

• Concentrate on the lean meat and veggies.
• Allow yourself a small serving of that irresistible casserole or delicious dressing and gravy.  If you don't have a taste of it, you'll feel resentful and will end up binging on it (or something worse) later.
• Drink lots of water.
• Distract yourself with conversations with family members. Usually someone's got something crazy to talk about or some sort of news.
• Get up and do something active after the meal; in most families there are some kids running around.  There's nothing like chasing kids for cardio.
• Think about all the things you are thankful that your new body can do that your old body couldn't, and the struggle it took to get it there.  Nothing tastes better than that.
• Realize that Thanksgiving is just one meal and good, bad, or ugly, tomorrow is another day. 

Happy Thanksgiving! I'm thankful for everyone who took the time to read this. 

You'll Be Able to Tell When You Lift Your Arms up!

Millie and I had a locker room debate today on what kind of workout we wanted to do. Seeing as it was Monday, I was leaning towards cardio, but she wanted to do weights so that we can keep up these "guns" Jeff and Marisa helped us create.  Millie and I are both alpha females of sort and as we don't have our trainers working us out anymore, sometimes we have a friendly butting of heads when planning our workouts.

After Millie assured me that we'd still work up just as much sweat and raised heart rate with the pyramid workout she had from our archives, I gave in and decided to trust my friend. And whew, was she right.

It's a good thing there are no video cameras in the gym because we were making some crazy faces at each other.  Our reaction to the strain and pain was seriously youtube worthy.  In no time I was covered in sweat and my arms felt like jello.  That pyramid workout with free weights might look tame on paper but it was a killer in practice.

Looking satisfied as we headed into the locker room, Millie said, "I told you so!" and I admitted quickly that she was right.

We both headed into separate shower stalls and I heard her yelp from behind her shower curtain, saying, "You'll be able to tell when you lift your arms up."

"Ohhhhh!" I yelped from behind my shower curtain as I took my shirt off, "I'll never doubt you again!"