The Heart of An Athlete

So...my sister has encouraged me to blog. She seems to think I have a lot to talk about with my cake decorating and couponing. Even though I am a first time mom, it will be hard to stay away from the personal "mommy" experiences, but I am going try and keep this blog mostly about my experiences with couponing, running and cake designing. I seem to love all three, I call it my triple threat!

I recently became a runner over the last couple months. I never thought in a million years that I would run just to run...and actually enjoy it! I hated running in my high school and college sports (softball and volleyball). All coaches seem to use running as a form of punishment. When you mess up in practice, you ran. When you struck out looking in a game, you ran. When you missed curfew in college, you ran. When you lost a game you weren't supposed, you ran. When you did bad in school or cut class, you ran. RUN, RUN, RUN!!! I mean, seriously, who likes to run?

Well, this girl does!!!

I wanted to run for two reasons: the obvious being to lose weight and to get in shape. I worry about setting a good example for my son. So, not only to run to try to be heart healthy, but I also started a clean eating diet. Well, I really wouldn't even consider a "diet" but a change of lifestyle in the way we eat. Cancer, heart disease and obesity scare me! I am not perfect at it, but I try. It's hard on the wallet to try and eat clean 100% of the time.

When I first started running back in January, I could barely run a mile without stopping. I am carrying so much extra weight and it killed my knees, hurt my lungs and I just wanted to quit! My exact words in my mind were "this crap is for the birds!" BUT, I kept at it, thanks to an excellent running buddy, Felicia, who pushed me.

My very first race was on February 26th, 2011, a 5K (3.1 miles) in James Island. I was so nervous. I had first time "at bat" jitters. You know those "game day" jitters. I felt like I was playing ball again in high school or college.

The heart started to race and all I kept thinking about was "just go, Rhonda!"

I told Felicia "do not let me stop!"

Towards the end of the race, that last 0.1 mile to go seemed the hardest, because Felicia said "Don't let the purple shirt lady pass us." Us both being very competitive...so, we sprinted...

I was saying out loud..."Oh God!"

Felicia said. "Don't stop, keep going. We are almost there!"

Like Nemo "Keep on Swimming" well, we kept on sprinting. I felt like that little stretch of 0.1 miles was 5 miles away. I thought I was going to die, literally when I crossed that finish line.

Felicia said, "I thought you were going to quit on me at the end"

I said, "No way girl, I made it that far, I was going to finish!" And I did, finally! 41 minutes and 4 seconds later, I finished.

What an accomplishment for me after only training for a week. I ran here and there, but never consistent. I felt so relieved that it was over, but at the same time, I was ready for more!

2011 Race Results

1. February 26th * Lifepoint 5K * James Island, SC * Time 41.07
2. March 12th * Flowertown 5K * Summerville, SC * Time 37.41
3. March 17th * Catch the Leprechaun * Mt Pleasant, SC * Time 35.51

I have improved and so excited! It only gets better from here.

My goal at the end of the year is to run a 1/2 marathon, which is 13.1 miles. Some people think I am crazy, but this is my personal goal along with dropping 30 more lbs aside from the 15 I have already dropped.

I haven't felt this great since my collegiate athlete days. Back then, 1998-2002, I was only 130lbs and running was easy, even though I hated it, I could do it with no problem. Although I am no where near the athlete I used to be, I am now doing it for different reasons.

I can tell it is definitely getting easier, because I am up to 5.5 miles in one run, my knees have finally stopped aching and my lungs don't feel like they are going to collapse through my chest.

I want to be heart healthy!