Looking back on 100 days of running:
I didn’t think I had it in me. I
have never considered myself to be a runner and I’m still not sure if I am. My shortest
distance was 1.22 miles longest distance was 5.06 in an hour,
and my average was 12 miles a week. Some weeks had more some less. But here are
the highlights
100
days
·
187 miles
·
averaged
50 miles per month
·
lost 13
pounds
·
burned 19,778
calories
·
Listened
to either praise music or the Bible
·
Discovered
that I really enjoy listening to the Bible
·
When I ran
at night I took my dog Tater he didn’t lose any weight
·
My husband
joined me a few times
·
My dad
joined me once (It was his first time running in over 10 years and he did
great!)
·
I use
about 15 different routes and rarely run at the same time.
·
Shoes
matter
·
Attitude
matters
·
You can
still run when you feel like you are going to die
·
It is
possible to run with an “ice pick” type headache
·
It is also
possible to run with a numb/painful half of your body
In September a friend invited me to
join a Fall Fitness accountability group. I was already a part of the summer
group so I was thrilled when the fall group started.
Over the summer I began struggling
with some pretty bad headaches and one sided body nerve pain. (Numbness, tingling,
loss of sensation, shooting pain, falling) As you can probably imagine I didn’t
feel like exercising but knew that I needed to strengthen my body and keep my
muscles flexible. The accountability group was perfect for me because I was
only required to exercise 20 min a day 6 times a week and that could be covered
by 1 dog walk a day. Easy enough.
So that was the first group.
For the second group I started to get a little
more into it, pushing myself a little harder.
On September 25 one of the members
of the group posted a 100 day running challenge.
I read the challenge and liked it
because it
- Would be over
in 100 days
- Only required 1
mile a day
- Involved prayer/listening
to the Bible/ praise music
- More accountability
I decided that I would take the
challenge. I didn’t realize until just a week or so ago that I was the only one
that joined her in this challenge. But we kept each other motivated. And the
rest of the fitness group has been wonderful at cheering us on to that finish
line. Although, we both kept right on
running past that so called finish line, and plan on continuing with the daily
runs.
What got me to get up, lace up my
tennis shoes and walk out that door on the days that I had a hard time even
walking? Knowing that by the time I got home that I would feel better. Getting
up and moving, making my heart beat faster, my blood pressure up seems to help
loosen me up and relieve some of my pain. Even if I am barely able to move,
jogging, eventually I will loosen up and feel more human. The headaches are a
little more difficult to deal with and I end up jogging with my hand holding my
head and using a very special breathing pattern. I couldn’t let down the big
beautiful brown eyed doggy that runs to the door every night ready to go for
his run either.
Now that I am at 101 days (tonight’s
run will be 102) I’ll be ok if I miss a run every now and then because it was a
100 day challenge not a 365 day challenge. But I have developed a habit. I do
enjoy taking my nightly runs with the doggy.
I have noticed a big change in my
body. 13 pounds in 100 days (That’s a little more than a pound a week)
I’ve lost 4” in my stomach and 4” in
my hips my legs are starting to show individual muscles. I am happy with my
progress. I am at my goal weight that I set for myself last April.
Then I was 144 pounds with a BMI of 23.2
Now I am 120 with a BMI of 19.4
I am not killing myself with these “workouts”
I am not hurting the next day, I didn’t do any extra work outs. Until today. I’m
doing the body confusion and changing my routine now. But the point is it doesn’t
have to be hard to be a life change.
Just get up and get moving. Jog and
walk at least a mile every day and take it a day at a time. Pretty soon YOU will be inspiring
someone.
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