Where we are so far

So some specifics to ground this story:

I decided to blog my journey through this challenge because I've done so many things in the past few years that I never thought I could and never really told the story. I'm hoping that, when I'm successful with this latest goal of running a 5K, some other woman who thinks she's too old, too fat, too busy, too whatever to do whatever thing SHE thinks better women do -she'll get up off the couch and Seize the Fish!

I should probably explain that. Carpe Diem sounds like it really should mean Seize the Fish and really, seizing a fish seems much more obtainable a goal than seizing an entire day, doesn't it?

So here are some painful but true confessions to make so that others who might find themselves in similar situations can see that I'm no ex high-school jock who's sad because she can only do a 15 minute mile. At one point I was a certified couch potato.

Six years ago I carried 210 pounds on my 5'3" frame. Wow. And that was before getting pregnant! My own father didn't recognize me at my sister's wedding. After my son was born and after a divorce I got that whittled down to about 185 where I stayed for a good many years. Last year, I took part in a weight-loss study and dropped another 20 pounds (without the use of drugs mind you - just good old fashioned eating less and moving more). I've kept that weight off for almost a year and have been practicing yoga for over a year now, feeling pretty great about my strength.

When I started talking about this race though, I had to face the fact that I have not really done much cardio training and have always given up when I started to pant or got too sweaty. There were a million reasons I could find for not being able to be a runner but I started to ask myself "What if I'm the only thing standing in the way of this goal? What would happen if I could really get fit, for good?"

Again, guided by some really sound advice: "If you half-ass your hour of working out, you'll have just wasted an hour" and "Your body tends to be conservative and overly dramatic. You are not likely going to die while training", I took on the challenge of a more vigorous workout routine with 4-5 days of cardio activity and 2-3 days of strength training a week. It's that journey I'm going to record here.

Oh by the way, I'll be 45 in January and it would really kick ass if I could get there in better shape then I ever was in my 20s.