Funky, A Bunch

I loathe this picture, but I can't stop using it

Do you see this misfit? This was a 216 lb. person who had not done any physical activity in about 10 years, aside from lifting fork to mouth pretty religiously. But something began to happen to this person. Her body was not working so well.

Do you know what happens to the body when you don't exercise? (And by exercise, I do not mean parking a little farther away at the grocery store or taking the stairs a couple of times a week.) When you don't exercise, your body gets decrepit, for lack of a better word.

I believed that I was so big and my joints and everything hurt so much that I could not do much exercise. But one day it hit me that there were near 500 pound people on the Biggest Loser and they were running miles and not dying. You know the other neat thing about them? They were losing weight.

Hmm.

I started off slowly. I didn't have any big plans. Just walked a mile at first. Added a little jogging here and there. Then one day, about a month into working out, I decided to attempt jogging a mile. It was very difficult, but I did it.

The next time I went back and tried again. This time it seemed harder and I really wanted to quit. As my hand reached for the stop button, I had one of my key "aha moments." That right there was what I always did. I never pushed myself beyond me and my assumed capabilities. So that day, I did what seemed very unnatural and was very painful. I kept going.

211 lbs--Ran my first mile

A few weeks later, I put the treadmill on the 5K setting and went for it. The taste of achieving what seemed so far out of reach was addictive. I ran 5K without stopping for the first time when I weighed 203 lbs.

I continue to exercise and push for new goals. Some days are easier than others. Some days I don't feel like doing anything and to be honest, I might not. It takes a lot of prayer, focus and accountability to continue on.

My buddy Norma, whom I have mentioned before, recently had to drag me out of my house to exercise. It was last Saturday, the day before I was to run the longest distance I have ever run in a Marathon Relay. It was after dark, in the freezing cold and she did it because we had made a pact to exercise 6 out of 7 days a week and she knew I wasn't. I made several excuses, and really each of them was extremely legit, but she wasn't taking no for an answer. She met me up there, walked with me in her regular clothes while her family was waiting on her to get home from a long day--just to make sure I did it. Now that's true blue.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, everybody needs a Norma. You have to have someone to help snap you out of the funk. The funk is one thing that I can always count on. It's like death and taxes. (Isn't that what they say?) It creeps into my mind and it doesn't want to leave. I try not to always be a downer on the blog and I hate to say that because the last thing I want to do is discourage anyone. It's true though. The longer you stick with it, the funkier it gets. (Someone quote me on that, please!?) The only thing is, once I get through a funk, I come out stronger. So I am even more prepared to get through it the next time

Good news--I think I am out of my latest funk. I ran yesterday in a 5-person marathon relay. It was really COLD and a lot of waiting, but all day today I can not stop thinking of how much fun it was! Here I am after I finished my leg of the race (4.5 miles):

Okay, so maybe I'm still a misfit but at least I'm a FIT misfit.

Shoot for a Half in 2011, perhaps? I mean, I gotta keep going--it's what I do.

It's never too late to be what you might have been. --George Eliot