Me? A runner? You bet! (and Day 4 - 21 Day Sugar Detox)

I feel great.  I really didn't except to feel this good going into the detox, but it's an awesome feeling.  None of the usual negative side effects, I haven't felt hungry, my energy level is up, and I haven't had my usual irritability.  A lot of that has to be because my blood sugar level is spiking and crashing all day.  Amazing what happens when you give your body the whole, natural foods it craves. 

I think the thing I am loving the most, is I have been productive in the evenings.  Usually by the time I get home from work, I'm tired, irritable, and out of sorts; so all I want to do is crash on the couch and watch TV.  But the last couple of nights, I get home, help Hubby with the dinner (or make up the evening snack or prep breakfast for the next morning), get all the nightly chores done, and still have the energy to indulge in one of hobbies.  A wonderful feeling because I go to bed know that I had a good day and I'm looking forward to the next day.

This morning I did a 3.22 mile run.  Not that this was anything new for me, I've been running for over 5 years now.  It was, however, the first morning run I've done in quite a while.  More on that in a minute, first a little history about me and exercising...

As a kid I wasn't very active. I remember playing softball one year, but it was awful experience and I whined and complained so much my mom didn't make do it.  The sad part was, she never pushed me to try any other sports and somewhere along the line I began to think I was incapable of playing sports or being active.  It might have been a few cruel words from classmates or an overheard conversation between my mom and someone else.  I don't know.  I do know that I got it in my head I could not play sports or be athletic in any way.  Period.  End of discussion.  This mindset persisted for years and only fueled my weight problem.  I went from being "chunky" in grade school, to overweight in high school, obese in my 20's and morbidly obese into my 30's. 

Then I decided to lose weight.  And when you have a lot to lose, you really don't have to exercise much.  Most nutritionist will tell you that losing weight is about 20% exercise and 80% what you eat.  So I ate better (as in, less of the same junk food with the occasional healthy meals thrown in) and I managed to lose about 80 pounds with very little exercise (losing the weight took about five years, but I was continually dealing with my emotional eating during the time). 

Then in 2009, I started myself on a walking program. I decided I wanted to walk a 5K without feeling exhausted or getting a migraine. I had walked plenty of 5K's in the past, but never felt good when I got done. I started walking on my breaks at work and on my lunch hour. Slowly increasing the distance and pace. Then in April of 2009 I went with my Hubby (then boyfriend) to Salt Lake City because he was running the half marathon. While there I picked up a brochure about the running events at Walt Disney World and one of them caught my eye. A 5K run through the Animal Kingdom, followed by an obstacle course and scavenger hunt. Wow! How fun would that be? And I could walk a 5K, so how hard would it be to train to run a 5K?

Well, I found out! With my Hubby's help, I started out slow... I ran for 3 minutes the first day of training. And as someone who has never ran any significant distance in her life -- Oh man! I thought I was going to die before that 3 minutes was up. But like the walking, I slowly increased the time and distance and within 5 months, I was running 3.1 miles -- 5K!

Because life being what it is, my original goal to run the 5K at the Animal Kingdom was changed to running a 13K (8 miles) at Disney's Hollywood Studio, then changed to complete (with a combination of running and walking) a half marathon (13.1 miles) at Disneyland in September 2010.  And to prep for that race, I decided to run the half marathon at Salt Lake City (the same race Hubby did the year before).  This race is a combination of half marathon and full marathon, so the course is open much longer so no pressure to do 16 min/miles that the Disney races demand.  My first half marathon I completed in 2:58:42 with a pace of 13:38.  A good pace for a former couch potato and my first half. 

But something happened at that event.  I realized I could do it.  I could be a runner.  I could be an athlete.  And a fire was ignited. 

Since that first half marathon, I have completed 14 half marathons (in 4 years!), over 25 other foot races (ranging from 5K to 10 miles), plus a Tough Mudder event and an 23K Endurance Run over some steep trails in the Elkhorn Mountains. 

The weird part of my running obsession was that I did not feel like a runner until I completed my fifth half marathon.  I just was incapable of believing that I could be a runner.  But I was.  I am.  I am a runner.

Now, why was this morning running different from all my other training runs?  Because last March I tweaked my knee to the point I was unable to run.  I could walk until the cows came home, but that first step of running caused extreme pain.  I had no choice but to take a break from running... which meant no training for the Salt Lake City Half Marathon.  I ended up walking all 13.1 miles... and that hurt far worse than any run I had ever done.  I have been nursing my knee all summer, with very little running (which made doing the Tough Mudder interesting!) but lots of walking and hiking.  I only started running again toward the end of August.  Have done some runs here and there (and even made it through an 8 miles training run doing the run/walk method), but this morning was the first time I truly felt like I was getting back into the running groove. 

Yes, still a bit a knee pain, but now I have instructions on the stretches I need to do and I know during my run I can't sprint, just go at a slow, steady pace.  Just like my weight loss. 

Yep, it's lining up to be another good day!