Training Started!

I'm so totally pumped right now! Last Saturday was the Kick Off of the Galloway Training program at Fleet Feet in Stuart. It was an information session with a demo run afterwards. This morning was our first "real" run, and it was just fantastic! :)

I'm sure it's hard for most people to picture someone my size running ... but as I said last week at the info session, I was built for endurance, not speed. I stole that quote from Jenny during our first year of running. Running gives me such a natural high that lasts throughout the day.

A little history on my running ... Jenny and I did a 5k at Disney in January 2006 with my mom and family friend, Belle. We were all running to raise awareness and money for the Jerry Ayre Scholarship Fund, who is the son of one of Belle's friends (now my friend too!).

Anyways ... while we were waiting around for the 5k to start, we were watching the Half Marathoners finish. Jenny and I were cheering them on and we were very moved, I was even crying. It was just totally amazing to watch these people, not all of them thin people, some older, some kids ... some couples holding hands as they finished. It was just amazing for us to witness it. We decided then and there that would be us the next year. And we set out to accomplish that goal.

We started going to local 5k events, where we met lots of great people and learned about Fleet Feet in Stuart. During the summer of 06, we signed up for the Galloway Training so we could do the Disney Half Marathon. It was not easy! I started out at 267 and I really had a hard time with it, but we did it! During my run training, I was also going to Harsh Reality Fitness twice a week for strength training, which really kept me focused.

December rolled around and so did the Palm Beach Half Marathon, which we registered to run. It was a very hot day, but Jenny, Bucky and I completed our first half marathon!! Jenny stayed with her running group and Bucky and I stayed together. It was hard work, but we did it! My hubby, my parents and my brother were along the course cheering us on, that really meant a lot to me. I was on a high for weeks afterwards, telling everyone I could that *I* did a half marathon. I mean, really, how many people can say that? I was, and still am, so very proud of myself. During that training, I lost 30 pounds, which was a great "side effect" of the training. I'm aiming for similar results with this training!

Alex is napping, I've gotta get a shower then we are going to the La Leche League meeting in Fort Pierce. I'm hoping this weekend I can learn how this blogging works and get some pictures posted. I've had a blog on myspace for a good while, but I haven't been able to keep up with it and my family doesn't like having to join myspace in order to see pics of Alex and see what's going on. So since a lot of my friends are doing this, I figured I'd give it a try. :)