so day 9....

today is day 9, have not excercised in a few days.. am up in ludington to say 'see you in a while' to a beautiful young woman whose life was too short but such a testimony to life. When I get home the excercise will begin again in earnest... i can tell the difference in the days that I do ride the bike and the days that I do not.

Happy Monday....

day 6.... rest

so today is a day of rest... no biking.. more because i have a day of training at work where i have to sit all day and can not just get up whenever i want to walk when the hips start to ache.... and btw... did you know that bike seats are the most uncomfortable thing to sit on???? yeah yeah they are!!!!!

I also fixed my scale.... but wont weigh in on it until monday... we will see what it says... lol... fun stuff maynard...

not much to write about this morning.. other than it feels a bit odd not to have excercised... but thats a good thing right??

happy friday!!

day 5....not so much

soooo hit the snooze two times.... contemplating not even getting out of bed today....then thought what good would that do.... hopped on out... hopped on the bike... watched the minutes slowly tick by... wondering why life is sooooo terribly unfair.... i know we cry foul when strife comes our way..... and we dont when the joy is there.... so am at a cross roads as i ride the bike..... i cant embrace the fact that 5 people in my family.... and we arent talking 80 year old aunts... we are talking a beautiful vibrate 26 yr old woman with her life ahead of her and a one yr old baby to love for a life time... we are talking a 45 yr old sister/mother who has so much to give and 3 boys to love and watch graduate... we are talking a 40 yr old dear friend who is as vibrant as the sun....we are talking 41 yr old sister who may be facing the battle again and the bfriend of a cousin... who are ALL battling cancer.... 1 of whom may not make it to her daughters first birthday next week.... 1 of whom hasnt been given til summer..... and i sit on my bike and peddle away... hoping i can peddle away the pain of knowing that my circle will forever be changed in a few short months........ so todays ride wasnt about training... it wasnt about running a 5 k... it was about finding some reason within the why's of life.... it was about attempting to make peace with something i have no control... it is in realizing  that i can honor these people by living life and taking with me the memories of them......... so today's ride... for me.. for them.. for everyone battling this ugly disease.... and to live..........

‎11.78 miles.
30.13 min
592 calories burned
avg spd 26

Day 4

ok so day 4 .. much like day 3....except no coersion needed... probably because i was able to sleep an hour longer and it was daylight when i had to get outta bed... lol

there was just a slight hesitation of... do i feel up to this today?? and then immediately just popped outta bed... turned on "Angel".. started peddling... checked facebook.. (obviously) played a few bubble burst games... and just peddled away.

about ten minutes into the ride the left hip had some sharp pains.. but i just powered through because i am quite certain they are going to hurt when i start the running... but about a minute later there was this loud pop and the pain was gone... soooooo makes me wonder how it popped out to begin with.... maybe someday i will get that checked.. hahaha

I am excited about the numbers today... hopefully they will only continue to increase. Have decided  that I will only weight once a week during this process. Am trying to drink tons of water.. but i hate.... did i tell you i hate the taste??? but i try to power through...oye

so here are the numbers for today.... next week.. going to increase to at least 45 minutes if not an hour!!

‎607.1 calories burned....12.07 miles ridden.....30.15 minutes

So bring on tomorrow... i am sure will be a little harder because it is a 630 am start instead of a 730.. but i am ready for it!!! bring it on!!

80 days to the first race in Grand Rapids...5th3rd River Run!!!

soooo Day 3

so today is day three of the bike.... yes there was a lapse of 4 days in there for a trip.... probably not gonna let that happen again... today feels like day 1 all over again.... sucks....

‎554.1 calories.....11.02 miles....30.18 min avg speed 21

the hip is not sure it likes this new morning routine and i am not sure if its so much the hip as it is that darn hard seat!!!!

it is also hard to get up when you feel like poo..... seems there is a nasty cold going around work... 2 peeps had it last week and once coworker is just barking sick with it....

I am looking forward to nice weather and being able to get out and really start the 5 k training. it starts the second weekend in March which is not too far away.....

still need to get proper shoes and still need to get something to run in....

but here we are day 3.... still had to talk me outta bed.... self was having none of the reasoning and me was coerced onto the bike!!! lol

Happy Tuesday!!

Day 2

soooo i thought day 2 was supposed to be easier than day 1... i was sure i had heard that somewhere... well let me tell ya... its not..... alarm goes off.. 6:25am... snooooozeeeeeeee I am like.. why on earth is that alarm so early.... and then I say.. oh... yeah.. thats right.. I said I would run a 5 k... and that entails actually getting up and riding the bike to start conditioning..... I tell my self.. 'self... really... you REALLY want to do this... just stay in bed.. it wont matter" Self says back.... ' get your a*! outta bed and onto the bike...we made a decision to do this for our health and we are gonna do it'

Sooooo self got us up... and the bike got us going.....  30.30 minutes this morning, 11.79 miles ridden at an avg speed of 26mph and 592.6 calories burned.

Hopefully at some point this either gets easier... or the clothes and/or scale show a difference....

by week two I am hoping to be up to riding an hour a day... I will be taking saturday and sunday off this week as we are heading to Wisconsin tomorrow to see Mark's family. But then monday morning I will be right back at it :)

Right now, Kylie is going to run with us, Jessica and my cousin Amanda is going to walk the 5th3rd 5k.... anyone else want to join??

Happy Thursday!!!

The beginning

Ok so I have never blogged before, but I wanted to record this journey. I probably should have done this long ago when I started my weight loss journey. Better late than never right? and as I heard a small child say... just keep starting over.. :)

So I have decided that I am going to run the 5th3rd River Run on May 14, 2011 the Ludington Lake Stride  - June 11, 2011 and the Mint City 10 in August 2011. my coworker and friend Jessica is going to run with me along with a girl I used to coach and mentor Kylie. I have support from friends and family and hope to see some if not most of you at the finish line.

This is a pretty big step for me. I ran in high school and LOVED it!! (yes my husband thinks I am crazy hahaha)! I had gastric bypass surgery 3 years ago March 3, 2011 and through that process and my own efforts I have gone from 420+ pounds to 215 at this point. I was at 195 and looked good, even my grammas said I didn't need to loose more weight. I think my body has settled into a comfortable weight... now it is time to just get healthy and tone... if loosing more weight comes from it.. great!!! if not.. I am ok with that too!!

So this blog is all about my journey to a new life and running. There will be times I will lament I am sure... but there will also be times to rejoice in goals and accomplishments. :) I want to be able to look back and read my progress.... so today.... it begins

I got up at 630 am this morning and hopped on the stationary bike for the first time in months.. and i mean MONTHS.. lol.. i thought oh I am gonna do 30 minutes straight... then about 10 minutes in.. i was like I cant do this..... but i turned on the tv.. put on some  'saved by the bell' and just powered through. I finished my ride at 30minutes and 19 seconds having burnt 545.5 calories ...10.05 miles for distance..... avg speed of 22. I felt pretty good when I was done too.

So I will ride every morning until we begin the running portion of the training. At this point just building the stamina. I also need to go get fitted for proper running shoes as well as clothing (all women know you have to look the part right???)

So come with me as I journal my journey.... follow and support.. even run with me if you want..... I am running... towards 40... towards health... towards the next phase of my life.. :)