I Did It
I am one of those people who finds life somewhat easy. Sure, I have my struggles, would like to have more money, and would love to be skinnier, but for the most part, the major things I have accomplished in my lifetime were easy for me.
I graduated with the highest GPA in both my high school and college classes, and while I realize that was something to be proud of, it was something that was not difficult for me. Getting good grades came naturally.
Working from home as a freelance writer is a challenge, especially finding the right balance between work and homemaking, but it is work I enjoy and work I find easy. I rarely apply for jobs I’m not highly qualified for, because I can’t stand the feeling of rejection.
And I like life that way. I love living in my comfort zone, doing things I excel at. After all, when you attempt something that you are good at, there is little room for failure. I don’t do failure well.
Today, for the first time in my life, I accomplished something that was not easy. In fact, it took work, and lots of it. It took about six months of hard, not-so-fun work.
For the first time in my life, I know the feeling of accomplishing something that I worked hard to attain.
Today, I ran a 5k race.
Well, truthfully, I did not run the whole thing, but I FINISHED a 5k race.
Sitting here typing this, tears are welling up in my eyes.
In May we bought a treadmill (I think it was May). I knew after my first time using it that just walking was not going to give me a sufficient workout. I am overweight, but I think underneath the pudge and baby fat I am more fit than I appear, and that walking was doing nothing.
Now, I am not a runner. Anyone who knows me from junior high or high school probably remembers all of the lame excuses I came up with to get out of running. I practically wished I had asthma just so I could still get an A in PE class and not run.
But, I found a program called Couch to 5k. It starts off with just 60 seconds of running intermixed with long periods of walking, gradually (over nine weeks, but longer for me) getting you to the point of running a 5k. I figured I could run for 60 seconds, so I started it.
I was supposed to run a 5k on the fourth of July, but that was on a Sunday and I couldn’t figure out how to make that work. Then I was going to do one on Labor Day, but I chickened out. On Saturday last week I thought I seriously injured me knee (heard a pop and lots of swelling). I had no one to run this race with, and Tim and the girls couldn’t even be there because he had to work. But, I didn’t chicken out. I paid the money and I showed up.
My friends assured me that I would not be the only fat, unfit person there. They told me people of all shapes, sizes, and ages would run at a 5k, and there would be lots of walkers.
That was not the case for the race I picked. It’s a new race, apparently, and most of the people were quite fit. There were a few walkers, but I was feeling very intimidated when we were waiting for it to start. I was thinking I was a fool for even trying this.
The race started and I wasn’t sure what pace to set, so I kind of ran ahead of some people who appeared to be in about the same shape as me. They must have been going a good clip, because my time at the first mile marker was 10:13. I have NEVER in my life run anything close to a 10-minute mile. I knew then that I would make my goal – under 45 minutes. I told myself my goal was 50 minutes, but really I wanted to break 45.
My other goal was to run the whole first mile. I did that. After the first mile I decided to walk for two minutes to catch my breath and bring my heart rate down. Then I ran probably half-mile and walked for two more minutes. At the second mile marker my time was 23:23, I think. Still really good for me!
The last mile was a killer. I had gotten behind the ladies I had paced myself with at the beginning and could no longer see them, and the people slower than me, mostly walkers, were way behind me. I wasn’t certain what the course was since I had never been here, and the one place wasn’t clearly marked. That threw me off a bit. For the last mile I alternated three minutes running, two minutes walking. There was a big hill that I walked, and then I sprinted toward the finish. I finished in 38:35.
My time shocked me! It is close to, if not matching, my best time on the treadmill. It beats my best outside running time by a lot.
But most of all I have accomplished something I never thought I could do. I have accomplished something that was beyond hard for me. And I did it.
This is a feeling I never want to forget. It is a feeling I want to repeat again. It is a feeling I want my children to experience someday – the joy of accomplishing something you worked for.
I graduated with the highest GPA in both my high school and college classes, and while I realize that was something to be proud of, it was something that was not difficult for me. Getting good grades came naturally.
Working from home as a freelance writer is a challenge, especially finding the right balance between work and homemaking, but it is work I enjoy and work I find easy. I rarely apply for jobs I’m not highly qualified for, because I can’t stand the feeling of rejection.
And I like life that way. I love living in my comfort zone, doing things I excel at. After all, when you attempt something that you are good at, there is little room for failure. I don’t do failure well.
Today, for the first time in my life, I accomplished something that was not easy. In fact, it took work, and lots of it. It took about six months of hard, not-so-fun work.
For the first time in my life, I know the feeling of accomplishing something that I worked hard to attain.
Today, I ran a 5k race.
Well, truthfully, I did not run the whole thing, but I FINISHED a 5k race.
Sitting here typing this, tears are welling up in my eyes.
In May we bought a treadmill (I think it was May). I knew after my first time using it that just walking was not going to give me a sufficient workout. I am overweight, but I think underneath the pudge and baby fat I am more fit than I appear, and that walking was doing nothing.
Now, I am not a runner. Anyone who knows me from junior high or high school probably remembers all of the lame excuses I came up with to get out of running. I practically wished I had asthma just so I could still get an A in PE class and not run.
But, I found a program called Couch to 5k. It starts off with just 60 seconds of running intermixed with long periods of walking, gradually (over nine weeks, but longer for me) getting you to the point of running a 5k. I figured I could run for 60 seconds, so I started it.
I was supposed to run a 5k on the fourth of July, but that was on a Sunday and I couldn’t figure out how to make that work. Then I was going to do one on Labor Day, but I chickened out. On Saturday last week I thought I seriously injured me knee (heard a pop and lots of swelling). I had no one to run this race with, and Tim and the girls couldn’t even be there because he had to work. But, I didn’t chicken out. I paid the money and I showed up.
My friends assured me that I would not be the only fat, unfit person there. They told me people of all shapes, sizes, and ages would run at a 5k, and there would be lots of walkers.
That was not the case for the race I picked. It’s a new race, apparently, and most of the people were quite fit. There were a few walkers, but I was feeling very intimidated when we were waiting for it to start. I was thinking I was a fool for even trying this.
The race started and I wasn’t sure what pace to set, so I kind of ran ahead of some people who appeared to be in about the same shape as me. They must have been going a good clip, because my time at the first mile marker was 10:13. I have NEVER in my life run anything close to a 10-minute mile. I knew then that I would make my goal – under 45 minutes. I told myself my goal was 50 minutes, but really I wanted to break 45.
My other goal was to run the whole first mile. I did that. After the first mile I decided to walk for two minutes to catch my breath and bring my heart rate down. Then I ran probably half-mile and walked for two more minutes. At the second mile marker my time was 23:23, I think. Still really good for me!
The last mile was a killer. I had gotten behind the ladies I had paced myself with at the beginning and could no longer see them, and the people slower than me, mostly walkers, were way behind me. I wasn’t certain what the course was since I had never been here, and the one place wasn’t clearly marked. That threw me off a bit. For the last mile I alternated three minutes running, two minutes walking. There was a big hill that I walked, and then I sprinted toward the finish. I finished in 38:35.
My time shocked me! It is close to, if not matching, my best time on the treadmill. It beats my best outside running time by a lot.
But most of all I have accomplished something I never thought I could do. I have accomplished something that was beyond hard for me. And I did it.
This is a feeling I never want to forget. It is a feeling I want to repeat again. It is a feeling I want my children to experience someday – the joy of accomplishing something you worked for.
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