Jiggle Proofing My Life: 8 months...and 34 minutes and 15 seconds.

Today was a big day for me. It was the culmination of eight months hard work. Sitting here now, having just returned home from the race, it feels almost surreal. Did I really just do that? Did I really just run my first race?
The morning started out early, at 5:15 am. As usual, the five o'clock hour came much earlier than I wanted. With all my excitement about the race, I could not sleep last night. So waking up early was not particularly easy. Still, the adrenaline began to kick in as reality hit...in a few hours I would be running my first race! I got dressed, and thanked myself for preparing everything the night before. As usual, it was a mad dash to get out the door in time, but thanks to my preparations last night, we did it with time to spare.
We arrived at the Spanish Plaza around 6:45 am. The morning was cold, but the sky was beautiful, filled with the pinks and oranges of a Mobile sunrise. Already racers were arriving, and so we hopped out of the van and started to look around. We spent the morning playing with the kids, and enjoying the music from the DJ. Ben and I certainly got in a good warm up with all the dancing and jumping Kathryne had us doing to the music!
7:30 rolled around, and with it, my parents who came to watch the twins while we ran. I have to admit, that nerves really began set in. To settle my nerves, I started to stretch and shake off the chills that the morning cold brought on me, and I began my pre-run mantra. The minutes began ticking a way quickly, and before I knew it, they were calling us over to the starting line.
Having read some pre-race tips last week, Ben and I made our way to the middle of the crowd. For those of you who are looking to run your first race, look for people about your size, or who look to be in your fitness and age range. You'll be less tempted to take on a too-fast pace than if you start with runners who are above your abilities.
Surrounded by all those people, I felt adrenaline really get going. Here I was, with runners from all over. For so long, I have been a spectator. I've always wanted to wear one of those paper bibs with a number, and run a race. So, as I stood at the starting line, emotions began to really boil over, and I almost wanted to cry. I was no longer a spectator, I was a runner!
As the last minutes ticked away, I took it all in. I do not want to forget any of it. I looked at the sky, and loved how pretty it was. I looked at the people around me. Not one familiar face, yet I felt a connection to each person beside me. I looked to the sidelines, and saw my parents holding my children. That right there meant the world to me. My children were born to me when I was very obese, so it is great to know that they have seen me transform over these past months. While they may not understand it all now, I am so thrilled that they got to see me start and finish my first race. I want them to see it, and know that they can reach their own goals in life. Then finally I looked beside me. My best friend of ten years was there with me. Ben has been so supportive of all of this, and it felt only right to have him there, holding my hand as I started my first race.
3...2....1...Bang!
We were off. I began with a slow and steady pace, and as the crowd of people thinned, I found a good rhythm that carried me through the first two miles with ease. I knew straight away that it was going to be a great run when the first song on the Pandora app was Pitbull's remix of Shake Senora. Nothing like starting off your run to a fun song! It also helps that I had some of my other family members come out to cheer me on. Just past the starting line, I spotted my Aunt Rosie and cousin, Rose, cheering me on for my first race!
As I found my stride, I let myself drift into my own little world. When I run, I like to use it as a time to let my imagination run wild. Sometimes I think about a favorite book or movie, sometimes I make up my own stories. Today, I thought about a few of my favorite Anime shows as I ran. I wish I could give you a mile by mile commentary, but I did not even realize we had run the first mile. The first sign I noticed was the one that said mile two! Twenty two minutes, and two miles had passed without even noticing it.
Ben, being the trooper he is, was right along side me. I kept looking over to him, and I could not stop smiling. He smiled back, and I could see in his face how proud he was of me. He knows how much time and work I had put in to this. I have to give him some major credit. He ran the entire thing in jeans. And while he may be the faster runner, I am better with distance. So he had to work to keep up with me near the end. Not wanting to hold me back, he kept up without complaint.
I was feeling great. My breathing was easy, my knees and legs were not hurting, and I had energy to burn. With the first two miles behind me, I turned up the speed. We rounded a corner, and ran under the overpass, and it was then that I knew we were nearing the end of the race. There was one more stretch of course to go, and we would be done. A burst of energy hit me, and I turned the speed up another notch. I could see, in the distance, a large crowd of people. The finish line was in sight.
Thankful that I had paced myself for the first two and a half miles, I was able to really turn up the speed, and broke into a full sprint. My smile went from ear to ear. I had done it, I had run my first race. I could hear the people cheering me on, even through my head phones, and it just helped me run even faster. Waiting for me near the finish was my dad, camera in hand, capturing what is one of the proudest moments of my life. And right at the finish was my mom, Aunt, and cousin...and best of all, my children. Ayden and Kathryne may not understand how important it was for me, but I still am so thrilled that they were there to see me achieve such an important goal.

With my husband beside me, I crossed that finish line.

It has been a long journey. The past eight months have been wonderful, hard, challenging, exciting, exhausting, frustrating...and every feeling in between. Eight months of hard work, for thirty four minutes, and fifteen seconds. That is my fastest out door running time ever. I ran the full race with no stopping or walking. I have met my first official fitness goal that I set for myself when I began this journey.
But where do I go from here? I know my next goal is to run the Azalea Trail 10k, so you can bet that I'll be back to training again this weekend. In the mean time, I will definitely be running a few more 5k races. I am quite addicted to racing, now that I have completed my first.
I am not stopping there, though. It is a year away from now, but I am going to be running the Disney half marathon next fall! I found out that Ben and I can get sponsors, to help us with the cost of going. It is going to be a long and challenging year, but I know I can do it. I can not really see beyond that right now. I want to take things a step at a time.
Today though, I am going to relax and enjoy the memories of this morning. It is a beautiful Thanksgiving day, and I certainly have a lot to be thankful for right now. Ben and I both have decided that we want to make this an annual tradition. Thanksgiving next year, you will find us running the Turkey Trot again. I think now I will settle down to a well deserved home made panini and a good book. After that, it will be time with family and we celebrate a wonderful holiday together. I will, of course, be wearing my new shirt from my first race!

Thank you to all who have stuck with me through this journey. Thank you to everyone who has encouraged me with your posts and kind words to every update I have made. Thank you to my parents, and Ben's parents, who have supported me through this. Thank you to my Aunt Rose, and my cousin Rosebud for coming out and cheering me on today, it was so incredibly amazing to have you guys there! Thank you to my beautiful children, who inspired me to better myself, so that they will have a mother they can be proud of. A major thanks to my amazing husband and best friend, without whom I could never have done this. God certainly blessed me when he brought us together.