Color Up 5K!

I ran the color run in April as a capstone to my losing 35 pounds and to prove to myself that I could run an entire 5K. Today I ran the Color Up 5K to support a friend who was running as a capstone to her weight loss. The Color Up run is much like the Color Run but on a much smaller scale. It was here in town which was nice since I live about 2 miles away from the course. But we started in white and ran through rainbows just the same. There was a big difference in this race, however. In April, the skies were cloudy, there was a cool breeze and it was April. Today, the sun shown down upon us suckers. Beat down on us really. It was already above 80 when we started. This course was also quite hilly. Really, really hilly. Like steep, switchback type hills. And I ran it. Okay, I ran the hardest hill. It was first. Then I kept running. About halfway through the race, I decided I was way too hot and needed to pace myself. Part of me wanted to just keep going to prove to myself that I could do it and that I'm strong and capable and awesome. But a larger part of me wanted to finish the race on my own and not with the help of the medic's go-cart. So I took walk breaks. And I didn't feel guilty one little bit! It was a tough course and I did it. I ran most of it and got myself slathered in color (which is why you go).

I am now a Weight Watchers leader. Like I've arrived. I should feel at the top of my game right? Truth is, I still struggle. I've gained 3 pounds in the past 2 or 3 weeks. I know what I need to do to get back down to where I want to be and I'm not too worried about it. But I realize that even the leaders continue to fight for their ideal body. It's like I said at the beginning of this blog, a journey ends and you turn back around. I'm determined to stay the course. If I have walk breaks in the middle, it's fine. Because in the end, I want to cross that finish line on my own merits. I want to be able to look back 20 years from now and still be at a healthy weight. I have learned that I will always have a weakness for cookies. I don't know if I'll ever be able to just eat one and be fine. But that's something I had to learn for myself. I have to know my weaknesses in order for them to become strengths right?

I had kind of a cool moment while running this morning. I was taking a walk break and kind of eyed a point ahead of me where I would tell myself to start running again. This is how I have always "run" in the past. I would pick a point, start running when I got to it, pick another point and try to push myself to get to that point with the promise of another walk break. Today I picked a point that was several yards ahead of me. I told myself I'll catch my breath then start again. Then something happened. I looked down at my feet and saw that I had started running again. I was a good 20 yards away from my target point. But my body was ready. It just went. My weakness in running was always my head. My inner monologue would tell me cheap lies like "just make it to this point and you can walk." and "if you keep running right now your legs will fall off and your lungs will explode." I've shut up that voice and replaced it with a cheerleader. I can honestly say that I love running and only want to get better. And I'm totally looking forward to my next race! In the cool, cool Fall...

Before
Already sweating!

After
Really sweating.