Run, Fat Girl, Run!

Another weekend come and gone. I had a good weekend, actually. The scale was up on Saturday – quite unfairly in my estimation, but then again, I didn’t track my food most of last week, so maybe this is my lesson.

Saturday morning, I met up with one of my good friends for a run around Lake Harriet in Minneapolis. Lake Harriet is 2.75 miles around and my goal was a 5-6 miler. We did one lap and I needed a break, so we walked for a bit and then I just didn’t have it in me to start up again. The run felt good, but I was disappointed and worried that I hadn’t met my goal. I have a ten mile race coming up at the end of May and I am really scared that I’m not in the condition I need to be to finish it. Also, the majority of my runs have been inside on my lovely treadmill, and I feel like I need to get used to running outside before the race.

Take Two:

So, Sunday, I recruited my husband to go back to Lake Harriet with me to try my 6 miler again. This time my strategy was to go as slow as I needed to and after 1 lap, stop back at the car to rehydrate and lose a layer of t-shirt. And, it was a success! I completed my first ever 6 mile run yesterday!!! There were times when it wasn’t easy. When I first realized that my husband was wearing out (around mile 4), that really got to me psychologically. But, I pushed that aside and kept going. And the last ½ mile was hard because we had to pass the point where the car was parked, and it was so very tempting to just stop there and call it good at 5.5 miles. It still seems so surreal to think that I actually did it. I’m just so proud of myself.

I’m quite sore from yesterday’s run, but not immobilized. I have a little bit of knee pain, so I was icing most of last night. I could do with a second or third ice pack on hand, I think.

I’m really happy with the progress I’ve made in my activity, but I am disappointed that the numbers on the scale are creeping down so slowly. Am I eating too much? Am I not eating enough? I’ve had the thought of, “oh, well you are probably replacing some of that fat with muscle” but honestly, I hate that statement – it seems like such an excuse.