Upcoming 10k

My 1^st 10k is coming up March 5^th and I am getting so ancy for it. I went last night and bought a cute outfit, I have broken in my new shoes, and I started 2 a days this week with all my free time being devoted to running on the treadmill. I have turned down lunch dates, evening get together, and shopping trips so that I can stay on track for my race.  I am motivated and focused to not only finish the 10k but also to run the whole thing and do it under 80 minutes.

The breakdown: a 10k is a total of 6.2 miles (yes I know some of you think I am crazy and I would have thought the same thing a year ago but it’s a way of life for me now!) If I finish in 80 minutes that equals 13.30 minutes a mile. My fastest 5k was run at Jingle Bell this past December where I ran 3.1 miles in 32 minutes (10.32 minutes a mile). So yes, I have set my goal a little longer than I really should’ve but, I am scared of disappointing myself if I set my goal for an hour and I am longer than that…

This run will not only be my 1^st 10k but it will also mark my 1 year anniversary of losing weight. 1 year, it seems so long but looking back it went so fast. 1 year ago I was wearing size 24 jeans, eating out all the time, crying because I hated being fat. Today I am in size 11/12 jeans, I eat fresh food and check the menus of places before going there, and the only crying I do is when Lo makes me do something that pushes me past my limits.

So the date is approaching, the goal is set, and the runner is almost ready… This has been a long year with a lot of ups and a lot of downs but I am glad that I didn’t give up. I want to say a special thank you to a few people who have helped me through my journey and who are still pushing me….

Thank you Michelle, Valerie, James, Lo, Berns, Samantha, Brittanie, Melissa, Ashley, and Patricia!

Yoga - my 1st time EVER!

I have been purposely avoiding yoga for a couple of years now, not because I was scared but because I didn’t look at it as a workout. Why would anyone want to waste an hour of their time lying on a mat doing a position called “downward dog”? To me, Yoga was for the birds! My hatred towards the class might have also done something with a little thing called patience. Patience is something that I have never been good at, I don’t care if it is waiting for a microwave dinner to heat up or if it is waiting 9 months to have a child… I DO NOT HAVE PATIENCE! Yoga and patience goes hand in hand and how on earth could I do something that I didn’t have the right “equipment” for? So long story short, I have avoided at all cost.

               Then I met 2 women who would change my entire state of mind about the class, Brittanie Bailey and Mandy Campbell. Brittanie does Bikrims Yoga where you are in a room that is like a sauna and you do yoga… hahaha yeah okay! When she first told me about this class, I looked at her like she was smoking crack! Add to the list of things I don’t like, HEAT! I love the summer and the hot sun beating down on me but ONLY because I can get in the pool or go inside if I get too hot. Why would anyone in their right mind do yoga in the hot, voluntarily? I have brushed Brittanie off so many times and that is where Mandy comes into play. Mandy is a crazy amazing woman who has studied yoga in Hawaii. She would just do yoga on the beach all day and that was her life! To me, it is so odd that someone can dedicate their entire being to yoga. Mandy started talking to me (we sit next together at work, so we talk a lot) about her love for the art of yoga and all the good benefits it has for you. After months of listening to Mandy and brushing off invites from Brittanie, I decided that why not try it… If I don’t like it, I don’t have to go back. I had agreed to go with Brittanie to Bikrims Yoga (yes I am crazy) but life got in the way and we haven’t gone, YET! Since our company has been so gracious to give us memberships to the local gym downtown, I decided that I will take a yoga class in the morning before work.

               My 1^st yoga experience: I went in with an open mind. I tried every pose and if I couldn’t do something I modified it to where it was easier for me but still was a challenge. I won’t lie, I was a major clock watcher but I did make it the whole hour without giving up. I have had a lot on my mind, a lot I needed to pray about and just talk to God about. So for the whole hour, I devoted my time to God and I relaxed and started talking (not out allowed of course)! It was a great class and I will probably go back every Thursday that I can. I encourage you to try something that you have once said you will NEVER do and always remember… Never say never!

               Oh P.S. – At the very end of class we were sitting on our mats and the guy in front of me farted twice really loud… I was warned about this but I am a 6 year old boy when it comes to farts and I can’t help but laugh! So here I am with the guy in front of me just finishing up his farts and I am holding back laughter because no one else in the class acknowledged it at all… I think that had to have been the funniest part of the whole class! HAHA!!!

Feelin’ like a Movie Star

            As you all know I hurt my back last Wednesday and I haven’t been able to work out since then. Today is Monday and I scheduled an appointment to have my back checked out to make sure that I could start back into it without re-hurting myself. What is the one thing you dread when going to the doctors, if you guess the weighing in part then you win (sorry no prize, just the knowledge of knowing you won)!! Well, the nurse called my name and said “Miss Lassiter, please jump on the scale.” 1^st off let me just tell you this, nurses should say “Miss/Mr. __________ (fill in your name here), please get naked and lightly step on the scale…” Jumping on the scale makes it sounds like even more of a chore then it already is, and you all know how I just LOVE to jump (not)! So, I “jumped” on the scale, after taking my light jacket and flip flops off… dreading a gain since I have been off for a week. To my dismay, it was 4 pounds lighter!

            I finally get seated in the room and started my long wait for my doctor, which come to find out it was WELL worth the wait. The Doctor comes in glancing over my chart, looks up with the biggest smiles and says (and no I am not making this up), “OH MY WE HAVE A MOVIE STAR, can I have your autograph?” I laughed nervously not knowing what he was thinking… He then proceeds to compliment me on my weight loss and questions me about what I am doing. I have never had a doctor be proud of me because of my weight, it was a GREAT feeling. He pulls out my chart and since last being there (back in November 2010 for a sore throat); I have lost a total of 33 pounds! That my fellow blog readers is 33 pounds in 3 months, now I know why he wanted my autograph!

            Moral of my story: you never know who you are going to have an impression on so never give up on your journey. Here I am at the tail end of the losing my weight part of my journey and a Doctor is asking me for tips because I have impressed him with my achievements. Do the journey for yourself first and foremost, but always know in the back of your mind that you are not only changing your life but you are changing the people around you if its in your family, people at your job, or even random people you see every day at the gym that you don’t even know! Everyone has a story to tell, go out and tell yours… you might change a life and be asked for your autograph!!!

Out of commission!

Yesterday I was suppose to start 2 a days, but I woke up and could barely get out of bed. It was so bad that I had to sling shot Caleb out of bed with one hand and a chair (poor kid). I went to work and decided I couldn’t take the pain anymore, so I went home and got medicated! I took a pain pill and a muscle relaxer and might I say, I have never been more relaxed in my life! I stretched and took a hot Epsom salt bath and woke up feeling about 70% better today. My Aunt, a massage therapist, told me what stretches to do and to not work out for a few days so I can heal. Taking off til Monday…

                Yesterday was Wednesday, that is half way through the week… That means 4 days off from the gym! That is speaking Spanish to me, since I live and breathe the gym! Since we got the memberships through work, all my co-workers are going to the gym, talking about the classes they are taking; all the while I am sitting here being so envious of them all.

                I know that I need to just stop worrying about it, take the time off and heal up because if I go back now I could injury myself even more and be out for weeks or months. February has not been a good month for me, snow, ice, Valentines candy, now my back! Here is to hoping March comes soon! I am going to try and focus on eating healthy, haven’t been so great…

                This is a MAJOR bump in the road, but I am NOT giving up! So, in the words of Justin Bieber… “NEVER SAY NEVER!”