Back in April 2010, I was watching The Biggest Loser as I was cleaning up the kids’ playroom after bedtime. This was Season 9, I believe. One of the contestants, Michael, was on the treadmill and Bob the trainer had told him to run a mile. Michael did it and when he completed the mile, he yelled to Bob, without stopping, that he had done it. Bob nonchalantly replied back, “Good. Now go for 3.” And Michael, at 367 pounds, did it. He ran a 5K on that treadmill that day.
I walked out of the playroom crying.
I had been uncomfortable in my skin for years, bouncing around with weight, struggling in high school and college with bulimia, and in 2010, carrying the remaining weight from my pregnancy. My self image was pretty low and it was affecting many areas of my life, especially with my husband. Watching Michael finish that 5K really spoke to me and rescued me from a sea of denial. There was no reason at all that I should not be able to run a 5K. I’m young and relatively healthy. I don’t smoke, I don’t have bad knees/hips/feet etc. Just a bad attitude. I told Eric that I was making immediate changes.
And I did.
In June 2010, I joined my friend, Tashia, on the MS 150, which is an event sponsored by the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Minnesota. It is a 2-day, 150 mile bike ride from Duluth to the Twin Cities. There were times during that ride that I didn’t know if I would make it to the next rest stop, much less the finish line. I’ve never been so tired in my life as I was pulling into the last rest stop on Day 2. But the euphoria and sense of accomplishment I felt riding across the finish line is uncomparable to anything else I have ever experienced. And what’s more, I felt something for myself that I had never felt before: PRIDE.
After that, I was off and running. I started with the Couch to 5K program on my iPod and within 9 weeks, was running my first 5K road race. I competed with 6 other girl friends in a Mud Run over a 10K course. I had caught the racing fever, and I was hooked.
Today, I am 30 pounds lighter and am a much happier, healthier person. I still have weight to lose, but my focus has shifted from a number on the scale to how I feel in my body. I’ve made changes to my daily diet and subsequently, so has my family. I am proud of the changes Eric and I have made with our health and the example we are setting for our children.
And I am even MORE proud to say that this year, Eric joined me on the MS 150. He looked a little like I felt last year, but he is all signed up to go again next year. And together we will KILL that course!
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