I Must Be Crazy....An Invitation To You All!!

The other night Brent and I were laying in bed discussing how miserably out of shape we are. He needs to loose a few lbs and I need to get my heart and lungs in shape (I can get winded running up my stairs once to grab something! Lame-o) I was telling him about my amazing and inspiring friend Amanda. She ran a marathon not that long ago and has recently decided to do a triathlon. Before she did the marathon she had quite a bit of weight to loose. She did it though, ran a marathon and lost all the weight. Now she's put on a few lbs and is going to do a triathlon! I was thinking if she, who is overweight can do it so can I! Brent said he'd do a triathlon with me but it would have to wait till he's done with school. I agree. He simply does not have time to train! I barely see him as it is. I had gotten all excited about it though and didn't want to wait that long to start getting in shape and working towards a goal. I called up my good friend Danita,who has reticently started working out, and said hey do you want to do a triathlon with me? She must be as crazy as I am because she said yes! So I'm going to do it! I was a little terrified because I'm so out of shape but I know I can do this! I think I may be crazy though. I don't think I've ever in my life run a full mile. In high school PE I figured out just how fast I needed to walk a mile to get done in the required time, so I wouldn't have to run! I HATE RUNNING! The biking part I'm ok with. Swimming, let see I just learned how to swim oh about 2 years ago. I'm VERY bad at it, and can barely do it! I figure if I train for a triathlon I'll have to learn how to swim better, which I want to do anyway so it will all be ok. So here I am, I HATE running, don't mind biking, can barely swim and get winded going up one flight of stairs but I'm going to do a triathlon! Loco!

Let me tell you about my first run......
I borrowed Brent's ipod. Picked a good play list. Set off at a nice slow pace. I decided to take the dogs with me because they need the exercise as much as I do. This I think was a mistake as they pulled me all over, wanting to pee on this, smell that, go see this person. Not so helpful. Amanda had told me to do intervals, run 3 min. walk two. So that what I was doing. Only I didn't have a watch so I was just guessing by the songs and how long they had been playing. I don't think this was very accurate and I think it made it harder. It also stopped working when I realized some how I had changed the settings on the ipod so that it changed the song when it gets shaken.....I was running! LOL It was just shuffling through songs. I started thinking I might die! I couldn't breathe! I started to get cramps in my stomach. I was tempted to stop at half a mile but I really just wanted to do a mile! So I thought of Amanda...if she can do it I can do it! I thought of the contestants from last years Biggest Looser who started 400 plus lbs who ran a full marathon! I thought of this seasons current contestant who weighed in at 525 lbs. and got on a treadmill and ran! If they can do it...I can do it! I'm in pain, I can barley breathe, now I feel like I'm going to vomit. I think maybe I should stop if I'm going to vomit. Think of The Biggest Looser....nope, cant stop, they DO vomit and Jillian and Bob don't let them stop! I ended up walking the last 1/4 mile at least but I did a mile! I was proud of myself! When I got home I hovered by the sink for 10 min. because I still felt like I was going to vomit, I didn't. The rest of the day, and the next day my lungs felt beat up! They were rattly and hurt a little. But the next time I ran, it wasn't as bad, the next time, even better. I highly doubt I'll ever enjoy running but at least I don't think I'm going to die every time!

I also have been riding my bike. This seems easier to me. My legs feel like jello when I'm done, but it's satisfying. Feeling a little sore is rewarding.

I have yet to brave the pool, it's so cold. I can't afford a gym membership with a heated pool so I borrowed a wet suit from a friend. That scares me. Not to mention I'm pretty sure I'm going to look like an idiot going to my community pool in a wet suit in Feb, but if it's what I have to do, I'll do it, hopefully! Or just wait till it warms a up a bit. Until then the wet suit taunts me every day to go and try.

My Invitation

So here's my invitation, join me! Before you laugh me off, I'm not doing a triathlon right away. My goal is the beginning of next year sometime, when Brent can join me! What I'm going to do first is call the Muddy Buddy. It's just running and biking. It's not till Nov. It honestly sounds like fun. If you think you're too old, you are not. The Biggest Looser last year had a Grandmother in her 50's or 60's and on the Amazing Race this season there is a 70 something Grandmother! If you think you are too fat I doubt you weigh 525 lbs! If you think you are too out of shape, you can't be worse then me, who gets winded going up a flight of stairs. If you think you don't have time I have a six month old baby and work part time as well as serving in my church! If you think you have too many healthy problems on the Biggest Looser (sorry I keep bringing it up but it inspires me) There are people with major health problems. They had recently been in the hospital, they have joint problems, and a whole laundry list of why they are so unhealthy! If you think you can't afford it, I'm doing all my training with out a gym, you can too! Let's do it! We'll have lots of fun! Go to the Muddy Buddy web site. Read about it! It sounds like a blast! If you don't live in the area, find something near you! There are also Muddy Buddy races all over the nation! You can do it!!!