Ready, Set, RUN

From last Sunday to today (Saturday), I have been able to fit in 4 runs!!!  Yay me!  I cannot tell you how great it feels to be able to get back out in the open air and work up a little sweat.  I did not work out much during my pregnancy, so it has been a LONG time since I've had any exercise.

During pharmacy school, I was what some might call a "gym rat."  I was at the gym at least 4-5 days out of the week.  I LOVED lifting weights and running on the treadmill.  This was really when I got into running.  I ran outside some, but couldn't go as far or as fast as I could on the treadmill, so I mainly stuck to running on it.  I was in the best shape of my life.  Here are some pics from my "skinny days."  Sigh.....

 It was a little hard to keep this up once I got married and started a full time job- but I did fairly well.  Then I got pregnant....enough said.  I totally gave up all forms of working out for the entire 9 months I was pregnant.  Shame on me.  I told myself it was just going to make starting it up again that much harder, but I took the easy way out anyways.  Now it's go time!

I really want to try to do the St. Jude Half Marathon this year.  I will be ecstatic if I finish in around 2:30.  That's really pushing it but I will still be happy with a time of 2:45-ish.  Truthfully, I should really just be happy if I finish.  It's going to be hard.  Really hard.  I start back to work next week and Brandon travels so much that it will be just me and Anniston some weeks.  I know it will be impossible to run every time I want to.  Hopefully, I can make good use of the times I do have an opportunity to run and be happy with that.

Allie and I ran 3 miles today.  This was only my 4th time running this week.  I really don't know how I managed to pull 3 miles out of my rear-end but, hey, I'll take it.  It's amazing what your body remembers.  Afterwards, I was riding the biggest high I've had in quite awhile.  It was a sense of accomplishment that I really needed right then.

I want to run for this sense of accomplishment.  I want to run to have something to call my own.  I want to run to GET FIT AGAIN.  I've got about 10-12 lbs to go before I'm at my "good" weight; 20 to fit into my "super-duper skinny jeans" that I have saved to motivate me.  I will be happy with the 10 lbs.  I know my body will never again look like the picture above because, really- I SO don't have the time to dedicate to it anymore (and it took A LOT of work.)  And that's ok.  But I do want to get fit again.  And I want to run.  So here we go....ready, set, RUN!!