After months of preparation, and ironically three weeks off due to injuries, the weekend of my first half-marathon had finally arrived.  For those of you that have never run a big race, I hope to convey the excitement from beginning to end.

        The activities start well before race day.  There is the packet picket pick-up where you get your racing bib number, shoe tag for electronically timing your race, and any pre-race information you might need.  In addition, there is the expo where they gather exhibitors to sell anything from running clothes and running shoes to energy bars and drinks.  There is also a social side to this expo where you meet up with your racing friends and take pictures to remind you of the special day.

       Because I was also running with Team in Training (TNT) there was a motivational pre-race carb-load dinner on Saturday night.  As we walked into the venue, we were greeted by our trainers and mentors dressed in Mardi Gras like garb blowing horns and ringing bells to congratulate us on making it through the training.  Besides a fabulous dinner, we were reminded about why we were actually there.  The speakers were all survivors or people had been touched by a loved one who had this cancer. It was an amazing night and the excitement made it hard to sleep.

       The next morning we had a 3 AM wake-up call so we could meet our TNT team by 4 AM (does this convey excitement?).  This allows the team manager to make sure no one oversleeps and misses the big race.  After our early morning team photo, it was time to line up in our corral to wait for the National Anthem and the start of the race.

       The first four miles took us through California Adventure and Disneyland, past sites that have been etched in my memory since childhood.  It was difficult to not want to stop and take pictures with the characters or jump on for just one ride through It’s A Small World.  Outside of the parks, I was amazed at the throngs of people scattered throughout the course ready to cheer on the runners as they passed by.  In addition, the cheerleaders, bands, and musical and dancing groups that kept us motivated were unbelievable.  Just as I felt like I couldn’t go one step further, I would look off and see a group of students willing to give up their Sunday to cheer us on.  I couldn’t give up.  One of the most inspirational parts of my run was the Leukemia survivor that I encountered at Mile 7 who reminded me of why I was running this race.

       I won’t lie, as inspirational as this survivor was, the highlight of the entire race was actually running through Angel stadium at mile 10.  I am not a huge baseball fan, but I think no one could fail to be motivated by rows and rows of cheering fans sitting in the bleachers or your face plastered on the Jumbo-tron as you run out of the stadium. I will never forget those ten minutes through the stadium. 

      Finally, I could see the finish line in the distance.  It gave me that final burst of energy I needed to finish strong and sprint across the finish line, right in front of Mickey Mouse, to complete my first half-marathon in under 3 hours at 2:58.  The best part was that we finished as a family.  Sean ran in right before me at 2:56 and amazingly, Niall and Brent came in at 2:10 for their first long race ever.  You can see by our finish line picture, we are tired but very proud of ourselves for achieving this seemingly insurmountable goal…WE DID IT! One more step forward on my road from flabby to flabulous.

     I know this is going to sound strange, but I swear I owned a pair of “magic pants.”  For those of you that have never read the book or seen the movie Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares, four friends find a pair of pants that seem to magically fit them all no matter how tall or short, or fat and thin they are.  Well, I had a pair of size 10 Ann Taylor Loft navy blue cargo pants that seemed to have this same magical power.  No matter how much weight I gained over the years, they always seemed to fit me.  In addition, anytime I wore them people would ask me if I had lost weight.  That proves their magical quality, right?

      Recently, as part of my weight loss journey, I decided to clean out my closet and get rid of any clothes that were too big and no longer fit me.  I really felt like this would help me move forward on my journey because if I have no bigger clothes to move into, I will be less likely to let myself gain that extra weight again.  I went through every rack, every drawer, and every last shelf to be sure that no fat clothes were left.  I filled four large trash bags and asked my husband to take the bags to the Salvation Army before I changed my mind.

      After about an hour I realized that I had somehow slipped my “magic pants” into one of the bags.  I was surprised at how upset I was…it was almost a feeling of panic.  What would I do without my “magic pants”?  I calmly called Sean to inquire if by chance he had made other stops along the way and maybe still had the bags of clothes.  To my dismay, he had dropped them off earlier and they were gone.  My wonderful husband even offered to go back and find them for me if I wanted him to, but I knew that it was time to stop enabling myself to slip back to an unhealthy lifestyle.

      As I look back on that day, I realize that I don’t need those pants.  I will no longer require their magical quality as I am not going back.  I will never need them to hide my weight gains again because the flabulous new me will be flaunting my slimmer figure as I run down the road to a healthier me.

      Ironically, I happened upon the pants in the back of my closet the other day.  They had avoided banishment to the Salvation Army.  But as I looked at them, I realized they no longer held me in their spell.  The magic was gone...they had no more role to play in my weigh loss journey.

*Join me next time as I share what it was like to run that first half-marathon.

      My journey to my first half-marathon was not an easy one.  Despite lots of support from family, friends, and Team in Training (TNT), there were lots of bumps along the road.  First problem was my weight and the toll it was taking on my body as I pounded all my joints into the dirt, pavement, and cement.  It was also very discouraging to log so many miles and not lose a single ounce.  There were times that I would be out there “wogging” (in the beginning I was doing a walking/jogging mix) for more than two hours, and the next day I would have gained two pounds.  That was NOT motivating.

      In addition, I had more injuries before that one race than I have had in all my running since then.  Weird things like the day I was doing my first nine-mile with Team in Training, I stepped on a really large round rock bruising the bottom of my foot and rolling my ankle.  Both knees, my Achilles Tendon, and a score of other nagging injuries kept me from training for the entire three weeks before the Disney race.

      You think I would have given up at that point, but I think the one thing that really kept me going was knowing I was asking my friends and family to donate money to the cause, which meant that I was running for others and not for myself.  I am more willing to let myself down than to disappoint others.  When I wanted to quit, I kept remembering that people were depending on me to complete this race: my donors, those struggling with blood cancers, my family and friends who were following my journey—I couldn’t let everyone down.

      So with that at the back of my mind, I focused on cross training to keep me fit before the race.  Instead of running, I used the stationary bike in my bedroom while I watched my favorite TV shows.  I swam lots of laps in my swimming pool, sometimes focusing on just arm or leg work, and at times swimming laps for speed to keep up with my cardiovascular training.  I was determined to not only finish the Disney race but to complete it in under three hours.

      The other thing that kept me going was that we were doing this race as a family.  I was the only one working with TNT, but I passed along all the good advice I got from Brian, my TNT trainer, to my family.  While I ran long miles with my team on Saturdays, Sean would run the long miles at home when I got back.  My oldest, Niall, and his friend, Brent, had their own training going as well.  Siobhan started training with us, but when her knees started hurting, she had to back out so as not to ruin her chances for HS volleyball.  We all took this journey together in one way or another, and we have all benefited from it in the end.  We are a healthier, closer family, and I will always be thankful to my Team in Training family for helping change us as a family.

     Each month, I get a Weight Watcher magazine that inspires me with stories of weight loss success, recipes to keep my diet interesting, and articles that help me stay on track.  In March of last year they had an article that shared a plan that showed, step-by-step, how someone could go from a non-runner to running 20 minutes straight. I would like to say that I started this journey because I thought it would be fun, but the truth is, it was laziness that started me running.  What I saw in this plan was that instead of walking for 40 minutes, I could get a better workout done in less than half an hour.

      So as you can see from the plan attached below, we started running one minute, walking five.  My poor husband, as usual, willingly subjected himself to my new plan, despite the fact that running is not really his thing.  We religiously followed this plan, repeating some weeks more than once until that given week became easy, and after about three months we reached the end of the plan.  At this point I thought, “What do I do now?  I can run 20 minutes straight, but surprisingly, it is almost too easy now.”

      Just as I began contemplating my next course of action: Should I contact WW and find out what the next steps should be?   Do I need to get a personal trainer? It was during this deliberation that I happened upon a flyer for Team in Training. Team in Training is a fundraising mission by the Leukemia Lymphoma Society to raise money for blood cancer research.  Basically, you raise money for their mission, and they will train you to complete anything from a marathon/half-marathon to a triathlon or long bike race.  What really sold me on this, was that they were offering to train people for the Disney Half-Marathon—we are a Disney Family, and this seemed like the perfect answer to what do I do next on my journey to becoming healthy.  They provide you with a mentor who keeps you motivated and weekly coaching and organized runs to move you slowly from running one mile to fourteen miles, in my case. And this is how my marathon journey began.

      For more information on Team in Training I am attaching this link.  The team I trained with is the Temecula Chapter but any chapter in your area will provide the same kinds of services.

Team In Training

*Join me next time when I continue to share my journey to running a half-marathon