Tag Archives: 10K

A little apprehensive

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This coming weekend, my hubby and I have a 10K race. I am feeling a little – okay, maybe a lot – anxious about it and for a few different reasons. Reasons, to some, that may sound weird or maybe even, do I dare say, childish?

First off, it is a race we have done before – it is for the Lakes Area Humane Society in Alexandria. However, the last couple of years, we have only done the 5K. For some reason, which now escapes me, we decided to sign up for the 10K. Why, oh why, did we do this?

Yes, I know, I have already completed a 10K so it’s not the distance that is necessarily scaring me. It’s the thought that there won’t be very many people participating in the 10K, which may mean I could come in last. Yep, that’s where the childish-ness may come in. I know that I am not the fastest runner and I am okay with that. I am just darn happy I can finish. However, finishing last in the town where I live when so many people might be watching, that’s another whole thing. I wouldn’t care if I came in last in our upcoming race in Fargo on October 8. It’s in Fargo. Nobody knows me. AND…..there are thousands of participants.

This is in Alexandria. People know me. There may be a hundred people running. UGH! That’s what’s freaking me out. I am almost regretting signing up for the 10K. I wish I would have just signed up for the 5K.

I know what you are probably thinking. “WHO CARES?” I know, right? But I can’t help it. It’s who I am. I don’t want to disappoint anyone. I have been trying to talk myself out of feeling this way for the last two weeks, but as the race gets closer and closer, it’s just not helping.

I know, I am going to be just fine. And who really gives two hoots if I come in last. I am going to be okay. I CAN DO THIS. I know I can.  Right? My goal is to run the whole thing. And as far as my time, I just want to finish in less than one hour and 12 minutes. That is my goal. I CAN DO THIS!

I’ll let you all know what happens after the race on Saturday! Until then, send me some good vibes that the race will go just fine. I would surely appreciate it!

Remember, you can always feel free to email me at celbeam@gmail.com and don’t forget, you can always check on my Facebook page. You can do so by clicking here.

Running?

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It seems like I have been doing lots of running these days, but yet I feel like I am going nowhere. But I guess that’s probably because the kind of running I’ve been doing isn’t the kind of running I SHOULD BE doing.

So, what type of running should I be doing? Well, the kind that is going to get me into shape for my first race of the season. A couple of months ago, I got the bright idea to sign my husband and I up for the Lucky 7 race in the Twin Cities. Runners can either compete in the Lucky 7K, which is a little more than 4 miles, or the Lucky Triple 7K, which is roughly a half-marathon or a little more than 13 miles.

Nope, I did not sign us up for the half marathon. Seriously? Did you really think I would? Not a chance. To be real honest with you all, I don’t ever have the intention of running a half or a full marathon. Neither of these races really trip my trigger. I am not knocking either of these distance races, but I just don’t have the desire to do more than a 10K.

For those half-marathoners and marathoners out there, I give you so much credit. You all deserve a big huge KUDOS! Seriously, you people amaze me. Especially those who keep doing these types of races over and over and over again. I commend you on your discipline, energy and drive. Give yourselves a pat on the back.

I am not sure what it is about the distance running for me, but it just doesn’t sound appealing. For me, the shorter distance races are much more manageable. Or at least I hope they will be this year. I will have to say, though, I am tremendously nervous about this first race. I haven’t done any type of running – inside or outside – since the beginning of November. I thought by signing us up that I would kick it into gear.

I haven’t. But I know I need to.

The countdown is on….I have just 67 more days until the race….that’s a little more than nine and a half weeks. YIKES! If only there were more than 24 hours in a day!

Sharing my experience…again

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Scared speechless? Yes, as a matter of fact, I am. I know, it’s hard to believe for most of those who know me. But I really am if, or when, I have to stand up in front of a group of people and talk or give a speech. I sweat. I stutter, kind of. My voice quivers and yes, sometimes, I even clam up and nothing comes out. I know, once again, hard to believe, right?

Well, I decided to take a class at Alexandria Technical and Community College called, “Scared Speechless – How to Overcome the Fear of Public Speaking.” The class was taught by Robin Johnson, who I have to say, was fantastic…and I am not just saying that because she will probably be reading this. She was very calming, professional, funny and down to Earth. She made us feel at ease. Like we were normal and not the scaredy-cats we all believed we were. She believed in us, which in turn, made us believe in us. (If that made sense!) The class was great and I am happy I took it. Despite the fact that last night, all the students in the class (there were only a handful of us) had to each give an eight-minute speech.

I really didn’t know what the heck I was going to talk about for eight minutes. EIGHT WHOLE MINUTES. That in itself was scary. But then, it happened. I had to write a column for the newspaper and when I finished it, I immediately thought, “OMG, I just wrote my speech!” Awesome.

Well, my column (I wrote about my 10K running experience), which you can read here, didn’t last eight minutes when I read it out loud, so I had to include more information…an intro at the beginning and a longer ending. When I read it at home, it was five seconds short of eight minutes. Whew! I made it. I even practiced it a few times.

Well, last night, when I read it in class, some how, some way, I ended up stretching it out even longer and it turned into a 10-minute speech. Yep, TEN WHOLE MINUTES! I stood up, in front of a group of people and spoke for 10 minutes. And I don’t think my voice was as shaky as I expected it to be.

I want to thank Robin for giving me the encouragement and the skills needed to start my journey of getting over the fear of public speaking. I have to admit that afterward, I was pretty pumped up. Although, if anyone was standing close to me, they would have seen all the sweat beads formed over my upper lip!

I just hope that next time, it goes as smoothly as I felt it went last night!

Remember, you can find me on Facebook, just click here and if you want to chat or have a question, feel free to send me an email. Keep in mind, however, that I may not respond immediately, but I promise I will respond. Email me at confessionsofaformerfatgirl@gmail.com.

Emotional ride

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It’s amazing what a little inspiration, a positive attitude and a simple, but amazing, chat with another runner can do for a person.

Today, my husband and I completed our first 10K…a 6.2 mile run in Fargo, North Dakota. It was amazing. All my self doubt about not being able to complete the run went out the door this morning when I decided to face this run with an upbeat, positive attitude and no more self pity.

We stood side by side at the starting line, but when the gun went off, I started running one direction…more to the right…and my husband started running a different direction…more to the left. Not once did I look where he was at or worry about how far in front of me he was. For the first time during a race, I focused on me, myself and I. Not a single other person. No one.

I cranked up my music, which were new running tunes I had recently downloaded. No lyrics, just awesome upbeat, up-tempo music that helped me set my pace. I concentrated on my breathing and my running. I concentrated on me.

I also had little pep talks with myself…as weird as that may sound. I kept repeating over and over, “You’ve got this. You can do it. You are running a 10K. How many other people can say they can run a 10K. You’ve got this.” (So, okay, there were tons of other people running a 10K, but at that point, it didn’t matter to me. I mattered to me.)

“Hey, are you the blog lady?”

OMG! Somebody recognized me. Which, okay, probably helped that I had my T-shirt on with my logo on it. But still, someone recognized me from my blog.

“Yes, yes I am.” I replied back, after taking my headphones out so I could actually hear her. She told me “way to go” or something like that, complimented me on my shirt and then said, “You can do it!” Or something like that.

Goosebumps ran up through my entire body and I don’t think I could have had a bigger smile on my face. It may have been simple to her, but to me, it was exactly what I needed to keep going, not give up and finish strong.

So, thanks to the runner, who happened to be a member of the team, Miles for Mark. You have no idea what you did for me. Thank you.

As I crossed the finish line, my arms flew up in that, “Yes, I did it!” motion. It is hard to describe the feeling. Truly it is. My husband was there waiting for me and I think we high-fived, hugged and kissed. Then, as I put the medal around my neck, for some reason, the dam broke and the tears came. I was overwhelmed with emotion. I did it. I completed my first 10K and the coolest part, I ran the whole thing. I didn’t walk once. And…I got under the time I had set for myself. I wanted to finish it in one hour and ten minutes and I did it in one hour and nine minutes. I couldn’t be happier.

Oh, and another really, really cool part of the day…I got to meet a fellow runner, Weight Watchers member and blogger, Jim Lindlauf. It was awesome to meet him in person. Jim recently finished his second marathon and today, ran the half marathon. He is an inspiration!

Thanks to everyone who encourage me and had the faith in me to complete this race! It was an awesome way for my husband and I to celebrate our 2nd anniversary!

Me at the finish line!

Al and I at the finish line.

Me giving my medal a big ol' kiss!

Our times according to our watches. My official time was 01:09:33 and Al's official time was 01:01:22.

Us...again!

Our medal...yes, we actually received a medal!

A "Miles for Mark" sign near the finish line.


A change of heart?

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So, okay, I have been doing some thinking. Long and hard thinking. Which by the way, I do from time to time. Surprising, isn’t it? That I do, indeed, think.

Anyway, in my last post, I said I was going to give up running. When I wrote that blog entry, I was not in a good place – mentally, not literally.

I felt defeated…for more than one reason. After the race in St. Cloud, I really did struggle to breathe; my lungs ached and I coughed and wheezed more than any other race I’ve participated in.

It wasn’t what I was expecting. I guess I am always expecting more.

But see, the thing is, it was cold and damp that morning, plus the run included at least four hills (or what I consider hills because I am a novice runner). Sometimes, I don’t take everything into consideration. I focus too much on my time – not on my breathing – and I think I have finally realized I need to let go of that – my time, not my breathing. I know I have to breathe while running!

And speaking of time, I was really shooting for 30 minutes or at least 31 minutes and I ran it in 32 minutes and 19 seconds. I know…learn to let go, right? Yes. I have since let go.

And since I wrote my whining blog about wanting to quit, I have received plenty of feedback. Surprisingly, more people have told me to go ahead and quit and that it is okay to do so. I’m not sure why, but I was surprised by that.

I think in the back of my mind, when I wrote it, I was looking for some encouragement. I was looking for a hint of glimmer or that little bit of hope that maybe, just maybe, I was making the wrong the decision and that I shouldn’t give up. At least not without checking with my doctor first.

I was looking for what I believe I provide to others on a regular basis – inspiration.

I was down and I needed just a little pick-me-up. Don’t we all need that sometime?

Well, I got my inspiration, but not in a post or comment on my blog site (athough there were a couple of inspiring ones!). I got my biggest inspiration from a former co-worker and friend of mine who sent me an email, an email I wanted to receive from her.

She is and has been an inspiration to me through most of my journey. She doesn’t really know it, but she is my positive reinforcement when things aren’t going the right direction or when I need a little pick-me-up. She always seems to know when I need a little something, a little nudge. Not sure how, but she always sends me a message when I need it the most. So, thanks to the running, yoga and biking queen who rules the roads now in St. Paul/Minneapolis.

Erin, you truly inspire me.

Thanks for your words of wisdom…and encouragement.

In addition to Erin’s email, I received some inspiration from a couple of conversations I had and from a personal message on my personal Facebook page.

Thanks to all of you who gave me what I needed.

And, I also have to give a HUGE thanks to my husband. I kind of shot him down in my last blog post and that wasn’t very fair. He encourages and inspires all the time and I thank him for it. Sometimes, I think he doesn’t understand, but then we talk and I realize just how much he truly does understand me and gets where I am coming from. Thanks, Al, for always being there for me…listening, encouraging and loving me for me.

I am gearing up for this Saturday’s 10K in Fargo and I truly am looking forward to it. And I have already made up my mind that I don’t care what my time is. I care only that I finish….without walking any of it!

Running goals

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As most of you know, I took up running last fall. I completed my first 5K last September. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t that good either. My husband and I ran it together. We finished in 40 minutes 10 seconds.

Well, since that time, I have continued running. At the beginning of this year, I was running more often than not by myself. But lately, I have had the pleasure of doing most of my runs with my husband, which makes me very happy. I love that we run together. It’s hard to explain why I like it, especially because we don’t talk while we are running, but I think it’s just being by each other’s side, pushing each other along. I don’t know really, I just love it.

Well, so far this year, we have completed two 5K runs. We did our first 5K of the year, but our second one ever, in May in Fargo. And just recently, we completed another 5K, which was just a couple of weeks ago in Osakis. That one was the best so far. We ran it in 30 minutes and 55 seconds.

I decided that since we completed one in May and now one in June, why not shoot for doing one in the months of July, August and September. So, we are. Our next 5K race will be July 17 in Henning. The August one will more than likely be in Hoffman, although I haven’t heard the exact date yet. And our September 5K will be September 18 in Alexandria. It is the same one we did last year for the Lakes Area Humane Society. I can’t wait to see what our time is this year because it will be the same course as last year…or at least I think it is.

So, when summer is done and over, we will have completed five 5K runs. Kind of cool. 

But that’s not all we are doing. My husband doesn’t know it yet, but I went ahead and signed us up for the 10K race in Fargo on October 9! I know we can do it. I just have to convince him that we can do it! Wish me luck!

I’m sorry

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Hello everyone…

Wow! I guess it has been awhile. Sorry about that. Life has been a little busier, but I should have taken the time to let you all know how it’s been going. For that, I apologize.

Well…I guess it has been going good. Actually, kind of great. Maybe that is why I haven’t had much to say. I feel like if things are going great, then nobody will want to read about it. Sometimes I think that people like to only hear when things aren’t going so well. But, maybe not. I guess I am not really sure.

I know for me, I love to hear when people are doing well. I love to hear how they’ve succeeded and about what they’ve accomplished. I love hearing the good things about people’s lives. I think it energizes me.

So, if you like to hear/read about the good things, here goes: I have been maintaining my weight fairly well. Actually, it has been great. I have been staying between 142 and 144 pounds pretty consistently. I guess that’s not too bad considering my goal weight was 155! It’s so weird. I never thought I would hit 155, much less 150 and now, I am under 145 pounds. Crazy. Seriously. Weird. AND, AWESOME.

And let’s see, exercising? Well, that’s been going great as well. Once I got over my bronchitis, which seemed to take forever, I have been back at it. Tina and I have been hitting hard on Monday and Friday mornings. In fact, last Friday, I had to change the schedule on her and the only time I could do it was at 5:30 a.m. and she was okay with. I was so proud of her…and proud of myself for getting up that early to exercise. I felt great the whole rest of the day. I love working out with Tina. She’s the best workout buddy! Oh, and I have also been running. In fact, I actually did a five-mile run…my longest to date. I did two miles with my husband and then three miles by myself. It was awesome.

As for food…I have my ups and downs, but I stay pretty focused and if I stray a little, I get right back on track. I think I have finally found that balance that we all strive for. I have finally got to a point where I don’t beat myself up for having ice cream or a piece of cake or some candy or whatever it may be. Instead, I just work out harder or exercise extra minutes or whatever. 

You see, I think that is the balance. Eating healthy 90 percent of time, treating myself 10 percent of the time. But exercising at least four to five times per week. I am not necessarily talking hardcore exercising, but moving, doing something, anything but sit on my butt in front of the TV or the computer, for that matter.

Anyway, my husband and I have another 5K coming up. It’s this Saturday, June 19 in Osakis. We have a 5K in September in Alexandria and I am hoping to maybe do a couple more sometime, somewhere. 

AND, my hubby and I are planning to do a 10K…yet this year. Believe it or not, it was my husband’s idea. I was so proud of him for that. We already planned to do the Fargo 10K next year, but he came across a 10K in October in Fargo that we think we are going to do. It all hinges on his leg, his hammy to be exact.

He did something to it a few weeks ago and so he has been taking it easy. Actually, it was kind of funny. The day I sent in our registration for the Osakis 5K, we went out running that same night. That’s the night he pulled his hamstring or whatever. It wasn’t funny at the time, but now, it kind of is. He has been taking it easy and slow and if Saturday’s race goes okay, we are going to sign up for the Fargo 10K in October…I think.

I guess we’ll see.

Take care everyone and I promise not to go so long between blog posts. Or at least I’ll try!

If you feel like talking, feel free to send me an email…my blog email address is confessionsofaformerfatgirl@gmail.com. That’s confessions of a former fat girl at gmail dot com!