From the Couch to a 5K

Today is what I hope to be the beginning of a new beginning for Keith and me. We accomplished our very first 5k. If you don’t know, that is 3.2 miles. We did not run the entire thing; in fact, we did not even run half of it. But you know that is ok. We accomplished our goal either way. (1) We completed the race (2) We did not come in last!! We did a run walk combination but running a portion and then walking. We alternated the entire race. I don’t know how much we actually ran but it is more then I expected to be able to run.
In my adult years weight has never been a friend of mine. I am continuously up and down. I loose a couple of pounds to only gain double what I lost. I am the largest that I have ever been. I am not about to tell you what I weigh, haha! Though I am very tall, I can fortunately hide my weight very well. But I am still not about to give up that number. Maybe I will give it to you once I get fit.

This race is just the beginning for Keith and I. I am very excited to see what we do from here. We are determined to continue training and we look forward to more 5ks. We recently had a friend suffer from a massive heart attack at a young age and he lost his battle. His death has been an eye opener for both of us. We have realized that we have Noah to live for and we need to live like we do. We have changed our eating habits, included more veggies in our meals (which is huge for Keith!!) and we have cut drastically on our carbs, pastas and breads. Keith is a very picky eater and does not like vegetables or anything green. He is definitely a meat and bread kind of guy. I love vegetables but have often found myself giving them up to cook what he would eat. (Enter weight control issue!!)

I have recently been diagnosed with hypothyroidism. I know, sounds big, right? Well, in fact, it could be. It means that my thyroid is not producing correctly. It is under active. Basically, it means I feel tired all of the time and more or less, could have issues loosing weight. I take medicine for it every day and probably will for the rest of my life. (Oh it makes me feel so old!) But I am determined to win this battle and hopefully be able to come off of my medicine. I also have heredity high cholesterol (Thanks, Dad!!) It was in the 200’s in my 20’s. Yeah, I know!! Getting my rear in gear will hopefully help some future heart issues. I kind of like my heart beating and would like to keep it that way!

Keith has already lost a little over 10 pounds in our little weight loss journey and I have lost but not as significantly. Running this 5k this morning is definitely a good start for us.

For documentation purposes, I am posting a picture of us from this morning at Sloss Furnace after our race. (Excuse the horrible looks!!) So, thank you, Rumpshaker 5k. We look forward to more races in the future!!

~Randi