I did my first 5K as an adult this past weekend.
OK-- so full disclosure, we turned around just before the half-way mark due to rain and lightning, and technically the Fun Run was cancelled due to weather, but, I still went.
This is important for a few reasons.
One: I have found a new thing for my daughter and I to do together that involves exercise being fun. I found that I'll do ALL KINDS of things I don't want to do-- for my daughter. I won't do them for me. It is what it is, and I've found a way around it. I switched gyms so she'd ike the daycare and bully me into going when I didn't feel like it -- a total success. She got a bike with training wheels for her birthday which she LOVES, and you best believe that if I mention we're going on a bike ride after school that day, when we get home, WE ARE GOING. Because hell hath no fury like a 3 year old.
Two: It was early, and raining, and I didn't want to go AT ALL. But I went. And I genuinely enjoyed it. And that's a pretty big deal.
Three: I want to do it again!!
Here's a link to my blog with cutie-cute pictures and stuff, if you're into that.
I'm really trying to find ways to keep myself long-term motivated. Everyone always says dieting is about a "lifestyle change", and I get that. So one of my attempts to change my lifestyle is to find a way to find exercise I actually like. Not in place of the gym, but as well as. I've always preferred air conditioning to not air conditioning. This is probably a direct result of living in Houston/Galveston most of my life. On a good day it feels like living inside an armpit being roasted. On a bad day it's like the surface of the sun inside a sauna. It's so gross. Maybe like would be different if I lived somewhere with a climate that wasn't a constant battle-- but I'm not moving, so I'll just have to learn to suck it up. And maybe become immune to mosquitoes. Anyway, my kid-- despite her best intentions-- loved it and wants to do more Fun Runs. So we've got something!
In other news, I have maybe been bullied into joining Roller Derby. Now, as I am pretty significantly over-weight, out of shape, and generally clutzy, I feel like I might die very soon. I like Roller Derby. I like roller skating. A few years ago (LOL-- I just counted and "a few" is 10, HAHAHAHAHAHA. Lord, I'm so old) I wanted to join a league and I was FAR less out of shape and FAR less overweight and I purchased skates and would skate around at a local rink and outdoors with a few friends who were either in Derby or wanted to be. Life, two jobs, and inadequate funds for proper gear kept me from joining in the end. (That picture is 25 year-old me having a BLAST at 80's night at the rink. I don't normally rock a side ponytail.)
Anyway, I have some friends who have embraced fitness in the form of Derby. We were talking recently and one of them said "This is the first time I've ever stuck with anything fitness related-- because it's FUN!" And these women are doing weekly bootcamp trainings, working on strength and core (to prevent injury), and skating practices in addition to running and endurance and generally healthy health things.
Tuesday evenings they meet for a bootcamp. I am going to start going, off-skate. So far they're working on arranging a teenage to assist with babysitting so more moms can come and will eventually require some dues (for babysitting fees and whatever-- I'm on board) and they're trying to organize a Saturday morning as well. I love this! People I'm already friends with, something I may one day feel secure enough to try (I'm far too scared of injury to skate. FAR.), and a new workout to ensure I'm still changing stuff up and keeping my workouts fresh-- without the anxiety I feel about gym group classes.
I'm loving some of the new opportunities I'm finding to incorporate fitness into my regular life. Baby steps!