Early Introduction to My Passion For Running

I guess one of my first goals or should I say, reasons to stay focused was the Mothers Day Classic, a 4km fun run raising money for Breast Cancer. Sue my training buddy and I thought ooooh will we actually be able to run that far, just in case we better do a trial run. So we got up early on Good Friday and did a practice lap of Parramatta Park and of course we smashed it. It gave us the proof we needed, it told us we had the ability to do it on the day.

It was a pretty special day for me, not just because it was my 1st ever fun run but because I know how proud Mum would have been. I lost her after a long battle with Ovarian cancer, she was told she had 20% chance of surviving a year. Hah please, as if you can tell a tough old German what to do, it was another 9 years later we lost her, but not before 5 lots of Chemo and a vicious dose of Shingles.

I carried a photo of her that day and I'm sure if I thought about stopping she would have kicked me in my butt. 

After the success of the Mothers Day Classic it was time to add another Fun Run to my repetiour,  next entered was the Bay Run a 7km run around the lovely Canada Bay.

Sue & I set off with a plan to get under 45 mins, another success but not before thinking I wasn't going to get there, Im sure what kept me going was the thought of a yummy Breakfast at the finish line. 

So now with those 2 down, next was the Bridge Run. A 9 km tour over the beautiful Sydney Harbour and its Bridge ending in the scenic Botanic gardens........ What a joke all I saw was a 3 foot by 3 foot square of tar, it was about 6 metres in front of me. Seriously does anyone look at the scenery ?
I had set a Goal for that one also, it was to the get under 60 minutes. A friend of mine ran with me for that one, Georgie a crazy runner, her last event was the Canberra to Coast, a 100km run that she was the 2nd female across the line with 9 something hours. Tootie Fruitie that she is!

Well we did it, 59 minutes 54 seconds...... Another Goal smashed...... ohh ok a gentle Tap then. A side note is that Georgie still looked stunning with a face full of make up.... Biatch!

I am typing this thinking I can't believe i'm a runner, I can't believe how excited I got when one Saturday morning doing my long run on the M7 bike track a cyclist warned his group about my approach by yelling out "RUNNER", I am sure I skipped the next 20 or so steps. Well this is reality, I recieved my training program from Kaz last night, she and it will give me every opportunity for a successful Marathon. As they say in MBM speak..... "Insert Girly squeal here" But first I must stay focused because it is less than 3 weeks to my first Half Marathon. I know I can do that distance I have done close enough before without a struggle, I wont have my running partner though, but that just means more water for me as I don't have to share it with my Boxer 'Branson'.

The Beginning

I guess I need to start with where this all began....... 17th November 2012
Day one of 12wbt - The Journey to the new me. 108kg + and a squeeze into a size 18

If you told me then where I would be now I would think you were medicated or at least should be.

The funny thing is I never realised how fat I was. Don't get me wrong I knew 108kg was not a healthy weight but I loved my life, I had the man of my dreams, a beautiful home and family and a great job and not one insecure bone in my body.

I had done the measure up, did the fitness test.... or lack of and I was all organised. I had done all the preseason tasks and had told myself that I was going to do this with 100% commitment.

So the process began, I got on the forums and found a local lady also doing the program, Sue. We organised to meet the 1st Saturday for our SSS (Super Saturday Session), I survived but I remembered thinking mmmm I'm not sure if Sue is going to stick at this, not because I knew her but she seemed to struggle a little more than me mentally.......... Lesson 1, do not try to judge people as you will never be right.
Sue has been my buddy through out this whole journey, she has been my competition, my counsellor and my friend. She has made it a lot more enjoyable, its been great to share the ups and downs with someone that understood.
Sue was actually the the motivation behind this blog, she thought it would be great for me to look back on both my transformation and my road to running a marathon, so if you are bored its her fault. :)

Abbreviated version of my weight loss journey:

Beginner: Round 1 - 15kg gone (13% weight loss) and improved my 1km sprint from
9 mins 32 secs to 7 mins and 4 secs

Intermediate: Round 2 - 9.3kg gone (10% weight loss) and improved my sprint to 5 mins 32 secs - c25k  started.

Lean & Fit: Round 3 - 7.7kg gone (9% weight loss) and my sprint got to 5 mins 11 - Longest run was 10km, slow but consistent and concreted my love of running.

Half Marathon Program: Round 4 - 8.4kg gone (11% weight loss) and Woohooooo
4min 44 sec 1km sprint..... 1 of my goals achieved!