In 2010, about 9 months after I had my Sassy daughter, a lot of my friends were posting on facebook about how they were doing Couch to 5K. I was intrigued and looked it up. About that same time I was also watching a lot of The Biggest Loser and that season they started with a competition to make it on the ranch by having the wanna-be contestants run a mile. The first 2 from each city that made it across the finish line earned their place on the ranch. There were so many of them that just could not run a mile! Some fainted, a few vomited. I was really shocked. Sure those people were morbidly obese, and at that time I was working out an average of 4 times a week for 2 hours a day. But seeing those people struggle really made me think. And I decided that if Jillian Michaels showed up at my door and asked me to go run a mile, at that point in my life, I didn't think I could have.
So I started C25K. The program takes you in 9 weeks from not being able to run at all, to running 3 miles continuously. I looked at the local running calendar in my area and picked a race that was 9 weeks away and registered for it. It happened to be the Memphis Grizzlies House 5K that is apart of the St. Jude Marathon Weekend. I added running 3 days a week to my normal Y class routine. I was so amazed at how I went from really struggling to finish those first week workouts to running in that first 5K. As I came up the home stretch and saw the Autozone Stadium, I remember almost crying because I was so proud of what I had accomplished. (For the race recap I wrote on my family blog go here.)
That first race was the beginning of this crazy dream of mine that brings you to this blog. When I went to pick up my race packet it was the first time I've ever been to a pre-race expo and it was amazing! As I walked around all the various vendors I stumbled across the Run Disney booth where they had all their race bling on display and were handing out princess crowns to advertise for the 2011 Disney Princess Half Marathon. In 2 days I was going to run 3.1 miles for the first time EVER in my life and all of a sudden I was dying to go to Disney World and run 13.1 miles! I have no idea what had gotten into me. I even tried to convince one of my friends to sign up so we could go. I was googling all kinds of running plans to see if I had enough time to train for that race. We couldn't make it in 2011, but thought about trying to go in 2012. However, that didn't happen because of this:
(36 Weeks Pregnant with Lil'Joe)
I had a pretty fit pregnancy. I worked out 4-5 days a week. But it was still a difficult pregnancy that took it's toll on my body. I ran for the first half of the pregnancy. However, after running in a local 4 miler, the Zoom through the Zoo, my sciatica was so inflamed that I was told to stop running. I had to go to the chiropractor for the rest of the pregnancy 3 days a week just to be able to walk and do what I needed to do each day. However, that didn't stop me and I continued to walk, go to Zumba class, and do yoga and pilates the rest of the pregnancy. The morning that I went into labor I had gone to Zumba, waddled 2 miles, and done a pretty intense yoga class. Of course, 15 hours later I gave birth in my car since we didn't make it to the hospital in time. (Whooops!)Since then my sciatica is still bothering me, and I still have not been cleared to do high intensity or high impact cardio. So no running yet for me. But that hasn't stop me, I was back to the gym 2 weeks after giving having Lil' Joe! I started back easy, just walking a couple of miles while pushing the stroller. Then I added back yoga and pilates. A few weeks ago, I added riding the stationary bike twice a week to my routine to add some cardio and conditioning back in to my routine.
I'm putting my goal out there right here, right now so I can join the community of fit bloggers (and tweeters) to help keep me motivated. This time next year, I will be in Orlando, FL at Disney World and I will be running in the Princess Half Marathon! Who's with me?!?
Follow me here and join the conversation on Twitter @fit2beaprincess ! I'm 52 weeks away from my dream race.
This is the story of how after having 2 kids, I'll get fit to be a princess again!
