In the Beginning...

I am starting this blog to inspire and educate other unlikely athletes...we are still novices, but hope to inspire others.  We are just 2 sisters, mothers, wives, partners in crime, and unlikely athletes (my fibromyalgia, her scoliosis)** will blog about these things later, but we are making healthy changes and healthier choices in our lives and it feels SO good!

To me “Run” was always such an intimidating word.  If the subject ever came up I would quickly respond with “I can’t, I have bad knees” Truth be told that I had only run twice in past years.  Once, I tried to run through the grocery parking lot in a torrential down pour, where I ended up doing a belly slide (like into home plate) across two parking spaces and the second attempt was after the birth of my fifth child I decided to get in shape by running, as I took off on my inaugural run and began to pick up the pace I realized what I thought was someone clapping to cheer me on, was actually my boobs slapping. Mortified I walked the rest of the path. When I got to the other side of the track and told my husband he responded with an “I know, I could hear it across the lake” That was it, my Couch to 5K training plan came to a screeching halt… I vowed to never run again.  So a year and a half later, when my baby sister asked me to do a Christmas 5k with her, I agreed knowing we were going to walk it! Well, I agreed because she lured me in with the costume contest, but I committed, therefore I went.  More preparation went into actual costuming than training for this event, which was evident by the amount of time we spent exercising (ZERO), equipment prep (zilch, Realized the jogging stroller had a dry rotted tire the night before the race from where it sat from the boob clapping event 18 months prior), Shopping for costumes and sewing (about a week) … What happened, in short, has changed my life… I will blog about the Jingle run and its hilarity next.  I want others to realize that taking a step, getting up and moving is life altering. I was out of shape, overweight, depressed and making excuses of why I was that way instead of getting off my butt and changing it for myself.  After the Jingle Run we decided to commit to one 5K a month for a year, to help us get in shape.  Five months in, we are addicted; we are doing at least 2 races a month, running 3 times a week, and preparing for our first 10K.

Well, let me be clear, we don’t run, we wog (walk + Jog)… it’s far less intimidating… We can’t run nonstop for long periods yet, we do “intervals” run a couple minutes, walk a couple minutes,  but we are working on it… we are learning as we go, pushing ourselves, bettering ourselves. I want to share what we are learning… give tips on what to do, learn from our mistakes, let you laugh at us. I want to encourage you to make a difference in how you feel, how happy you are.  To show you how to prepare for certain popular races and share with anyone who cares to ride along with us! Share healthy recipes that work for busy moms! Hopefully along the way as we learn and share we will a) bring awareness to some of the causes we are committed to and b) share with you the products we use and love and c) maybe get some sponsorship to help fund our new addiction!

I’m going to blog about each race, share pics, let you laugh at our time, talk about what really happens to my body while wogging (as ugly as it really can be) trust me it ain’t purty. Join me, see our changes, get inspired and make a difference in yourself! Please subscribe, share and join us on this ride!