On Sunday August 16th, 2009, I ran the New York City Half Marathon (13.1 miles). Oh yeah, I done did it! I have NO idea how... Well, I guess I do, shall we do a recap again?
About a year ago, I was way over 190 lbs. I tried to do things on my own, but was unsuccessful. Every morning I'd wake up and walk around the Fort Lee High School track. One morning, after months of walking, I remember saying to myself "I just wish someone would take me under their wing. I would absolutely do whatever they'd tell me to do. I just don't know what I'm doing wrong." In late September, I saw an ad on Fort Lee's Suburbanite.
In late September 2008, Jessica sent me the application. October, we met and she interviewed me in her Hybrid with the kids in the back seat... and by the end of our conversation, she said something in the lines of "I'd like you to be one of our SpokesPerson". Late October, Virginia contacted me and on Saturday, November 1, 2008 we had our first session.
As the Pilates sessions began, I picked running as my cardio. In the beginning, I couldn't even jog for 1 mile! On March 2009, my friend YoWon encouraged me to join the New York Road Runners (NYRR) Running classes on Tuesdays. Then, we ran a 4M race in April, 5M race in May, and 6M race in June. We signed up for the Half Marathon in May and I continued with 2 more sessions of classes which will end during the 2nd week of October.
Most recently, I joined a bootcamp. My cousin is getting married (YAY!!!) and I have to fit into a size 10 dress, so why not, right? The best part of it is spending time with her.
In addition to all these activities, I've also been careful about what I'm eating (Thanks Dr. Karen!!!) and also keeping myself sane by seeing a therapist.
Whew... so today, I may have not reached my goal, but I can proudly say that I'm doing ok. Taking good care of this body.
Weight: 194 down 170lbs, Waist: 37 1/4 down to 33 1/2, Hip: 43 down to 41, Arm: 13 3/4 down to 13 1/4, Thigh: 25 3/4 down to 23 3/4, Bust: 37 1/2 down to 35
Now back to the details of the Half, it was EXTREMELY hot. I did my usual run around the park, between the 6th to 7th mile I was worried. My energy was depleting pretty bad, but fortunately I was able to sense it and ate a gel given to me by a friend which arrived the Friday before the run (Thanks Jenny!). After I left the park, I was just praying I'd finish. Then, I saw my friend Julie waiting for me by Toys R Us. I didn't expect to get that emotional, but I had tears coming down my eyes while I ran away holding an ice tea box she gave me. The hardest part of the run was going towards the West Side Highway. I walked as much as I could. Finally, I got to the 9th mile. At each water spot, I took my sweet, sweet time. By the time I got to the 10th mile, I reminded myself that this WAS a race. So I started to push. At that point, my goal was to just finish under 3 hours and not get kicked out of the race. For the last 800m, I attempted to sprint. Once I crossed the finish line, I was breathing so heavily it sounded like I was sobbing (maybe I was crying just a little bit). Then I spotted my friend Angela where she greeted me with a beautiful bouquet. As we walked toward the exit of the race, I spotted my family. Check out the pictures, they'll speak for themselves.
I continued to sweat continuously for another 1/2 hour after the race and we went for brunch, then for my family birthday lunch, a cold shower, a long nap, dinner, and a nice ice cream treat. Next day on Monday, I was still feeling ok and headed on to the bootcamp.
So that's it! I did it! With the help of ALL the people around me, everything fell into place and I'm where I am today.
THANK YOU! :0)
