I did it!!!

The 2015 Bubble Run is now history and I DID IT!!!  I walked the 5 kilometers in 1 hour and 26 minutes.  It was a great time.

Here I am with my daughter, Michaela, before the race:

Here are more pictures from before we started:

2 Tracys and me

Me, Tracy, Michaela, Layla

The group

My biggest cheerleader was my husband, John:

Now we are approaching the starting line:

As you can see, it was a very cloudy and rainy day.  At least at that point of the day, it was still warm, so the rain really didn't bother me.

There were 4 "bog" of bubbles of different colors to walk through:

Before pink

After pink

Before Green

After Green

Before Blue

Before Yellow

My niece, Tracy, was my walking partner and stayed with me the whole time:

Finally we see the finish line!!  And we see my hubby, my sister, my son and daughter, and my great-nephew.  They were all waving and cheering me on.

Approaching the final turn

We see the finish line!!!

And after the race:

Michalea and I after the race

 A Bubbled Michaela

My great-niece, Samatha

I am amazed that I was able to do it.  My thighs started screaming about 1/2 way through, but I was determined not to give up.  It was fun talking to Tracy.  Sometimes we were chatting up a storm, and other times we were silent and just walking along.  It was great to have her with me.  I could also feel the presence of my friend, Christy, pushing me along from heaven.  There were several people in wheelchairs walking with their friends, and when I saw them I thought about how much fun Christy would have had doing this with me.  

This was such a wonderful experience.  I had no idea what to expect, and I had a blast!!  I know some things to do for next time, that's for sure.  Like bring a ziplock bag for the cell phone and bring a change of clothes and shoes for after.

After the race, we went to Crackle Barrel to eat.  The temperature dropped and I was freezing!!!  The hot coffee at the restaurant sure felt good.  As we were heading back to the van after eating, I started to really feel the ache.  Boy do my muscles hurt!!!  But after going home and changing clothes, hubby, Michaela, and I went out and did some shopping.  We had thought about going out for dinner, but decided to go home and order Chinese instead.  And of course as soon as we got home, I took some tylenol.

Next year we are going to have a bigger group walking.  Hubby is going to walk too, and he is already planning his outfit to wear.  This has been a great experience, and now that I've done one, I want to do more.  If anyone wants to walk with me, just let me know!

Thanks again for all the words and encouragement and support.  I couldn't have done it without you.

Thank you God for giving me the strength to do this. Amen!

Tomorrow will be a big day

Tomorrow I will be participating in my first 5k walk.  It is the bubble run in Joliet at the Speedway.  The "run" starts at 9:00 am, and I need to be there around 7 to get my packet and register and stuff.

I have to admit I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand I am very, very excited.  3 of my nieces with 3 of my grand-nieces will be walking/running with me.  For that I am very, very grateful.  Now I fully expect them to blow me out the water, and that's ok.  A friend was also going to walk, but she had to cancel at the last minute for something very important that came up (and it is much more important for her to do the other thing).  Since she had to cancel, she can transfer her entry to another person, so I might ask my daughter if she still wants to walk with me.  She had expressed an interest, but I didn't sign her up because she broke her arm and was in a cast.  She just got the cast off and is in just a splint, which would be much easier to protect.  So if she is interested, we might just have her do it.  Which will be nice for me because I know she will stay with me.

On the other hand, I'm scared.  I have yet to walk 5 kilometers (3.2 miles) when I have gone walking.  In my heart, I know I can do it, but at the same time...what if I fail?  What if I can't do it?  I thought I would do more training for this and be able to walk a full 5k by this point.  The furthest I've gone is just shy of 2 miles.  I'm expecting this to take me about 90 minutes to do based on the times of shorter walks.  Am I going to be the last one to cross the finish line?  If so, does it really matter?

I bought a new pair of capris for the event.  They are kinda like spandex and I got them from the "activewear" section at Target.  I'm still blown away that I found something that fits me in that section.  And they are only a 2x in womens which is awesome!  It still amazes me that I can go in to "regular" stores now and be able to find clothes.

18 short months ago I weighed almost 400 pounds!  Then I think back to the turning point in this journey which was on September 9, 2014.  That was surgery day.  That was a short 8 months and 20 days ago.  Before surgery, I couldn't walk through a store without having aching feet and being worn out, if I could walk it at all.  8 months and 19 days ago I was recovering from major surgery. Now I can walk up and down stairs and walk almost 2 miles.  Tomorrow, I'll be walking a 5k.  Simply amazing.

What a day!!

Today started out like any normal day.  Got the kids ready for school, they all left with hubby, and I showered and got dressed.  Today I was going on a field trip with the youngest and her class, to see a play at the Apollo theater.  I had to be at school for 8:40, and it's about a 5 minute drive.  So I start gathering everything up at 8:15.  Backpack to hold the snacks, check.  Purse, check.  Cell phone, check.  Mine and Monkey's snack, check.  House keys, check.  Car keys.......car keys.....Holy $h!t!!!  Where the frack are my car keys????  I search the kitchen table, not there.  I look on the floor under the table...nope.  I check pants pockets and jacket pockets...nope.  Not in my purse either.  Kitchen counters???  Bathroom?????  WHERE ARE MY KEYS!!!!!  By now it's 8:32 and I need to get to school.  I don't have time to walk.  I call 2 friends that live nearby....no answer. So I call the school.  I tell the secretary the situation.  She says, "no problem, I'll come pick you up!"  AWESOME!!!  She came right away, I got there before they were boarding the buses and all is well.  Monkey and I have a good time with her class at the play.  The drive there and back was interesting.....I don't think the bus drivers knew where the heck we were going.  I got to see a lot of the Lincoln park residential area.

So on the bus back to school, I'm debating.  The secretary told me that I could get a ride home.  But then I'm thinking.....well, I have a 5k in a week, and I have yet to walk a whole 5 kilometers.  So I decided to walk home.  And I did a good job.  I walked the 1.63 miles in 40 minutes.  It's not the 3.2 miles I need to do next week but it was half of that.  And it felt good to walk.

Now it's time to get back for a fun-filled working weekend at LOMC.  I am really looking forward to it, and during free time, I plan on getting in some hiking.  Maybe, just maybe, I'll get a full 5k in at some point.

And....hopefully, I'll find my keys.

8 month surgiversary

Three days ago marked the 8 month mark.  I lost another 5 pounds.  It's good to be on a losing streak again, that's for sure!!

The end of this month is the 5k.  I haven't actually walked 5k yet, but I'm confident I will have no issues.

Today was my son's band concert.  I wound up standing the entire time because I was working the video camera.  Last year I wouldn't have been able to stand for even one song.  It's a good feeling.

So no complaints here.  The summer is fast approaching, and I hope to be out and about in the evenings.  I'm looking forward to swimming in the pool, and going for nice walks in the warm summer air.  Ahhh  summer.....soon enough.

30 minute walk

Today I lasted 30 minutes on the treadmill and went 1.05 miles.  I have 25 days till the Bubble Run/Walk, I sure hope I'll be able to walk the 5k.  I should be able to......I'll have to get outside after work one day this week and walk around the park and try to get to 5k.

The gym was hot today which is why I only lasted 30 minutes.  Even my gym buddy commented on how hot it was in there.

Ok, enough rambling.  Monthly weigh in is in 4 days....the 8 month mark.  It's hard to believe that much time has gone by.  I was looking at some pictures on Facebook, and I can't believe that's me...I was so big.  I'm so happy I decided to take this journey.

More in 4 days...if not sooner!  :-)