FREEDOM!

The 4th of July - the birth of our nation - a day of celebration. How lucky are we? We have so much to be thankful for. I can't imagine living anywhere else.

I'm looking for freedom, too. Freedom from my big butt. Freedom from meds, to control Type II Diabetes. Freedom to show everyone that my outside is as stunning as my insides. What freedoms are you looking for? Do you want to be free from your sofa? Are you looking to be free from being overweight? Are you looking to breath easier? Stay with me.

What am I doing? I turned 40 last August, and I weighed (I can't believe I'm putting this on the internet) over 200 pounds. I'm only 5' tall. I was freakin' round! and, somewhat lumpy. It wasn't pretty. I didn't feel pretty, ever. I got it in my head that I should run a marathon. Really? A marathon - isn't that kinda long? Can't I just get to the end of the driveway and back - that's a tenth of a mile each way. Actually, I occasionally had an issue doing the driveway. I'd get out of breath. So, not only was I 40 and fat, I was also out of shape, and very unhealthy. Well, I thought about it - the marathon - and that's as far as it went.

It's been almost a year since then. No marathon, a bit of a weight loss - I got a job. So, when I started walking, I weighted between 182 and 184. Then, my husband went to Korea for six weeks. Not a big deal for military wives. And, Mark normally travels every week, and he's been gone for months a time before. So, it shouldn't have been a huge deal. It was different, though. I was working nearly full time, and the boys were older. I was having a really rough time. That marathon thing came back into my brain again. Maybe I was more ready for it. Maybe I was just trying to escape. I don't know.

I looked online for books about marathon running. Not just running, but running marathons. Really? Me? A marathon? Yeah, I guess so.

So, I have my books, and I really like the one - written by a woman for non-runner women. I bought a pedometer. I love my pedometer. I set it with my age, weight, stride (kinda - it's always weird to measure your stride), and the number of steps I wanted to walk each day. I used the 10,000 step goal. I don't know who said that 10,000 steps was the number of steps that a healthy person takes, but it sounded good.

Mark got home June 11th. We were all so happy - the two boys, Joshua and Michael; the three dogs, Becka, an Aussie Shepherd, Kaylee, a German Shepherd, and Isis, a Blue Heeler. Of course, Isis didn't know Mark, yet - I got her while he was gone. (She was found in a dumpster by a gal at work, so I brought her home, thinking she'd finally be mine - all the others are traitor puppies...) I told Mark about my goal, that I wanted to train. He was extremely supportive. I'd already started walking, cuz ya gotts to walk before you run, and my butt bounced too much when I tried.


I started with a mile. Out half, back half. I used the excuse that I didn't know how far the puppy could go. Sure..... puppy? or me? I can't believe how far I've come in a few weeks - has Mark really only been home three weeks? He's been very supportive, dragging my butt out when I don't really want to go. Encouraging me to either go faster, or farther, or just to go.

That's what I want to do for you. My goal is not just to do a marathon, but to do one with you. I want you to find encouragement in my pain. Most days, there really isn't any, but let's feel it together. My dream is to actually have strangers follow this odd little blog. Yup, just know that you probably aren't stranger than me! I would love to travel to wherever you are, (yeah, YOU) and run with you. Not simply a mile or two, although that would be wonderful, but a marathon. Not an organized marathon, but just 26.2 miles. Like that "just"? The first thing, though, we need to move. And, right now, my moving is walking, with a few bouts of slight faster walking in there. I can't say I run - my butt bounces too hard, and it's not comfortable. I haven't lost a ton of weight in the last four weeks since I've started. I've changed it, though. I've gained muscle, and lost fat. Things are harder, other things are smaller. I breath easier. I get my 10,000 steps earlier. It just happens.

So, it's the 4th of July - I did my walk this morning, just me and the girls (Becka, Kaylee and Isis), cuz Mark is taking the boys to the gun range for machine gun day. Time home alone, what a blessing. He passed me and picked up Becka. I turned around there, just over two miles from home. Did my last two miles at 20 minutes each mile. Now, I'm making a fruit pizza (really bad for you!! Sugar cookie dough, whipped cream, fruit, and drizzled with white chocolate pudding) to take to a friends' house later today. Just know that I'm thinking of you. I'm hoping that my story will inspire you to change your own life, your own story.