I am turning 40 in June! Aaaaaaaaahhh!! Where has the time gone? I still call myself and my friends "girls". I never could say that I was a lady. That term is used for older more mature women. Much more mature... and I don't necessarily mean age here :)
Anyway, here is a bit of information about me. I love to exercise! Well, I did love to exercise. Something has happened recently to steal the motivation and love I once had. As a child I think my love for exercise came with swimming. My parents signed us kids up every summer for swim team. We were expected to get up every morning in the summer at either 8 or 9am and report for practice. I never really questioned it (my Mom might have a different memory here that involves a lot of whining and complaining) after all weren't all kids getting up every morning of summer break to swim on the swim team?
Then in the 80's there came the aerobics phenomenon. Jane Fonda and the 20 minute workout! Remember those? If you don't please don't tell me. You will make me feel old!
Oh how I loved to exercise with those shows!! My friends would tell me I could remember the aerobics routines so well that I should be an aerobics instructor.
Really?
OK!
Enter the 90's. I DID become an aerobics instructor. Even got certified through ACE (American Council on Exercise) and became a group fitness instructor with Body&Soul Ministries now Body&Soul Fitness. I taught exercise classes up till our second child was born. That would be 2003.
In the last few years I've taught on and off. It's hard to find a location for a class and childcare too. Exercising on my own has been hit or miss. I feel out of shape and unmotivated.
Till Sunday.
Sunday I read Todd's cousin Emilie's blog about how she just ran in her 2nd (I think) half marathon. Hey I know her. And she's a mommy. And she did it!! And look how fabulous she looks!
Back in May I was thinking of my upcoming birthday in June. I was thinking, "Wow in 13 months I'll be 40. I want to be my fittest at 40!" Well now it is September and my birthday is 9 months away. I have gotten NO closer to my goal. That makes me feel like I'm all talk and no action. I needed something to inspire.
Enter Emilie!
I shared with her how inspired I was by her and how cool it would be to run this half marathon in Maine with her next year.
Immediately she responds, "Omigosh!! You totally can do this!! Here are the links to the training schedules that helped me!! Here is a link to an upcoming run in your area!! You CAN totally do this! Yay Michelle!!
I'm thinking, "Waaaaaaiit she doesn't know that I'm a PROCRASTINATOR. I wasn't really going to start till next May. I mean I was going to try to start now but I would probably stop and start 100 times between now and then."
Wait can I get an AMEN to that? Y'all know that you do it too!! OK maybe not my friends Jen and Carol. But the rest of you!!
So then I think, "Well if she doesn't know that I'm a PROCRASTINATOR then maybe I can pretend I'm someone else with her. After all she lives in Maine, I live in Maryland. She'll never know. Maybe for this one thing I won't procrastinate. Maybe I'll just do it!!"
I'm so inspired!! I'm already planning on doing the Way Station Turkey Trot 5K on Thanksgiving morning. I've stayed on my workout schedule since Sunday. Not long I know but I only started this new journey on Sunday.
Part of staying on track is enlisting others to help shove you back on the track when you stop to eat chocolate or ice cream... (thank you, I heard that AMEN!) so Emilie and I asked her cousins and my sister in laws Paige and Tiercy to join us. Tiercy even went so far as to blog about it too. Now there is talk of asking other women we know and love to join our new movement!!
So if you are reading this and are so inclined to join us... don't wait to be asked. Just hit that comment button and shout out, "I'm in!" I'll hear you!
This is the first of many (I hope) postings on my progress working up to running a half marathon. I can't wait to see how I do!!
Oh and if you see Emilie... don't tell her that I'm a procrastinator. It'll be our secret :o)
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4 comments:
Yea, Michelle, way to go. And I promise not to tell Emilie that you are a procrastinator, even though I see her nearly every day . But wait a minute, you have given birth to four kids in eight years so I don't think procrastination is exactly something you need feel guilty about--I mean, need we wonder what you do with your spare time!!!??!
But Emilie has also inspired me and I am now on a regimen of swimming, biking and fast walking (I am working up to a slow jog). And PLEASE don't talk about feeling old at 40--I don't even acknowledge old age at 71.
Hoping to see you in Maine next September (and before that somewhere--I have not even met Jake yet! He looks adorable, Drew all over again.)
Love to all
Way to go public, Michelle. I think we should call ourselves "Moms on the Run"
We can have some little mottos like:
The baby pooped? I'm going for a run.
I'll be checking in on you! I also have a funny image of Todd with his whistle around his neck and you doing sprints in the driveway.
xo
Michelle, This is hilarious!!! I was laughing so hard that my already aching stomach (from running, yes running, that is how out of shape I am) hurt more!! Us Bumgardners had to marry to have humor in our lives! And now inspiration. I WILL be on that train with you to Maine to run the 1/2 marathon. Thanks for inspiring me to do this as well. Maybe we can run on some weekends for our longer runs.
Love this post Michelle!! There is something about going public isn't there? Remember envision, envision, envision!
I can't wait for next September.
Now i bet turning 40 doesn't seem like a big deal.
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