Oh My, Am I Still Breathing???

Before I was pregnant with Cecily, my best friend Susan and I began jogging. Let me just say jogging has never really been my thing. In fact the only time that I attempted it before then, was when my college roommate, Hollee, tried to get me to go with her. That attempt ended with me making an appointment to see the doctor. Not kidding. I thought I was dying. Anyway, when the doctor came in after giving my physical and running some blood work, I just knew he was going to give me bad news, and I guess in a way you can say it was, at least to my ego. He said, "No you are not dying, you are just out of shape!" Those words can often be heard ringing in my brain...YOU ARE OUT OF SHAPE! Who wants to hear that.
Anyway, years later Susan had told me that I could do it. She would work with me and we would do it together. She is like a sister to me and I trusted her. Plus, at the time she was a fitness instructor, so I knew she would know what to do with me if I passed out. LOL.
Well, we began running a slow jog and walking a little and then in a few weeks, what do you know....I jogged about a mile non-stop! Susan was right, I could do it. I can't tell you how excited I was. Running was very good for my body. I think the best shape I was ever in was when I ran. Let me just say this again, I NEVER liked running, but I LOVED what it did for me. It was hard waking up some mornings (even in freezing cold weather and to go jog. We went early in the morning like 5am! before our husbands left for work). Susan was a great jogging partner and encouraged me to try and go a little further each time. We got so we could do 4 entire laps around Cottage Hill Park non-stop (which is almost 4 miles). And guess what? I wasn't out of breath.
So why did we stop? Well, blame me. Remember I said I NEVER really liked to run. When I got pregnant with Cecily, even though my doctor said it would be fine to keep going because I had been doing it for so long, I decided to become a quitter, because I never started up after she was born.
Funny thing is, that whenever people would talk about running, I was always like.. I used to run almost 4 miles non-stop (all proud of myself, like I was still doing it). Until one day when I said that, I stopped to realize that hey Cecily is now 6. Sometimes you need to let things go and realize that was in the past.
So what does this all have to do with my post? Today, Susan and I decided to take up jogging again. Just like the good 'ole days! I tried not to psyche myself up too much reminding myself it has been quite a while since I've done anything more than walking. I did join the Y after Cecily was born, but that turned out bad because she hated their nursery---I'll have to blog about my cycling experience there though, pretty funny story.
We walked the first lap pretty quick to warm up and then we decided to jog the second lap. I didn't really think I would be able to jog the whole thing, but guess what? I did! Wasn't sure I was still breathing at the end, but hey, I ran the whole lap without stopping. It was hard and I prayed the whole time that the Lord would not have me die on the sidewalk. Again, not kidding. It really was hard, but I did it. We finished up walking 2 more laps--I did not want to push myself too much on the first day. BUT YEAH for me, I ran an entire lap, when I wasn't sure if I could. It truly was just like the good 'ole days! Cya Tuesday Susan!