I look like a strawberry and feel like and elephant!

*Author's note....I know it has been light years since I have posted, but I am choosing to address  that and say that a monkey came and blog napped it! The monkey has since returned my blog!

In 33 days I will accomplish something that has never been done by me before! I will officially run in my first 5k!! Don't hit the refresh button you read it correctly.... I, Molly Elizabeth, have signed up for my first 5k on June 3rd! I think while the monkey was blog napping my blog, he also messed with my brain! This whole idea to run a 5K started when I was in FL visiting my parents a month ago. I downloaded an app on my phone called couch to 5K and decided to see what it was like. After completing the first day I thought, "not too bad." Then came day two, and three! After the first week I was thinking hmmmmm maybe I should see this thing out!

A few days after returning from FL I was meeting with the nutritionist. We were talking about how my workouts were going and I told her about the app and how I completed week 1 and thought about signing up for a 5k. She thought it was a great idea! My nutritionist could tell that I am a competitive person and thought that this would be a great mini goal for me! After asking putting some feelers out there and asking some friends about doing a possible one in DC, my co-worker Cori told me that there was one June 3rd in Raleigh.

My first thought was that June 3rd was too close! Then I realized that if I didn't pick one that I would have the excuse that any of them were too close and at that point I would never sign up! June 3rd is a perfect date because it was 7 weeks away and would allow me to complete the full 8 week app training program. I got the info, signed up, and knew there was no turning back!!!

Starting the app is not the sole reason I decided to embark on this journey. I have some friends and family around me that were trying new things and I thought if they can do something why can't I! My sister signed up to run her first sprint triathlon in July in CO! (You can follow her blog). I have been so proud and amazed with how active she has become!! My good friend Ginnie decided that for her 10 year anniversary that she and her husband were going to run a half marathon to celebrate!! Ginnie has run before but never this far!! I am proud to say she reached her goal this past weekend! Ginnie has a hilarious blog that you can follow as well! My dear college friend Chris has been a runner her whole life! She was my inspiration for starting a blog about my new healthy lifestyle that I thought it would be fun to run one with her! Chris has a great running blog about her runs. (I follow both Chris and Ginnie)

As you can tell I have a lot of inspiration around me! Enough about the back story, now onto the title of this post! Ginnie asked Cork,  a co-worker , to help her train for her half-marathon. After months of seeing the progress that Ginnie was making and hearing her talk about how inspiring and helpful Cori was, I decided to ask Cori to help me as well. I have to admit that I was afraid to!  Cori is an amazing runner who has completed a marathon and numerous halfs. My fear was that I would be too slow or boring for her! (I was wrong) Cori accepted and after a scheduling conflict last week we had our first run today.

I somewhat knew what I was getting myself into! I wanted someone who was going to push me and not let me make excuses about anything. Cori is not going to let myself or any excuse stop me from reaching this goal!! Cori and I went on our first run/walk today!! As most of you know I am not a runner at all! The program I started has me alternating running and walking. Each week I run a little more. While we could have followed my next day, Cori that it was best that we worked on the 5k distance! Before we starting I told her I didn't want to know how long I had to run or anytime info. I felt like if I knew I would just keep dwelling on it!

We started the run and I was feeling good! My first "leg" of the run I ran for 7 minutes. Again, don't hit refresh! I have never run this long in my life!!!!! Up to this point my running app only had me run 2 min! Go me go!! At the beginning I ran until I needed to walk. Cori was good about just letting me stop! After the first mile I started to slow down tremendously. At this point Cori talked about picking a point, running to it, walking, and then starting over. This is what we did for the remainder of the time. After the first running distance I gave the street sign a high five because I was so excited I made it! We continued this trend of picking a point to run to, walking, and then starting over all the way back to the car!

As you can guess, the later runs were slower and harder but I kept going! Cori gave me a lot of advice while running! A few things I remember was to not think about me while I ran. Meaning think about everything around me, the smells, sights, and sounds. I am gonna need to practice this one! Cori also mentioned to not look down while I was running as it might make it seem like the time was going slower! These were the big ones I remember and are good ones to work on even if Cori is not with me!

In the end I ended up running/walking 3.11 miles with an average pace of 16.22! Not bad if you ask me! Even Cori was proud. I have a LONG way to go!! However I can't use the excuse of "I can't!" Running with Cori was proof that I can!!!!!!!!!!!!

As I got into my car I started to cry! Good tears :) I could not believe that I just went 3.11 miles and ran some of it! This is a huge accomplishment!! I was so overcome with emotions that I just cried. Honestly it felt good to cry!!

One day down many more to go!!

As for the title....I look like a strawberry because my face is so pink!!!!!!! I feel like and elephant because my legs are so tired and heavy!!

From here on out I am going to post updates on the runs and food part! I was so good about tracking my food for awhile. However I moved onto the exercise part and let the food part go. Cori told me today that being healthy is 30% exercise and 70% nutrition! I am thinking about trying nutrasystem to see if I can jump start a balanced meal. Anyone have any thoughts?


Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy the long overdue post!!!