I DID IT! by denise5

As I stood at the start line waiting for the horn to sound the start of the 5K race, tears started rolling down my face. It was my July 31, 2010, my 50th birthday. I stood there and thought,”Have you lost your mind? You can’t do this. You are going to look stupid. You’ve only run 3 miles 4 times, how are you going to do this today?” So began the morning of my 50th birthday.

Let me rewind a bit. Growing up I never really liked playing sports. I usually only did it to please my family or friends. I was not athletic or any good at sports. I only played when I had to. I only exercised when gym class required it. I was blessed with a great figure and a good metabolism. I never had to worry about what I ate.
When I was 20 years old, I started smoking (I know, I know). I continued smoking for the next 21 years. I had 4 children and tried to tell myself it was ok to smoke just a little while I was pregnant. (I really did know that it wasn’t ok.) I could not run and started breathing heavy any time I walked up a short flight of steps. My husband could hear me breathing when I was just sitting. But Hey I looked good. I was thin with a nice shape. Finally, I started thinking about my children and how I wanted to be there for them for a long time. They were 17, 6, 5, and 2 at the time. This was the summer of 2001. I decided to quit smoking, but keep putting the quit date off. Finally I decided to quit on January 1, 2002. God had other plans for me. On September 17, 2001, I found out I was pregnant for the 5th time. What a surprise blessing. I was 41 years old. I put out my last cigarette on Friday, September 21, 2001 at 3:30pm. It was very difficult. At first, I took it an hour at a time, then a day then a week. When I realized I had not smoked for 9 weeks, I thought, why would I start back up now? I haven’t touched a cigarette since. (YEAH ME)

Of course with stopping smoking and being pregnant, the pounds piled on. I weighed 120 pounds and went up to 174. The most I had ever weighed before was 142 and that was pregnant. My husband and I laughed when I hit 150, but when the scale kept going up it was not funny anymore. I had my 4th daughter, Aliya on May 13, 2002. She was just as beautiful at the rest of my kids. What a shock, the pounds did not fall off like they always had before. When Aliya was 2 months old I tried to start doing some Denise Austin exercises I found in a magazine. That didn’t really work because all my kids kept interrupting me. My husband brought home a small step for me. I started getting up in the morning and stepping up and down on it while listening to 70’s and 80’s music. I did not know what I was doing and didn’t have a routine, but just kept stepping up and down. It finally got too easy. That was when I saw the firm exercise tapes in the store. I bought those and a step stool and was on my way. I got up between 5 and 6 every morning and did those tapes. I also joined Weight Watchers and it took seven months for me to get down to 120 pounds again. I soon started adding more firm tapes to my collection. When those got too easy, I found the college video website. I typed in weight workouts. Up popped Cathe. My first Cathe purchase was Maximum Intensity Strength. I immediately loved her. I bought Rhythmic Step next. So in 2005 another Cathlete was born. When looking at the tape one day, I saw that Cathe had her own website. I got on there and ordered more tapes. Then Cathe started coming out with cds. I started doing exclusively Cathe. I hate to say it but my eating habits went downhill. I started gaining weight when I started doing Cathe. Now, I believe that I wasn’t eating enough to sustain the intensity of my workouts. I have never gotten down to 120 again but that’s ok, 135 would be nice. Anyway, I have been doin g Cathe since 2005 and loving it.

For the last couple of years I have been thinking about running to challenge myself even more, I thought about running in a 5K. I have never been a runner. In fact, my husband had never seen me run until race day. Unfortunately, last summer I broke my foot and had to put the 5K on the back burner. In May, 2010, I got on the internet and typed in Kansas City 5k races on July 31, 2010. I found a family friendly one at a park in a nearby city. It was a cross country run. Then I looked up a 5k training program. I found the From Couch Potato to 5k program. I had barely enough time to get the 9 weeks of training in before the race.

Fast forward, to race day. As I stood at the start line, I also thought, “I did not know that there were going to be hills.” I had trained on our high school track (flat surface). I finally stopped crying (thank goodness my sunglasses hid my tears) and told myself, “You can do this, all you have to do is finish, and it doesn’t have to be pretty.”
The horn sounded and off we went. The tempature was in the 80’s with 88% percent humidity at 8:30 in the morning (typical Kansas City Weather). It was hard, very hard, I had to walk a little because I wasn’t used to running up and down hills. Sweat was pouring off me and I was thinking I will not be last, I will not be last. My 14 year old daughter, Victoria, along with my husband had come out to watch me run. When I got to the last stretch where I could see the finish line, Victoria ran along beside me, encouraging me. I heard the announcer say my name as I crossed the finish line. I WAS NOT LAST. It was my slowest time ever, but I didn’t care, I finished. I know that I can do anything now. Nothing can stop me. Before we even left the park, I said I am going to do this again. My next big challenge is Cathe’s Houston road trip.

So I went from a 21 year smoker, thin but not at all in shape to a 5K runner at the age of 50. I may not be as thin as I want to be, but Cathe’s workouts have gotten me in the best shape I have ever been. Because of the confidence I gained while doing her workouts, I had the courage to try running. If you can do a Cathe workout, you can run. My next 5K will be a Thanksgiving Day race.

If I can do this anyone can. It just takes drive, perseverance, and the belief that you can.