Jingle Bells Hershey Smells

It’s been 13 months since I last ran a 5k and at least three months since I last ran at all. But last night I committed to running the arthritis foundation’s jingle bell run–by committed I mean that I announced it to all my Facebook friends.  I have never been one to count facebook friends until I started this blog.  That is when I realized I had 400 of them.   So I told 400 people who actually know me or have known me that I was going to do this run.

So I have to do it.

Since I invited them all to join me, I have to do it without passing out.

So because I have nothing but free time in the world, I have committed to writing a post every day for National Blog Post Month and training for a 5k.

Let’s pause for a quick back story.  I used to work out like an addict…an endorphins addict. Back in the good old days.  You know, this summer before kindergarten started and my son started to go to a different school than his sister.   Before I decided that sending him to a magnet school that started an hour earlier than all the other local schools was a good idea.  Back before we had to start leaving the house at 6:45am.

For about a year I ran two miles every morning but continued to eat however I wanted.  And then this past July I decided to build more muscle and lose a bit more of the muffin top so I changed my diet, incorporated HIIT, and lifted weights.  I was more fit than I have been ever in my life.

Oh and if you haven’t figured it out yet, my nickname is Hershey.  I have NEVER in my life introduced myself as Hershey nor have I suggested people call me Hershey but no matter where I go and who I meet, people always end up calling me that.  It’s because I am smooth and sweet and not because Herchel is too difficult to say…(her-shell)

During my brief third pregnancy, I put on weight fast and was too ill to work out.  After the pregnancy loss, I was too lost to work out.

But Arthritis has struck  both my mother and my daughter, and this is a cause I would run a marathon for (and 26.2 miles is pure CRAZY) and donate half of my imaginary lottery winnings towards.

This morning I got on the treadmill for the first time in almost four months.  I ran exactly one mile and finished at about the same time it used to take me to run two miles.  But it wasn’t painful.  I wasn’t huffing and puffing like I was going to blow the house down.  I wasn’t all that sweaty but just glistened prettily, like a Cullen.

Don’t judge me my fit friends!  My goal is not weight loss (though the muffin top overfloweth), there was no HIIT training involved.   My goal is to run the full 5k in thirty minutes.  I don’t get to road run much because it is difficult to find someone to watch the scrugglets while I run.  The treadmill is far easier than the street, and I can run at the ungodly hour of 4:30am while the kids are still asleep.  It’s the only way to fit it in.

The Jingle Bell run is  on December 14 so I have plenty of time.  I promise to keep you updated because, I am, after all, writing a post a day.

PS I would like to thank Kimberly Miller for her inspiring me with her blog.

Join the fight and look for an event near you!