Ok I've been thinking about posting this thread for a little while now and wasn't sure how it would be received, but here it is...

A couple of weeks ago, my sister who lives up the street from me (well about 2kms up a BIG hill) called and asked if she could drop by and borrow some of my shoes to wear to a wedding. I told her I was going out for a run in the next 5 minutes and would be gone for close to an hour. Oh, well you can put them in a back pack and run to my place and leave them for me, cos I'm not home and was going to come pick them up in about half an hour, she said. Geez I said to her jokingly, I'm not a pack horse, I'm an athlete (this part was said with sarcasm). She laughed, I laughed and she came around to get them some other time (cos running with an unbalanced back pack might flare up my back pain and I didn't want to even risk it, I explained to her).

But I've been thinking about that since. A year ago I weighed around 250 pounds and was completely sedentary. Today, I am down to 159 pounds and I run 6 or more kms 4-5 days a week and participate in organised fun runs at least monthly (10kms is my best effort yet - I'm planning on a half marathon in May 2008). I love running. I love the way it makes me feel both physcially and psychologically and the way it makes my body look. I love how it feels when I'm doing it and I love how I feel afterwards. I've found a passion in it. When I run now, I feel like an athlete (I probably don't look like one though lol). A year ago, I could have never in a million years guessed that I would be tying up my laces on my runners most days to run until the sweat poured off me in an attempt to better my PB time (My best over my local 6.25 km run so far it 36ish minutes - of course I'm slower over a longer distance per km).

So I just wanted to post this thread to have a place for us to be proud of our fitness journeys and acheivements. And I'll just get in now and say by no means am I trying to make others feel bad because they choose not to exercise - that is your choice and you are on your own journey - work your band in what ever way does it for you. I just want a place for those of us that doexercise, and that love it as well, to have a place to come and share (not boast - its not that - we ALL can be proud of ourselves without it being bragging I think!) our acheivements, both great and small, cos I know there are a bunch of others out there who are passionate about their own fitness too.

So, do you feel like an athlete?

(athlete (noun) - a person who is good at sport, especially running, jumping etc

- a person trained or gifted in exercises or contests involving physical agility, stamina, or strength; a participant in a sport, exercise, or game requiring physical skill.

from dictionary.com) - "good and gifted" are open to YOUR interpretation :cool:

How the heck does that work, we're both further south than you!! :cry

I really don't know... And it was only 30 where I live. Brisbane city itself was more like 26. Really, really odd.

I still have a way to go but i have always been an athlete even before my band. I am just a better one now. I am sure the more i lose, the more i will be able to do, in the gym and on the trails. I like to hike more than anything. Donna

I am glad they inspired the right things in someone! If you like, I can PM you the addy for my personal web page. But the photos stay down for the moment. I don't want to be accused of showboating or attention grabbing.

That would be great! Thanks SO much, there are SO many inspiring people here, and most of them just don't know it. Maybe that's because you all had to muck your way through it just like everyone else, and you don't realize that we're watching you, and trying to follow in your footsteps.

Okay... you guys are all so great. Can I say that it was -8 C, here and with the windchill it was -12!!! Yep winter in the Canadian Arctic. Ran a good 5km this morning (26:14).

Yep.. running in this weather I must be an athlete.

12 days until my half marathon!!!

Dawn

Banded April 4th, 2006

Montreal

358/157/148

Geez Dawn I don't know whats worse - freezing cold or boiling hot. If only we had perfect running weather all year round!

Good luck in the lead up to your half marathon! I plan on attempting one in the first half of '08. Do you mind me asking how long you have been training for and what training do you do? I need to know where to start past running my 5-10km runs to get up to speed (pardon the pun!) enough to even think about registering for one.

Hmmm.

I can't say that I feel like an athlete, but I no longer feel like a fraud walking into the gym. My body shape isn't any worse than some of the others there. Six months ago I was quite literally round, and now I can pass for normal. Sometimes I surprise myself when I catch a random reflection (and other times I still feel like the bloated round thing I was!)

I can't run well due too much damage to the knees over the years. Guess I'll have to feel like a powerlifter

Finished my first 20min non stop run yesterday. I know its not much and i only hit 4.4mph on C25k week 5. But it was a victory for me.