[/caption]Never in a million years did I ever dream that I would be involved in a 5K. Let me start off by saying this was a 5K walk not a RUN. I have had friends that have done races/walks and I have always wished them great success while I stayed as far away from them as I could. Now if you have been following my blog at all you know that I have been working on a weight loss plan, after taking a genetic test. That is going quite well, after a little bit of a hiccup (which I will write more about later) and some fine tuning with my fitness coach I have lost six pounds and several overall inches so far! So when my hubby told me he was required by his company to participate in a walk as part of his insurance incentive program I halfheartedly said, Yeah I "guess" I'll walk it with you, I mean hey it doesn't start till 10 I can still sleep in...YEAH RIGHT! Week of the walk I was informed that I had to be AT registration by 8:30 (so much for the sleeping in plan) OH WELL I was already committed.
Hubby's company had chosen to participate with the March of Dimes. Well I will be honest, I knew very little about this charity, except that it dealt with babies ( I love BABIES! and kids). So I was totally unprepared for what the day held for me emotionally. I was up and ready to roll at the designated time. I was prepared: vitamins/supplements in my pocket, cell phone (An ESSENTIAL to Facebook my walk...hehehe) Ultra filtered water, sunglasses and LIPGLOSS (its a light up one, just in case I didn't make it back before dark, the LED light could light my way...hahahaha) it is an essential! hehehhehehe. Breakfast was to be provided as was additional water, so I didn't
[caption id="attachment_144" align="alignright" width="150" caption="POTASSIUM"]
[/caption]eat (OOPS mistake number one) or bring a second water bottle (oops mistake number two) . We arrive on the scene (hubby, me, and two of our four kids) and promptly got registered and started to search out breakfast...OH NO! Krispy Kreme doughnuts and a banana!!!
WHERE IS THE PROTEIN?????? (apparently the consensus is that the protein is implied and located in the hole...lol) Thank goodness I had brought a carb blocker, because YES I did eat one!! I also ate a banana, thank goodness because the potassium would be essential!Okay breakfast...check, now we have killed all of 5 minutes. It is now 8:45..sheesh I still have an hour and fifteen to go!! Now things are picking up. Local news coverage, dance teams, stories of babies that have been helped through the March of Dimes (I can control my emotions, I can control my emotions). Next step choose a bandana ????? What ??? I thought we were just walking for babies. YEEEEAH , well here is the part I was unprepared for ... Your choice of bandana would be either : Pink: for Birth defects, Purple: for Premature birth and ....WHITE: for the angels among us, the babies that never made it to term...I can all of the sudden feel the emotions starting to overwhelm me now. You see 15 years ago (almost to the day) I was pregnant with my son, who just happened to be one of the four walking with me, one of my cousins who was due the same as I was gave birth to a precious angel who was still born (on my birthday 5/13) I went into labor with my son, right after that. Labor for me stopped completely for two hours during the funeral of Bethany Anne. ( he was born 5/15). Not to mention another dear friend who delivered a girl still born two weeks before. It was obvious that white was the bandana color I would be choosing.
[caption id="attachment_143" align="alignright" width="150" caption="For Bethany Anne"]
[/caption]The walk now took All of the sudden the walk took on a whole new meaning to me! Not only a personal fitness challenge, or a company requirement, but I was marching now for babies that never got a chance. Holding my son's hand (he was my walking buddy), I made sure the sunglasses were on hiding the tears and I lined up to walk, ready to set pace and not give up. First lets grab a water bottle, because the one I brought home was empty ...oh yeah where are the "facilities"????? OH BOY...Yippeee A SANI-CAN!!! My son and I chuckled over the "deluxe" house size model that was available. Water bottle??? Well that never happened because I was told they were for "after" the race.....OH NO! (I will not panic) . So the count down had begun 10, 9, 8, 7......3, 2, 1, LETS WALK! Our walk was downtown Winston Salem...3.12 miles. Here we go, It was kind of EXCITING! Police blocking traffic, cheerleaders along the route and "Spirit Stations" that we would vote on, set up to encourage us along the way... (FYI Station 1 did NOT get my vote, they ran out of water right when I got there....GRRRR). We traipsed all through the city. Laughing and having fun! What an awesome bonding experience for US....(yes my son found it amusing that I avoided the manholes so I wouldn't trip). I am feeling good ...woo hoo ..and then there it is! THE MOUNTAIN! WHAT??? When did our downtown get mountains??? ... I quick updated my Facebook post to read This hill is huge...huff puff...breaks into refrain of climb every mountain...LOL. Yes I did update my Facebook and Twitter the entire time!! It really helped time go faster and the cheerleaders and pep squad really really helped! (THANK YOU EVERYONE). The huge hill through Historic OLD Salem did NOT defeat me, but boy was the heart pumping. Not to far past this was
[caption id="attachment_148" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Coffee BREAK?"]
[/caption]the COFFEE POT and then Spirit station number 2 ..THEY HAD COLD WATER BOTTLES, Yep they got my vote :). This meant we were a little over half way...woo hoo!!! Was it all down hill from there?? UMMM NOPE! I had to break out singing "Climb every mountain" several more times , who knew WS was soooo hilly, hahahaha. We had some comedian pep squad at the 1 mile mark and then spirit station number 3, they had dixie cups of water and pens (I guess this was in case you needed to sign any medical papers before the end..lol) They got one of our votes as well. As the end got closer the more energized I felt and a breeze started blowing ...Awesome God, thanks for the Air Conditioning! There is was ..the sign that read FINISH,
[caption id="attachment_147" align="alignright" width="150" caption="FINISH! or is it the START?"]
[/caption]of course it also said start, but I knew for me...It mean finish or did it??? Was this the START of new habit for me??? I had fun, I will admit it! It was hard, but it made me feels so fulfilled in different ways! It was a day I will never forget!!!
[caption id="attachment_142" align="alignright" width="150" caption="My number and I did it sticker!"]
[/caption]EmBee
[caption id="attachment_150" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="The rest of team EmBEE!"]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_149" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Yes I am smiling. One of my friends with me, but I don't have her permission to post her photo"]
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