Here I am! Right here! I am 33 years old and I am 80lbs overweight. I love food. I love wine. And I HATE exercise. Guess that's not a surprise...

After years battling obesity and the dissatisfaction I had with life associated with it I made a commitment to try to do something about it. So, I went on a diet. Not a fad diet, just a good, healthy, whole food diet.

After an initial weight loss of 15lbs I started looking at exercise as a way to help me lose the remaining 65. Thing is, I hate exercise.

To this day I still hate exercising. I mean, the very idea of going to some location and getting on a treadmill or stationary bike or some weird machine that contorts your body where a lot of people are there to potentially notice your existence...ugh. And not to mention the sweating and the racing heart and screaming muscles. No thank you.

But, I like to be outside. I enjoy gardening and yard work and walking around so I thought I'd enjoy an activity that got me outdoors. So, I started off by biking to work, which was less than 4 miles. At first it was challenging. Looking back I realize that 4 miles on a bike is really nothing. But, I was heavy and out of shape and it was HARD. However, in less than a month it was no longer hard. I was enjoying it but it wasn't making me feel like I was doing something to help with my weight loss efforts, though it most assuredly was.

So, my thoughts turned to running. Only I immediately laughed at myself. Like this....

Me? Running? Is someone chasing me? And are they carrying a knife? Cause I might not run unless they've got a weapon.

But the thought of running persisted. I started thinking maybe I could get into some running program if I could join a group. Other people to motivate me and hold me accountable would definitely help. I started investigating and found the Galloway groups here in Atlanta. When I contacted them I learned I was just a few weeks too late to join the beginner group. The person I spoke with suggesting I try the Couch to 5K program on my own and then after I could join the Galloway 10K group. It was late Spring and they would be starting up in early Fall. So, I did a lot of reading about the Couch to 5K program.

I was frightened to try it on my own. What if it was too hard? What if I just quit? What if I have a heart attack all alone while doing this program, never mind the fact I live in the city with tons of people on the streets 24/7? What if people laugh at my big bouncing boobs?

Heck, I'd laugh a that, too, never mind.

But, I downloaded the program and began. To my delight, my husband, who is in pretty good shape, decided he'd join me the first few weeks to help motivate me. And it was great motivation. Also fun, our son would ride his bike along the bike path we'd jog on.

Making it a family event made it even better.

But to my ever-growing amazement I found I LIKED it! I L.I.K.E.D. it. I looked forward to each training day.

Sure, sometimes it was hard, especially the first time I had to run 5 minutes straight.

But, I found I really liked the sense of accomplishment. Not only that, I enjoyed the actual activity of twisting my body down the street. Because that's what running is, I think. You're just twisting, twisting, twisting, hips throwing your leg in front of you, picking up the ground, and throwing it behind you. I'd forget all about my legs most times. Every now and then they'd remind me there were there, especially on a hill. Actually, I think that was my butt...saying, "Hey, what's with this hill? Get back on something flat, will you, I was taking a nap back here."

By the time I finished Couch to 5K I had evolved to the point where I wanted to run for running's sake. Not for weight loss, not for health. Just let me go outside and run, please. It made me ecstatic, and still does, and empowered by knowing I could run for 30 entire minutes without stopping.

WITHOUT STOPPING!

Me!

Along the way, too, I noticed I respond very well to the structure of a training schedule. It helps me even on days when it's raining, not that it ever rains in drought-dried Atlanta except for the very weekend the ING Half Marathon is taking place...but I digress. A training schedule helps me even when it's cold and nasty out, or when I am pressed for time due to work deadlines, or just when I am plain in a BAD MOOD. Too bad, have to complete that part of the schedule!

So, I created a little schedule on my own with the goal of increasing my running time from 30 minutes to 40. I took a hint from C25K and decided to add 3 minutes each week to my run and if I felt like it was too hard then I'd just do that week again and again until it felt okay. But I never had a problem and it wasn't long before I was running 40 full minutes.

But then someone asked me, "You do all this running now, which is crazy because people who run when they're not being chased have something wrong with their brains. But, how far do you go?"

I said, "I run for 40 minutes."

He, being my husband, said, "That's not a distance, stoopid."

I had no idea how far I'd been going. So, one day when I headed out I made note of the intersection where I started and ended. When I was done I got on my computer and mapped it out...on MapMyRun.com.

I'd run 4.7 miles!!! WHAT?! That's almost 5 miles. I've been running nearly 5 miles? Like, 5? Half of 10? Almost a 10K? Really?

Of course, that weekend I just had to run an entire 5 miles just to see if I could do it. So, I mapped out a 5 mile route. Decided I'd do it on a Saturday morning. First thing. The night before I was anxious about and had trouble sleeping. What if I couldn't finish and had to call my husband to come get me? What if I got lost and wound up somewhere that made it even longer to get back home?

But you know what? I finished that puppy! And I realized that I was running a pace of 8:30. How did I go from weighing 220lbs and sedentary to running a respectable pace???? That's not possible. It's just not. People just don't do that.

That didn't stop me from telling everyone I knew I'd run 5 miles that day. I was so obnoxious. But I ran 5 miles again the next time I did it. Around the holidays someone suggested I run the ING Half Marathon.

I scoffed. No way. I mean, there's one thing about running 5 or 6 miles on any given day but running more than double that? Come on now, be serious.

But, like the original thought of running that wouldn't go away, the thought of running the ING Half Marathon stuck with me. In January 2009 I decided to give myself a test. If I could run half of the Half, I'd train for the Half.

So, I mapped out a 7.5 mile route that started in my neighborhood of Candler Park and winded through Virginia Highland, Midtown, and Piedmont park before ending at Little 5

No, it wasn't the ING route, but it happened to be along part of it. That little coincidence just made me happy about the whole thing when I realized it later.

Again, I tried it on a Saturday morning. Again, I was anxious the night before. The same self-doubt and the same worry about not finishing or giving up ran through my mind. At this point I decided I needed to stop doing that. What disaster was going to happen if I couldn't finish? Since when did I hold that kind of power? I told myself that it wasn't anxiety, it was anticipation, and it was helping me and motivating me. Yeah.

At this point you know how my story goes. I finished the 7.5. I'd only been running between 3-6 miles in my training but I'd finished a run that was 1.5 miles longer than any other I'd done. And, as you probably can predict, I was pretty darned amazed with myself over it.

And I'd made myself a deal. I was going to train for the ING Half.

I have to say that I've loved my long runs. I really look forward to tacking on another mile each Saturday morning. I also enjoy knowing I've burned off 1000 calories or more. Hey, I'm still a woman...I might love to run for the sake of running but I also like that after my long run I can eat a Vortex burger and drink a few Sweetwater 420s and not have to worry about where it's going to end up.

Even after tomorrow's race I am still going to keep running. I won't run as many days as I do now and probably won't run so far, but I intend to still have at least one weekly long run that's 10 miles. I like the feeling I get when I remind myself I have the ability to run 10 miles.

After all, a year ago tomorrow I was 80lbs heavier and out of breath walking across a parking lot. Running has truly changed my life.

So, tomorrow I will twist my way through 13.1 miles and love every second of it!

Here I am! Right here! Eating a scorpion in Bangkok!

P.S. I finished the 2009 ING Half in 1:45. Here's how I feel about it...