Reached my goal - and signed up for a Half Marathon

I was a bit miffed this morning. Sunday morning is running club's 'distance' day. I was hoping to do about 7 or 8 miles, because yesterday I did my first every 8 mile run and I wanted to keep up that distance.

Today there were only two options, either a 9 mile run or 6 mile run (she always organises a 6 mile run so that beginners can join in), I started off with the 9 mile crowd but just couldn't keep up, so I had to hang back and catch up with the 6 mile crowd. I stopped for a few minutes and soon enough they came along and I comfortably did the six miles. I would have liked to have done more. Never mind, I tell myself, next week I can do a bit more. And maybe doing a 8 mile run just 11 hours before the running club meet is a bit silly. Maybe next week do your saturday run in the morning, not last thing at night.

I had to remind myself that it was this time last year I took up running, and it didn't go that well. I downloaded the 'Couch to 5k App' and I couldn't even do the 60 second run on the first week. After a few days I got a cold and gave up. This time last year I weighted about 93kg, now I weight 68kg, in UK money that's 14 1/2 stone down to 10 and 1/2. (I'm only 5'5), in $s it's 205lbs down to 149lbs.

I really started around May, I was doing night duty on a really hot day* and I drove home past a swimming pool and decided I fancied a swim. The next day I went swimming and slept ever so well. I stuck at swimming and soon got myself up to a mile. I then decided to start counting calories. I don't know why but I figured if I was going to be excerising anyway I might as well eat less. I don't think it made much difference at first, but after a few weeks I started loosing weight at a very fast rate, which was really exciting. In June I started doing my Couch to 5k again.

I knew that in August I would start a new job only 10miles from my house, the last time I worked there I had cycled in and it was great, but once I put on some weight again I couldn't cycle 10 miles in an hour any more. So, I thought that being able to cycle to work would be a nice goal. I also went back to running and it was easier this time.

My friend Amy convinced me to sign up for a 10k with her in around July, and we picked one that seemed a good distance away. It was a struggle to train for a 10k once I was cycling every day, but at the weekend I seemed to do reasonably well. I hadn't got a functional GPS, so worked up to running for an hour but I had no idea if I was running 10k or not. I was really nervous on the day of the race and thought I'd be at the back. Fortunately I wasn't at the back - I was in the middle of the 'pack' and came in in just under an hour. I was really shocked by this and decided to join my local running club. Running a 10k in under an hour was a huge goal for me, it was a goal I'd set myself the last time I was thin, but put the weight back on insteads.

Three weeks into running club and I'm getting addicted, I seem to be at the middle of the group - not with the younger men, but with the people who are just getting back to running after babies or injuries. And they've persuaded me to enter a half marathon in May.
So what are my goals for 2015 - well the May half marathon seems a good start - and I'm staring to think that if I can loose 4 stone in a year I could do a a marathon in another year.
*Hot for Scotland = 68degrees F probably...