Anna's Banana's on RUNNING

IF YOU WANT TO SPARE YOURSELF THE RISK OF BEING BORED, JUST READ THE PINK INK ;)

I haven't run a marathon yet, and I'm not an expert on running by any means, this is just information I have gathered from my own research study and personal experience. This is just the story of how one mommy used running as one of the ways to get rid of the belly.
Honestly I get asked a lot now, the same kind of question; "how did you lose the baby weight?", "running is how you lost the weight? All you did was run?", or the one I that bothers me a little "you didn't gain much weight when you were pregnant, did ya?" The reason this bothers me is because I DID gain a lot of weight! I'm not proud of the nasty weight I gained, however, I am proud and thankful for the hard work that paid off in losing the nasty weight, ya feel me? Now I LOVE the comments like "you look great", "you don't even look like you have had a kid," keep those acome'n, I will take those all day long sister! Running isn't all I did, I dieted, I worked out, I prayed, and I ran.

So RUNNING? I love running, I love it so much, it's part of my life routine. And I hope it will be till I can't walk anymore, till I die or till Jesus comes back. Running for me is a huge release, it is my ME time, it allows me to dump out all the random thoughts in my head, so that the Lord's Spirit has a fresh canvas to work with for the day. There are scientific explanations why running and all other forms of exercise make you feel good and can become a habit or almost addicting. Endorphins (I'm sure you have heard about these guys in your brain) are produced when you run/exercise. "Endorphins are the brain’s naturally occurring opiates and are related to decreased pain perception and an increased sense of well-being." - http://sportsmedicine.about.com/od/anatomyandphysiology/qt/Runners-High.htm. Oh yeah! "Runner's High" is a real thing, and it's awesome. I am an endorphin fan, a fan of endorphins fo sho!

So now that I got you all pumped about running, how did I start running, and how should you start running if you are interested? Well I have to be honest, I didn't always like running. From the time I was a young girl I was a ballet dancer, I danced for a good 13 years. I also did gymnastics, a little soccer and a little volley ball. Running, just running, seemed really boring to me most of my life. And it was hard, took a lot of stamina. I have ADD, so just doing one motion for an hour, when I could dance, kick a ball or do a backhand spring, seemed really lame in my younger years. As I got older around 17 I started to really enjoy working out at the gym. I saw the gym at the community college I went to as an adult playground/jungle gym. I wanted to learn how to use every machine that I could, and master it. Ok, I'm getting off track here... How did I get started running on the reg?

The first 15k I did before I had my daughter (before I got fat)

I have to give my husband credit here, because now that I think about it, he is the one that really inspired me at first. Him and his dad did a 15k the first year of our marriage, I didn't do it, there for (the competitiveness flared) I decided the next year I would do the same run. So I did, with a friend of mine Lydia, from back in the day who ran track in high school. I did horrible, it took me like two and a half hours to finish! I was unknowingly pregnant at the time, but still, that's a really slow pace! Shortly after that 15k, I found out I was pregnant, and soon I wasn't doing any physical activity that I didn't absolutely have to do. I went to work, came home, ate lots of food and went to sleep. Anyone who has been pregnant knows what I'm talking about, you are just super tired ALL the TIME! So I got fat.

This is a good picture, you can't see the true size of my belly because I'm really sucking it in, and I'm doing my classic lean to the side and poke my hip out move to make me look longer.

Then after I had my beautiful daughter, I realized how fat I was and was determined to lose the weight. My best friend Candace and I were hanging out at the beginning of 2011, just a few months after I had delivered my baby girl, and she expressed to me that she wanted to tone up and get a booty. She asked me for advice on the booty deal because she admired mine, my pre-baby booty, NOT the post baby booty. I did have a lot of knowledge about working out and how to gain muscle weight just from personal experience, so we agreed to become workout/running partners. Having a running partner is key to your success in becoming a runner and losing weight. I will talk more about this later. Candace and her dad had wanted to do that same 15k I had done the year before, and it was about two months away. So that became our goal. Having a goal, and event to work towards is also vital in becoming a successful runner and loser of fat.

Candace, her dad Arty, and me at our very first 5k!

We ended up changing our goal to just doing the 5k because that's where we were at, we were just beginners, and again I was pretty heavy for my frame. I needed to lose 50lbs to get to pre-baby weight. You might be looking at these pics and thinking "fifty pounds? She is exaggerating." But I'm telling you the truth! I was 168lbs after I had my daughter, my pre-pregnancy weight was 120lbs. I carry my weight in my butt and thighs, God bless my mom. My thighs are the only place I have stretch marks. We had to be realistic and flexible about our goal, so we put our hearts, minds and bodies on finishing the 5k the best we could. You have to be realistic about your goals, otherwise you will get discouraged. I will talk more about this in a future post as well. So we did it, we did the 5k, we finished well, and there was the beginning of my soon to become addiction and love of running! Hallelujah!

Since then I have finished eight runs. Most of them 5ks, one 8k, one 10k, and two 15ks. I now run three times a week and run at least four miles each time. I average 15miles a week. And I can honestly say that three miles now feels like one mile did a year ago.  I'm not trying to brag here, I just want you ladies out there that are reading this to know it's possible! You can become a runner!

Most recent run, that same old 15k, but this time I did it in 1 hour and 37 min! Praise the Lord!

This is me a month ago, 55lbs smaller than I was when I first started running. (More about my weight loss process in future posts)

Here are some steps/rules to running: (keep in mind, these rules should be used when using running as a way to lose weight, this isn't for Olympic champion runners obviously)
First remember to devote everything you do to the Lord, pray for wisdom, strength, energy and stamina. Pray that He will help you to have the ability to meet your goals, and give Him the glory when He answers your prayer. He is the one that gave you those legs, He is the one that gave you your lungs and heart, and He is the one that will allow you to become a dedicated runner and loser of fat!  "do it all for the glory of God." - 1 Corinthians 10:31b

1) Have a partner if you can.

2) Have (realistic) a goal

3) Run 3 to 5 times a week

4) Start small to get small. What I mean by this is, if you just had a baby you aren't going to be able to move like your old high school skinny self. Your legs are heavier, you have more fluid (gross) in your body (especially if you are breastfeeding). When you get on that treadmill the first time, don't be discouraged about the fact that you feel winded after five minutes of running. It takes time to get a good consistent pace.
5) Thank God for friends and interval training! Candace, my beloved running partner, had informed me that interval training is the best way to lose weight and build your endurance as a runner (per her dad). She told me it's what Jennifer Aniston did, so with that I was sold. Run in intervals when you first start out. Run 5 minutes then walk for two, run again for 5 min and then walk for two. You can pick the length and pace of your intervals, just keep your heart rate above rest for an hour total. Try to extend the time of running and shorten the time of walking every week, or even day by day if you can. Eventually you will be able to run a full hour without walking. Interval training burns a lot of calories because your heart has to work hard to "pump it up" when you go from quick walking to running. After a while you will find that you genuinely don't want to slow down to walk because it's going to take more work to get back up to your running pace, so you are actually more inclined to keep running.
6) Stretch a little before and a lot after. I think most people already know this.
7) Learn to control your breathing.  This is so important, I maybe should have listed it as number one. Learning how to control your breathing while running can change your outlook on running completely. I was taught how to control my breathing when I was a kid, either in dance or gymnastics, so I don't remember who taught me but I am so glad they did. I taught my friend Candace how to control her breathing and it helped her a lot! When you start your warm up walk, try to breath in through your nose and see how many steps you take while you are inhaling. Then, slowly exhale through your mouth or nose, and try to get it all out in the same amount of counts/steps that you inhaled it. When you run do the same thing. A light jog for me is a four step breather, so it goes like this: I'm inhaling for four steps and I count along in my head to the steps (1,2,3,4) and then I exhale for four steps again (1,2,3,4). Soon, after a little practice, this controlled breathing will become second hand to you. I still count sometimes, but it's more to keep my rhythm and pace. I don't always use numbers "1,2,3,4" either, I say things in my head to the pace of my feat like, "five, more, min, utes" or "five, more, mi, les" or "you, can, do, this." This may sound crazy to you.... yeah.  
8) Remember it's 10% physical and 90% mental!  I told this to Candace one day when we first started working out together and it was a hit with her. It's really true though, you can do it, don't listen to your whiny body. And if you have had a baby (vaginally) you know you can get through loads of pain and still survive, so just assign your mind to be master over your body. Your body will obey.
9) Eat after you run. So I might get some flack for this, but again keep in mind I'm talking to people that want to lose fat-weight. I'm going to go over all my diet and nutrition stuff in a future post, but for now hear me out. If you are trying to lose fat, run in the morning before you have breakfast. This is just in the first month or two of your weight loss journey. Later you wont want to do that because you can lose muscle mass too, but right now we are focusing on the large parts of fat that are surrounding the hot sexy muscles underneath. Your body uses the same amount of fat when you work out no matter what. You can't tell your body to burn fat only on your hips, or only on your thighs, or only on your belly. But I believe you can encourage your body to burn the fat that's in it's savings account if you hold off on making a deposit till after the run. This approach is a little controversial, but it's what I did and it worked. Some people find it hard to get moving in the morning without food, if your one of those people... ehhh, I don't know what to tell you. I can tell you that working out gives me more energy than sitting at the table or on the couch drinking coffee and eating cereal.
10) Get some runn'n shoes girl fran! Here is a good excuse to go shoe shopping. If you plan on taking running and losing weight seriously you need to get your self some good running shoes. They don't have to be super expensive, or the newest model. Just get a good brand at a discounted price at a place like DSW. I like Nike, but get what feels good and supportive and light to you.

So there you have Anna's Bananas on running. My next post will be about working out for fat loss, and the one after that will be all about what to eat. I hope whoever reads this will benefit from it, even if it's just by getting a giggle out of reading parts of it.