C25K: Week 9-The Final Week

I made it! Week 9 is music to my ears, the chocolate chips in my cookies, the puddin' to my pop. I don't really know what puddin' pop is, but it's something weird that I say sometimes. Or at least I think it. Do I say it out loud? I don't know. Hmmmm.....

Disclaimer: I have included photos of my bare belly in this post. If you do not want to see these photos, please do not read any further. 


Turn back now! Belly photos ahead!


Don't say I didn't warn you.

Day 1:

Every day this week I am supposed to run for 30 minutes straight. Yes ma'am. That's a long way from barely making it through one minute of running. I have never EVER EVER EVER run for 30 minutes in a row, but I did it today. I have to admit, Mr. Negative Poopy Pants was being mean to me this morning. I haven't heard from him in awhile, but he was being an extra super duper jerk today. He said, "You're wasting your time. You're not losing any weight. You're working your butt off, but it is just like everything else you have tried. You're not working hard enough to lose weight. You'll never get the weight off. You're unattractive."

I started thinking about how I needed to get my body image in check because I have a sweet little daughter that does not need to receive negative body images from me. She'll get plenty of that from others. I'm in the best shape of my life right now! I am not the skinniest I have ever been, but I never want to be THAT skinny again. I had no shape! I had no curves!

If I am truly honest with myself, I like my shape for the most part. I love what pregnancy did to my hips, butt and boobs. Yowza! However, my belly, not so much. It's not terrible by any means, and I can hide it with the right wardrobe. It's still kind of jiggly and pokes out some. My stretch marks haven't faded yet, either. I'm not sure how long that is supposed to take, but that doesn't bother me as much as the loose skin.

I'd like to include a few pictures of my belly for several reasons. First, I'd like to illustrate what I am talking about above. Second, I would like to show what a regular ole girl's belly looks like 15 months after having a baby. I've been working hard to lose weight and tone up my belly, but I still have work to do. Third, I just want to say to my fellow postpartum mommies out there not to feel so bad if there are still stretch marks and if your belly pokes out. Mine does!

This is a full body shot before I started the C25K running plan. I am roughly 150-155 pounds in this shot, and I probably had to squeeze myself in my size 10 jeans. You can see a little bit of my poochy belly hanging over the top of my jeans. They fit really well in the butt and hips, but they are tight around my belly. I never had that problem before pregnancy; I always had to buy jeans to fit my butt. My upper arms are also bigger than I would like, but I can deal with that.

Now for the fun shots!


And these are pictures of my bare belly! Woohoo! Even after three months of running and trying to do some ab work, I have quite the little pooch there. That's okay, though! Right?

Day 2:

This morning I did not not NOT want to get up and run. I felt bored of just running 30 minutes and wanted to try something new. I decided that I would not be very prudent of me to do anything new two days before Race Day, but I changed my speed up a little during my run. It made it pretty tough because I went faster at some points than ever, but I spent most of the time slower than normal. I wanted to take it easy and not tire myself out for the race.

I have been debating whether or not I should use my race as my final C25K workout, but it seems as if that is what is going to happen. Tomorrow is a rest day and Monday is my race! I can't believe I am doing this, but I am so glad that I am. Wish me luck! 

Day 3: Race Day

I did it! I jogged a 5K race today and never stopped. No walking at all. I can't believe I would ever do something like this, but I am so happy that I was able to do it. I am now a Couch to 5K graduate! Go me!

Jessica and me after the race

Two friends, Jessica and Janet, ran this race with me and stayed with me the entire time. I am so happy they were able to attend. They did great! Jessica is one of the ones that got me started on this program in the first place and I am so glad that she did. If I can do it, ANYONE can!