My intro into the running world

A year ago I gave birth to my third daughter.  I had gained 50 lbs which is about the average I gained with each of my pregnancies.  After the birth of my first daughter I lost all of the baby weight except for 10 lbs within a year of giving birth.  After my second daughter was born, the weight came off a bit slower, but I was able to lose all of the weight except for that same 10 lbs from the first pregnancy.  I was never satisfied with how my body looked after the birth of my second daughter.  When going to the pool or beach, I always wore shorts and a one-piece swimsuit.  I had that stomach pudge that would just not go away.  The reason it didn't go away was because I made absolutely no effort in trying to make it go away.  I did not exercise and I ate terribly.  When I got pregnant with my third daughter, I continued my bad eating habits.  It wasn't until after she was born that I woke up to what I was putting in my body.  I was eating fast food 3-4 times a week.  I was doubling my portion sizes at dinner when I did cook at home.  I was always finding excuses to get dessert after dinner.  It really hit me on what kind of example I was setting for my family.  I am in charge of buying and cooking food for us.  I really became convicted about what I was doing for my family and my own health.  I was teaching my kids to eat huge portion sizes, that fast food is good, and that fruits and vegetables are not necessary in their diet.  I did a little bit of research online and found out about the Eat-Clean Diet.  I really liked what they had to say and I bought a cookbook and started reading more about it.  I also subscribed to Clean Eating Magazine and Oxygen Magazine for extra motivation.  In April of 2009, I committed to not drinking sodas.  At first it was a short-term goal until our first beach trip that summer, but when the deadline came, I didn't have any interest in drinking a soda, so it became a long-term goal.  Dave and I also started working out a couple of times a week to a Jillian Michael's DVD.  It was hard and very intense for both of us, but once again, it was a short-term goal for us to do it until we went to the beach.  I lost a little bit of weight, but not as much as I had hoped to.  When we got home from the beach, I knew something else had to change, I just didn't know what.  I sat down one afternoon and started doing some research on the computer.  I read something about running a 5k and instantly I knew I needed to start running.  This was not easy for me at all.  I hate running and I hadn't done it since I was on the basketball team in high school.  I talked to Dave about it and he said he would love to do it with me!  So we started running.  We started out just trying to run for 10 minutes.  What a feat that was!  I thought I was going to die while running and I was really sore the following day.  But I kept at it.  Eventually I worked up to a mile, then 2, and finally 3.  I had many hurdles to cross including bad knees, high arches, 2 sets of wrong running shoes, a sprained inner ankle, and getting sick.  My goal was to run a 5k.  I finally was able to run in my first 5k on Thanksgiving day 2009.  It was an awesome run!  I had worked so hard to get to that point.  I get up at 5:45 am, by myself, and run in the pitch black.  I do not enjoy getting up and it is hard to stay motivated, but running in the 5k made it all worth it.  The feeling of running with other people is such a rush!  I wish I had that everyday!  After the race, I vowed to do more 5k's to help me stay motivated.