Goal jeans, 41:02, and a cheerleader

This has been a seriously great week, as far as my goals are concerned... I'm not gonna lie :) 
First off, I will report an exciting 4 1/2 pound weight loss this week when I weighed in on Monday. Yay! That brings me up to a 23-pound loss so far! Still have plenty to go, but that was some major progress for me.

Due to this big week, I decided to try on my "phase-1" goal jeans. These jeans had been hanging on my treadmill for months and months, and then when I finally started using the treadmill, I moved them to the closet door. I wanted to be able to see them and inspire myself to keep working at this. I wanted to be back in those jeans! Ideally, I have a couple of sizes more to go down after those jeans, but this is serious progress.

So, I tried them on today, and..... they worked great! I wore them to church Wednesday!! :)

More big news...I completed my first 5K!!! I was pretty nervous about it, because I hadn't ran that much at once before. I ran 2.7 miles Thursday, but I needed 3.1 to complete the 5K. I was very nervous. I am so glad my friends, Lori and Michelle, did this with me. I doubt I would have done it alone. And a big thanks to my family for their support :)

When the shot was fired, I started jogging, and was passed by a lot of people. But I kept reminding myself, the tortoise and the hare, the tortoise and the hare...

The first mile or so I did pretty well, but for a large part of the time I was jogging alone, which leaves a lot of time for thinking. It's amazing how the things on your mind can affect the way you run. A couple of times I really thought I would just sit down in the grass on the side of the road. But I had to change my thinking. And I prayed a lot. God heard a lot from me the last mile and a half :)

When I was nearing the end, probably the last 1/2 mile, I was running along the street with a lot of space between me and the other runners, and I heard this adorable little girl yelling out from her front door, "Go, girl, go!!" It was just what I needed. My personal little cheerleader on the side of the road. I yelled "Thank you!" and kept going.

That little girl reminded me how important it is to have cheerleaders in our lives. Having someone encourage you and not let you give up when you feel like you can't keep going makes all the difference. I want to be more like that little girl.

I finished the race in 41 minutes and 2 seconds. I finished 121 out of 202. I realize this isn't awesome, or even good really, but it made my day! I wasn't last!

I have to say I really loved having a number! Pinning that 178 on my shirt made it seem a lot more real :)

I can't wait to do it again!!

Thanks for reading!! I'll write again soon :)

Jen