Day 508...

Ok...I have to brag on my partner in crime, my future D-I-L, Krystal. She has matched me step for step on this journey I've been on for the past three weeks to get healthy, and I am so proud of her!

Two weeks ago, when she first started going out to the track with me, she couldn't even walk in pace with me for one lap without having to pull up, wheezing and gasping. I was continuously on her to speed up. She couldn't.

One week ago, she was keeping pace with me nicely on our walks, and asking me when I was going to let her start running with me. I assured her that I would let her start working on her running skills last Monday, which I did. I had to teach her how to pace herself, so that she could go the distance without burning out...a hard thing to learn if you've never done it. Along with her, I was trying to get back into the groove, myself. A year ago, I was running between 4 and 5 miles a day, but I hadn't run at all in the interim, so I was looking forward to retraining myself along with her...ya just can't jump back into it, ya know.

We started the week slowly...first, a lap. Then two. Then two, followed by four. Then a mile and a half. Last night, we did 26 laps on a quarter mile track. That's six and a half miles, folks. And three miles of it, we ran. Three miles. Three.

She's up to running three miles in less than a week!

I'm so freaking proud of her, I can't stand it. She's lost 21 lbs. so far, and last night, she pretty much finished her run ready to run more. I kept up with her, but I have to admit that I struggled the last three laps, and I'm feeling it today. I pushed too hard. Of course, the fact that I've got 24 years and 40 lbs. on her doesn't exactly help.

But you know what? I did it. And as bad as my body hurts right now, I will do it again today. Because I can. Because I need to. Because I must in order to survive and live the kind of life I choose to live. A healthy, active life, not a sedentary one. A long....VERY long life, in which to enjoy my children, and my grandchildren...and my husband. Always him.

The great thing about this is that he doesn't know about any of this. We're keeping it secret. And by the time I see him again, I will have lost twenty lbs.

Don't believe me? You better stay tuned....!