One Giant Leap for...uh, Stephkind?

I'm feeling gutsy, so I'm sharing this now. There's a 70 percent chance of rain tomorrow, so keep your fingers crossed that I get to participate in my first night of this...
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So, I'm typing this Sunday night, but won't post anything at least until Wednesday on it. Why? I don't want to jinx myself or put undue pressure by telling anyone (other than my hubby) about what I'm about to do.

I am tired of being in a really bad rut I have been in for almost a year now. I need to shake my life up and make major changes for my health. The diagnosis of Prediabetes has really scared me. I don't want to have diabetes---ever. I may not be able to avoid it forever, but I can do my best to try to--for myself and for my family.

I just signed up for a local running program for the next 10 weeks that ends in running a 5K! Every Wednesday night, I will join a team of 7 with 1-2 running coaches at a huge park in Houston and I will pound the pavement. Each session they also have a topic they teach you about, be it from picking the best running shoes, to diet, to staying motivated. Then, in the 9th week, you run a 5K race around this lake, which just so happens to be a few miles from my home.

So, I'm taking a big step. For some, this wouldn't be a big deal. I have one friend in Colorado who just ran a triathalon on a whim--with no training! But, I am 30-40 pounds overweight and out of shape. To me, this is a huge step. Making this commitment means everything.

When I read about this program today in the paper, I almost started crying. I have desperately needed to shake up my life and change bad habits. Anyway, it was as if the paper reached out and grabbed me this morning. I used to be a "runner." Literally, I could have labeled myself that way growing up. I was on the cross-country and track teams. But, by college I was so burned out I quit it altogether in favor of aerobics and co-ed intramural sports. But, in the back of my head I have always wanted to get back to it...but I've been too scared and too out-of-shape to even fathom that.

I am a firm believer that God shows you the way, in one manner or the other. I truly think this is the way. I went to a new church this morning before I'd read that paper, and I prayed for help with these problems I'm having. I prayed for strength and power to do the right thing for myself to get on the road to being fit and well again, both physically and mentally. And, then I came home and opened the paper to the page about this program. I think it was a calling...

Now, it is up to me, to answer that calling and do something I haven't done in a very long time. That's set a really difficult goal for my life and achieve it. I'm excited, terrified, and anxious all at the same time. I can't wait for Wednesday to be here, just so I can see what I've gotten myself into! At the same time, I'm terrified of failing because I don't think I can handle that mentally at this stage in my life. My ego needs a success story!

More updates later! If you get this post, it will mean I did go through with this and actually lived to blog about it!