Randy's Renovation: I Did A 5K. Well, Really A 3K. I Got Lost. Twice....

If someone, last August, came up to me and told me that in 6 months I was going to do a 5k, I probably would've laughed in their face. I weighed 452 lbs and was out of breath just walking across the room. Yet, here I was walking 3.12 miles without stopping and not out of breath for a moment. Was I fast? Not at all. Did I run? Not at all. Did I finish? Yes. Dead last, but most importantly I finished. It was the first time in my life I WANTED to walk that far! I have walked that far before, but not by choice. One night while going into Norman, I ran out of gas. At 2:30 in the morning, I walked that far to get some gas for my van. This time I enjoyed myself. Melody stayed with me for awhile, but I told her anytime she feels like it to run ahead of me. I'm fine by myself, and I was. She took of shortly after we crossed the bridge. I put my headphones in and walked and just took the time to think about my journey. To be honest, I love my wife, but I am glad that I had those moments to myself. I had 2 1/2 miles just to think about me.

Have you ever watched a reality show on television? One of those where on the final episode they do a recap of everything that lead up to the last show. That's the way things started playing in my mind. Scene after scene replaying of my journey up to my first 5k. Mine would start with the first time me and Melody went to our first Weight Watcher meeting. Walking in and meeting our fabulous leader, Nanci, for the first time. Her warm smile and bubbly personality make each meeting a blast! Then there was the first time I went to the gym and met with Jared. His knowledge helped me so much, but I didn't know what what to even expect at the time. I had my first assessment. Couldn't hardly bend over to touch my toes. Riding a stationary bike for only a few seconds before I was totally out of breath. The first time in my life I had actually worked out. Our first weigh-in where I lost over 16 lbs. in one week! Slowly I embarked on this journey of a new life style. Finding new and exciting ways to be active. Walking a nature trail, to going to a corn maze too. I found the more active I got, the more my body started to feel better. The pain of arthritis was still there, but it was getting way mor tolerable. I was learning how to eat different and exercise daily. I was growing stronger and the weight was falling off. My energy levels started rising. It was paying off too. I was getting compliments at work from customers and other workers. The management team started noticing too. My store manager is now behind me getting a promotion. Every week something new and exciting was happening, and I embraced it all.

With every step I took, I found my self becoming more and more emotional. I kept fighting back the tears as each memory made its way into view. As I crossed the bridge heading back into to town, I had my head down. Thankful for my journey and for all its moments. Then I looked up and I saw her. Melody had went on and finished ahead of me, but circled back to be with me as I crossed the finish. I couldn't ask for a better wife and a best friend. I am not good enough yet to finish with her and her
accomplishment, but she came back to be with me in mine. I love her more than words can describe.
My official time was 57:02. As I crossed I had a bunch of people clapping for me. They knew what I had overcome to be here. I even had a few friends that stuck around to see me finish. It was definitely, as Weight Watchers would put it, a "Beyond the Scale" moment. I am doing more things in my life now than just losing weight. I'm actually living life!