From Fat to 5K

Mother and Daughter Make the Resolution

By Jennifer Brown

Although we've been talking about it for weeks, it seems more official now. The clock has chimed midnight and my 13-year-old daughter, Paige, and I have formally toasted our 2006 New Year resolution.

I am trying to ignore the plates of sausage and cheese that we've been gutting all evening long, and the cookie jar that is less than half as full as it was when we started celebrating. I'm pretending that the sugary punch we're toasting with isn't so loaded with calories. It will be our last meal of its kind for a long time. Our resolution won't allow for such indulgence.

We are going to run a 5K together this summer.

Five kilometers. Just over three miles. Not such a huge accomplishment, you might be thinking. But for us it's a major commitment. One we're not so sure we'll be able to achieve at all.

The seed for this run was planted last summer. Paige, a basketball player, decided to leave the recreational league and join a competitive team. To support her decision, I volunteered to help out the team by taking the girls on weekly conditioning runs. What was I thinking?

At over 200 pounds, running any distance at all was difficult for me. And Paige, definitely not a fan of distance running, dreaded our weekly trips to the track. We were both out of shape and feeling the pain every time we put feet to pavement. And it didn't seem like it would ever get easier. Week after week I would huff and puff around the track, miles behind the other girls. Paige would be at my side, sometimes literally sobbing that she hated what I was making her do.

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