Well sorta.

When we first started trying to conceive,  I began exercising  in earnest.  I had already been belly dancing for four years, and that kept me active.  But I developed some back pain from my sedentary job.  And only doing belly dance class once a week was not cutting it.

So I set out to build up my core and be READY when this baby showed up.  Well that was over a year ago.  But I have kept up with the exercise.

I joined a gym and started going to the low impact classes:  AquaSculpt in the pool and BodyVive.  Once I got stronger, I began going to CX Works for my core strength.  But as the months dragged on with no results on the baby front, I found that exercise was not only good for me, but an excellent distraction for the  28 day cycles I constantly pinned my hopes and dreams on.

So I started weight lifting because that is the next logical step right?  I was working on my own.  But I wanted more.  So I decided to pay extra to start going to group training classes.  And I really started to feel a difference in my strength, my energy and how my clothes fit.  [To this day I refuse to weigh myself.  I have already done my time on the gain 10, lose 20, gain 10, lose 5 pounds Ferris Wheel.  I’m so not going to put myself through that again.]

Then a friend convinced me to check out the Under Armour What’s Beautiful Challenge.  One of the suggested exercises was to post a video of you finishing running a mile.  But I couldn’t run a mile.  I have rheumatoid arthritis, and it affects my joints.  I am on medication to control it, but it is a life long condition.  So when I posted my video I did the mile on an elliptical machine.  But it got into my head.

I did not even try to run that mile.  I just wrote it off because of my condition.  But what if I tried anyway?  So I did try.  And it sucked!  Oh man.  Running hurts!

But apparently it is also addicting.  At first I would go to the gym on Saturday morning to distract myself from all the TTC drama.  I would do 10 minutes on the elliptical, 10 minutes on the recumbent bike and then 10 minutes of walking on the treadmill.  Eventually I found myself more and more drawn to the treadmill.  I cut out the recumbent bike and did 15 minutes on both the elliptical and the treadmill.

Then I found out about the YMCA Turkey Trot.  This was back in late August, early September.  I had just started my first round of fertility meds and was really gloomy.  I  could not accomplish this one damn thing that I wanted my body to do- create a child.  So what was something I could do that seemed impossible before?

I vowed to register for the race and began training myself that day.  Like many things in life (at least for me) I find I cannot always keep myself motivated without accountability.  I told my husband, friends and family that I would be entering the race.  To my surprise there was not one naysayer in the group.  All I got back was encouragement and love.  And my husband decided to join me.

Tomorrow is the race.  Thanksgiving morning at 7 AM.  I am terrified and thrilled at the same time.  My husband picked up our registration packets yesterday.  I am number 42.  That has to be a sign, right?  At least I know not to panic.

So wish me luck.  I started this journey as a woman with a life long condition that has no cure and keeps me sedentary. Now I am running my first ever 5K race.  And maybe someday, I’ll even be that woman who was infertile but somehow became a mother.  You just never know.