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December 06, 2005
Me, a runner?
Today I began week 9 of the aggressive couch to 5k plan. So basically this week I am running 18 minutes and walking 12 minutes (run for 3-4 min then walk for 1-2 min, repeat). It's really wonderful to feel my body improving. Today was a bit of a struggle but I'm getting there.
I do feel pretty cool for managing to maintain both a gym membership and a weekly exercise schedule for nearly two years straight. Exercise is a habit now--an activity that I do look forward to, that I think about and that I feel awful if I go more than a few days without moving my body around. I'm stronger than ever before and my endurance is improving. Weight loss is still slow but that will come. Having a fitness goal is better for me, I think. I'll always need to watch and track my food but even more important, I'll always need to exercise--two habits that I will have to do for the rest of my life. Sometimes I feel a bit resentful about that, but mostly I feel excited.
I was a bit of a nerdy kid growing up. I was an athlete early on, playing basketball, volleyball and softball, but eventually it wasn't cool (I was a little waver/punker chick, you see). Plus I just wasn't into the beer guzzling party scene that accompanied sports in high school. My parents couldn't understand that--they saw sports as wholesome but where I went to school it meant massive peer pressure to do things that I didn't believe in. It wasn't about the sports and so I wasn't interested.
Consequently it meant that my pursuit of knowledge and my love of food took me further and further away from the path toward building my body as a temple. I wasn't interested in taking the time to shape my body. I also have a nice little stubborn streak--my father told me that if I didn't start losing weight I would never get a boyfriend or a job, one of my girlfriends in college told me that she wished I had my body because she would love the challenge of making it beautiful...in both cases I was going to prove them wrong---I knew that finding a job and a relationship wouldn't have anything to do with my weight and well, it didn't. So I suppose I "won" that stupid battle that wasn't a battle. But in the end, I did lose--I lost a lot of years where I should have been paying attention to my health.
When I turned 30, I vowed that I would be healthier at 35 than I was at 25, and possibly at 15. I am already healthier than I was at 25 (stronger, better cholesterol, no more neck problems, 40 lbs lighter) and I'm probably not terribly far from being able to say that I'm healthier than when I was 15--plus, I still have another 6 months to try and achieve that. :-)
Along with all of that comes a wonderful sense of self-confidence. I feel better about myself. I have a great hair-do (I'm not blonde anymore, btw!!! I'm a wonderful deep fiesty red!). I am strong. My car accident wounds have healed for the most part, which is such a blessing. And with my better health has come all sorts of wonderful opportunities in my life as a whole. It's a really great feeling.
I'm SO excited that I'm becoming a runner!! Me, who probably hasn't run a mile straight since I was about 13...WILL BE running a 5k before my 35th birthday! YAY!
Posted by crystallyn at December 6, 2005 07:59 AM
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Comments
Wow, I love your 35-25-15 challenge! I am 28, and I decided as a New Year's resolution this year to run more races than the year before. I should check up on that... hmm... I was good at the beginnng of the year, but then I (re)discovered the joy of beer and laziness in mid-summer. Hello, extra 10 pounds.
I am impressed? confused? slightly offended on your behalf? about your college friend "wanting" your body because of the challenge it presented. ?! I am impressed by the sophistication of that notion (and your friend's obvious confidence), but it seems a bit rude to me. Though I like the idea enough to look at my own body as a challenge, I guess. I, too, have started working out in earnest recently and am amazed to see muscles emerging where only two weeks ago there was just a great expanse of white, somewhat jiggly flesh.
Posted by: rowan at December 6, 2005 11:57 AM
Oh, it was totally rude and very wounding. I think it was one of the most offensive things that anyone has ever said to me, to be honest. Well, maybe my ex-mother-in-law beat that. The day after I was in a bad car accident, I was complaining about how my chest hurt (messed up neck, collarbone, shoulders, arms) and she said, "Oh, it's probably fat that's bothering you..."
Needless to say I've cut those people out of my life. :)
Posted by: crystal at December 6, 2005 03:48 PM
I just started that!! I totally forgot that you were doing it.
Posted by: Shanna at December 7, 2005 02:58 PM
How lovely that a family member would be distracted by your aesthetic appearance on the day after a car crash...?!?!
Hmm, the most offensive things that have been said to me? Hard to differentiate between something that is actually hurtful and something that just hits me particularly hard because of insecurity about a feature.
Actually, I HATE it when people tell me I look like Sigourney Weaver. I really think she is one of the least attractive people in Hollywood. I much prefer it when people tell me I look like Amanda Peet, or Liv Tyler as an elf. Those comments I can deal with. ;)
Posted by: rowan at December 9, 2005 12:51 AM