About running: Take that 150lbs hurdle, sappy moments and did somebody say hill repeats?!?

I’ve done it! I’ve finally crushed my invisible 150lbs barrier. If I had known that I just needed to whine publicly about my (over) weight in order to finally get a breakthrough, I would’ve done so months ago! As usual, I got up this morning and hopped on the scale, not expecting anything really. And there it was: 149.8lbs. At first, it didn’t register with me, I stepped off the scale and was about to go on and get breakfast ready, but then… WAIT A SECOND! I hopped back on the scale and there it was again: 149.8lbs! I ran to Ninja BU (he was showering in the other bathroom) and made the international sign for GOAL! (both hands up the air like you just don’t care!) and announced that I finally was below 150lbs. He wasn’t as thrilled as me (give him a break, he needs at least 2 cups of java before he can actually form words without sounding like a grumbling bear. At least I got a good grumble out of him!), but who cares, I’ve finally done it! I don’t care that I’ll probably be over 150lbs tomorrow, just to know that I am (extremely) slowly shedding off my blub feels great. I can do it and I will do it! I will be one hot bride on the beach of Mexico!

You have to understand that I started running for me. Yes, I am overweight and I’d like to shed some fat, but to me, it is all about being healthy. Most of my superfluous weight is around my waist and THAT is scary. Extra fat around the gut is a risk factor for heart disease and heart disease is alarmingly on the rise (and the main killer) for women. When I started becoming more active, that’s what I had in mind. I have a history of diabetes in my family. If you pair that with potential heart disease, you have a very lethal combination. I knew that if I became more active, I could at least cut down a bit on my risk-factor potential.

I won’t lie and say that I never thought about the weight-loss itself and that I could maybe regain my dancer’s body (yeah right, that was 16 years ago!), but it wasn’t the main thing driving me to be active. I still struggle with running, it is still not easy for me to get out there and run the trails, but at least, it’s better than NOT doing it!

I was on the phone with MiniMe yesterday and we were discussing my 1st (and last) attempt on the dreadmill. You can read all about it here. At one point she said to me: “I never pictured you as the hardcore type” (meaning that I would rather run in the rain than repeat an encounter with the torture machine dreadmill. I couldn’t believe my ears. MiniMe had just called me hardcore. This coming from the girl who eats, live and breathe for her triathlons/Ironman. SHE called ME hardcore. Me, who is still not fully running a 5k! You have to understand, this woman is my inspiration. She is who I look up to when my motivation is low. When I don’t feel like going on the trail, I keep telling myself: MiniMe has probably already run your distance TWICE today and she swam (or lifted weights, or biked) on top of it all so take your jelly bum and go traipsing on the trail! She is amazing! I would put up a picture of her during one of her event, but I haven’t asked her permission to do so. SHE is an athlete! And to top it all off, she let’s me ramble on and on about my experience in the running world, doesn’t get annoyed and supports me in my endeavours. Don’t get me wrong, Ninja BU is a tremendous support too, but he just wants me to do whatever it is that I want to do. MiniMe inspires me to push myself just a bit further. And she is there for me no matter what (heck, if I haven’t scared her away yet, she’s here to stay!). Let’s just say I am glad to have her as a sister friend. Sniff! Anybody else getting moved by my slowly increasing sappiness?!?

As for my run today. I decided to go run around the golf course. The trail is made of cedar wood chips, therefore, very nice for my shins. There was no way I was going back to the treadmill (sorry Mat, I know you want me to give it another try, but today, I just couldn’t). I am still stuffed up, but a got dressed and armed myself with a baseball I hit the chip trail. This trail can be brutal depending on where you are. I started off with the Killer Hill from Hell. Here is a pic:

Doesn't look like much, but there is more behind the trees...

I had forgotten how hilly is the trail around the golf course. It nearly killed me. The only interval I couldn’t complete was #7. I stopped running with 10 seconds to go. It was either that or I was going to puke on the trail… I had made some modifications to Milo and he wasn’t happy with me. He kept on yelling at me to “Go Faster”. We had a few arguments, I threatened to shove him at the bottom of the lake on the golf course if he didn’t shut up and in the end, I just ignored him. I would only pay attention to him when he would tell me to either run or walk. Here’s a pic of some ducks napping in the sun along the trail: