Hi, I am Amanda. And I don't exercise. Ever. I hate it. I mean, I'm not a sedentary person really, I just don't like organized exercise. But I have recently been working on losing weight (30 lbs, YAY!) and decided I should add in some exercise. Faith was asking if anyone wanted to train for a marathon with her, and for some reason, I was all- Yes! Me! I don't know why. In fact, when I called my husband to tell him about it, he laughed for like 3 minutes straight before I could say anything else.
Really?
Thanks.
So, everyone was shocked, and me the most of all. I mean, I haven't run since I was about 10. Except for VERY short dashes (like to chase my kid, or something like that). I was not on board. I kept telling myself- You can still back out, it's not too late! But I felt bad doing that.
And then we went to buy shoes. The same day I decided. Because Faith was soooo excited and wanted to get started right away. I was hoping for a break. Like a BIG break. Like, maybe we would start after the holidays. Anyway- back to the shoes. Faith was telling me all about how cool it was because, get this, they VIDEOTAPE you running. To see how you run. And play it for you in slow motion. WHAT??!!? I don't want people to videotape me at all, let alone when I am running for the first time in over a decade. So now I am feeling extremely anxious.
It wasn't so bad, though (although pretty much all the shoes were really ugly.) I couldn't help but try to choose shoes I liked, but managed to (mostly) override my need for pretty things and focus on how my feet felt. I think I ran around that store like 30 times, trying on shoes. It was really tiring. And I was sweating. Oh, and didn't I mention that they put the shoes on for you? SO yeah, my feet were feeling gross and I was pretty much humiliated. But, I would recommend it, if you are going to run. Good shoes are important, and worth the hit on your self-esteem.
So, Faith and I decided to run together on Saturday. We are doing the run-walk method (which made me feel a little better.) Plus, I was feeling not too bad about it because it has been years since Faith has run either. The run was pretty uneventful, except for "The Tunnel Incident." It was darkish, and there was a tunnel on the running path so that you could cross the street. I have a thing with tunnels, ever since I lived in Argentina. They are big crime spots there. So I was pretty nervous about going in there, since it wasn't lit. We peer into it, and we can see all the way through, and there is no one in it. So we decide to run through it. Well, about 1/3 of the way through it (it is not a very long tunnel) it's too dark and your vision has to adjust. So you can't see anymore. So I turn around, screaming like a little girl and run the other way. I just can't do it. Faith follows me, and we have a pretty good laugh.
Now that it's been a few weeks, I can't believe it! I am actually LOVING this running thing! I am getting the endorphins, plus the little glow you get when you don't have to be with your kids, plus the little glow that comes from a justified shopping spree (and yes, I LOVE my workout clothes!). It is awesome! I love it so much, and I kinda wish I could do it every day, except that my non-exercising legs need some recovery time. It's the best! EVER! Yay for me!
(This is a post from our marathon-training blog: http://cupcakestomarathons.blogspot.com/ )
