I am now officially "in training" for the Rhubarb Run put on by the Mercer County Family YMCA out in Aledo, which is in roughly 6 weeks, I think. I've relaxed a bit over the winter with the run - have stopped trying to run faster or further. My excuse was that it's hard enough to run in winter. LOL But lately I've noticed that since the move, I'm not running quite as far as I used to, which means I'm also not running quite as fast.
I had meant to find the tiny running book (haven't seen it since the move, though I know it's here somewhere) and see about re-starting intervals. But instead I'm taking a different tactic this week. It's supposed to be rainy all week, so I'm not counting on biking to work (she says as she frowns at the gorgeous morning and remembers that there are too many errands today for biking anyway.) So I'm taking advantage of not needing to leave at 7:15, by adding distance to the run. I've been running "most of the way" across the Centennial, but always turning around in time to limit my run to 30 minutes. This morning, I just went ahead and ran "all the way" across it (and back, of course) which added about 10 minutes to my run.
If you're more alert than me, you might notice that I just said I ran this morning - on a TUESDAY - which is very much NOT a run morning for me. I'm a MWF runner. But that's the other part of this training...in addition to running further, I'm planning to do 5 mornings per week for the next 5 weeks or so, to crank up the volume. And yes, I also shall find the tiny running book so that in the next week or two I can get back to intervals, which should increase my speed again.
It felt good, going all the way across. I do enjoy the parts of my runs that make me feel like a hero Yesterday, that was running in winds that just about knocked me over. This morning, it was reaching the other side. This is a fun change in me, in this 16 months of letting God teach me to love my body: I actually derive real enjoyment from physical challenges. I am encouraged. I feel good. It is FUN, not just "a challenge."
The hilly parts of the bridge really work my butt and the fronts of my thighs. I don't spend a lot of time checking out my butt in the mirror (I remember obsessing about it as a teen, mostly because of course that was where all the boys' eyes were, so you wanted it looking as good as possible, you know? LOL) but my thighs are right there in front of me. I keep noticing that though they are still pretty fatty, there is also quite a bit of muscle building there. When the cellulite clears, that's gonna be fun!
And that's a way I'm really, really growing in loving my body. I acquired my "thunder thighs" at puberty, and immediately started experiencing deep shame about them. I was so bothered that my thighs weren't all tiny like my ectomorph-body-type friends. I just wanted very small thighs, and no future that didn't include that looked like a happy one.
Today, I understand that I am NOT an ectomorph body type, and never will be. If I get fully fit, especially by running and biking, I'm gonna have big thighs. They will be big muscular rather than big cellulite, but they will still be big. I'm not gonna have that wide space between the tops of my inner thighs that the other body type enjoys. And...drum roll, please...I am fine with that! I am actually ENJOYING watching the muscle build, and yes, loving my body, even while it's still fairly well encased in a major layer of subcutaneous fat.
That's a God thing, baby.
May you find it, too, if you haven't yet.
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