Saturday, September 8, 2012

I would walk 500 miles, and I would jog 500 more.

Just kidding. 1000 miles would be crazy. But as it is, I've always been kind of obsessed with really track-able goals, and now I'm ready to out this one.

This school year, I'm going to run/walk/jog 500 miles.

I've run the numbers, and am sufficiently terrified. I don't actually know that I CAN run/walk/jog 500 miles in a school year- but from the numbers we've run, this goal seems to be at the intersection of crazy-ambitious, and maybe-possible.

But here's the thing about running. I started jogging in October of last year because I wanted to lose weight, and my nutritionist said it'd be good for me. (And Shirley is never wrong) And for the first month, I hated it. I hated every single step, every single side stitch, every smug high school athlete or neighbor who saw me out jogging or dying slowly on a treadmill. I hated it.

Then, in early November, it was like I passed an unmentioned milestone. Don't get me wrong I didn't drop 40lbs. I wasn't suddenly able to sprint a 5k. I still huffed and puffed, and got all red in the face. I still sometimes had to walk. I still sometimes thought my legs might spontaneously fall off. But after a month of light training (because I will probably never be a hardcore) I had stopped having a body that couldn't, and started having a body that could. I had a body that could jog a mile. I had a body that could bench press 85 lbs while giggling and cracking jokes. I had a body that could jog the stairs without pause or being winded. I had a body that could squat 100 lbs.

I had spent so long wanting a body that was skinny that I'd forgotten to celebrate having a body that can. And so in the spirit of "CAN" I will try to run/walk/jog 500 miles. Not to drop those lbs, but because my body is hugely able, and should be pushed.

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