The running (wo)man

Yes folks, that will be me:)  This past Saturday I went to meet a blog friend, Enz from Downward TrENZ.  She was incredibly lovely and has been a HUGE inspiration to me.  She began running in July and completed the Couch to 5k running program.  She can run 5 freaking kilometers.  She is my hero. I know, I know, many of you can also run 5k and are probably wondering what is the big deal.  You are all my heroes!

I have not made it a secret how much I hate exercise.  If I had to choose an exercise though, running has always appealed to me.  I picture myself running with the wind blowing through my hair and being so great at it, that I'm barely breaking a sweat. OK seriously, I know I am going to DIE while I learn to run through the Running Room clinic that I am trying to talk myself into registering for RIGHT NOW.  Registering for it RIGHT NOW means I can't back out.  We'll I can, but it would cost me almost $80 to back out.  I'm very cheap.  Once I pay the fee, I have to go...even if it kills me!

I know I need to exercise.  I even ventured out on the weekend and bought a Jillian Michaels yoga DVD.

All I can say is I  better lose "up to 5 pounds a week"  or I want my $8 back Walmart!  She has a pretty kick-ass bod that I wouldn't mind having.  I'll keep dreaming because I know deep down that I will never become so committed, that I will end up with a stomach that looks like that!  I'm going to start with the dvd, and Enz has graciously offered to go to yoga classes with me at our local community centre starting in the spring.  Yoga is flipping expensive.  The ones offered through Hamilton Parks and Recreation are a third of what they cost at a Yoga studio.

So I'm very excited but nervous at the same time.  People learn to run all the time, so why should I be any different?  I'll tell you why, because I am accident prone.  Ask any of my girlfriends whom I have vacationed with and they will tell you that I am the queen of un-coordination and it's not related to the drink.  Well, truth be told, I haven't fallen in a long time because I have learned to balance better.  However, that's for walking!  What if running means I have to reteach myself the balance thing?

I haven't run since I was forced to run the track in high school.  It was painful and humiliating.  The gym teacher should have done a learn to run clinic with us instead of just telling us to get at it.  I, being the biggest, was always last.  Not one of my finest moments.  I was more jealous of athletic people in high school than I was of the popular kids.  Even then I knew that if I could just be more athletic, I would be normal size.  I skipped 3/4 of my grade 11 gym classes...and got away with it!  I was a supreme liar when it benefited me.  Ended up doing some bogus assignment on nutrition and got a passing grade.

While I'm writing this, I'm emailing Enz.  She has confirmed that she is indeed going join me in the Running Room clinic.  So I seriously gotta run:) I have a registration I gotta take care of!