The Natural. Or, I Can Use the Stairs and Potty Without Assistance

A friend at work is a longtime runner, and she was very nervous for me about my rather spur of the moment decision to enter the See Jane Run half marathon. She admonished me not to hurt myself, and I bamboozled her, as I did myself, with my intention to walk the whole way. But I *was* careful. I remember when I got divorced and my ex ran a half marathon that summer, he really hurt himself. Like *really* hurt himself. Side note: did you know when you get divorced, it is almost REQUIRED that you go on the Divorce Diet and run a half marathon?? I have heard of sooooooo many people doing this. I am, uhh, proud (?) to say I resisted the trend for quite awhile, haha.

This morning as I was bragging to my friend that on Post-Race Day Three I can now use the stairs and the potty without assistance of banisters and handrails, she said I am "a natural." Pardon me while I preen for a moment. :) She said my relative lack of training, respectable finish time and foolishness willingness to jump into the race on short notice shows I'm a natural runner. Believe me when I say this is not a phrase that has ever been applied to me in the past, haha. She was also impressed that I didn't get winded on the race. Cardio-wise, I was fine the whole time (uhh, we don't brag in the real world about how I just quit smoking, because that is a nasty habit I tried to keep to myself). I always knew I had "gas in the tank," which is how I was keeping myself in check for not overdoing it too much. No, cardio was fine, it was my legs that were screaming, "WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS? STOP, STOP!!"

Anyway, she called it before the race, probably because she has insight into my neurotic, addictive personality. She said she'd bet money this would just be the first of many half marathons I'd do.

So with great flourish, I say, "Yep!" I've just found my next race! Kim had signed me up for a facebook group, Women Runners of King County. Someone posted a link over there to the Snohomish River Run which is on 10/27/12. I was immediately interested, because the tagline is "Fast, Flat and Beautiful." I have already been mulling over how relatively flat the See Jane Run course is, and wondering how I'd feel about one of these awful, hilly courses. (Answer: I'd feel badly about them.) The Snohomish River Run will be perfect for me - it's local and I have plenty of time to train properly. Plus, this is the first year of the race, so it will be another nice indoctrination into half marathons for me. You know I've been intimidated by them, and while big events like the Rock N Roll marathon sound fun - they also sound overwhelming. I liked that the See Jane Run race was not huge, it was a great starter for me.

Speaking of See Jane Run, can I tell you how HARD I'm stalking the photo website, looking for them to post race photos? I am hopeful that there is one with me looking powerful. Strong. Preferably thin. No photos have been posted, but you can bet I'll spam you with them when they are.

On the weight loss front, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and bagels may be great pre- and post-race food, but they are not great diet food. On Monday after the race, I was hoping to get on the scale and see that I had been rewarded with my goal weight. I was not. Instead, I believe the scale cruelly pointed out that gummi bears *during* the race were great, but that I didn't need to eat nearly the whole bag of Swedish fish the night before. There have been many other carb crimes committed recently, as well, as I continue to battle the sweet tooth that plagues me as a non-smoker.

I stopped taking the Chantix, though. Goodbye, crazy fun vivid dreams. :) I guess I stopped taking that Sunday night, when my weary bones were already in bed and I realized I'd forgotten. Taking it would mean getting up, finding the pills, cutting one in half...whew, you know that sounded like too much work. So far, no additional pain and suffering from quitting.

So, I was at 146 this morning. And once again, I have made myself wear my jeans that are so tight, you could steal my credit card number if I were carrying it in my back pocket. Hopefully, brain-mouth-stomach get the message that constricted belly is receiving loud and clear!

Look forward to me yammering on lots about running. I'm sooooo excited! Later, I'll blog about me and Alli, who is also tearing it up on the new-runner front. We're registering for the Iron Girl 5K at the beginning of September! She's starting the Couch to 5K training program tonight. I'm a proud, proud mama.