An Elephant in Skinny Jeans

It's beautiful day to be outside. The sun is shining; the birds are singing; it's perfect!

So I decided to go for a run, and by "run" I mean a walk/ job combo where I walk for about three miles and run for one.  Hey, it's a start!

Last year my husband and I worked really hard at becoming runners. It's one of those things I never thought I could do and always secretly wanted too. Skinny girls were runners, so if I ran I would inevitably be skinny. It actually worked. I did lose weight, but more importantly I started to feel great about myself. There is something powerful in pushing your body to the point of wanting to keel over and throw up. It's invigorating.

Anyway, when I got pregnant, my running regime quickly became a brisk walk.  However, now that my body is back to normal and my sleeping patterns more closely resemble that of a normal person, I decided it was time to start running again. This winter has been so warm that I really didn't have any excuse not to be outside working my tail off.

So this afternoon, I left my husband with the baby, and went "running". I was going along quite nicely alternating walking and jogging every few minutes, when I decided it was time to pick up the pace. I was 2 1/2 miles into my 4 mile stretch and had come upon a nice straight path. This was as good a time as any to start running and just not stop. I picked my head up, pushed my chest out, and went for it. It took me a few seconds to get in the groove, but once I hit my stride I was flying! Nothing could stop me. For a few blissful moments I felt strong and powerful. I was in control of my body, and I was going somewhere. I was a cheetah!

Then she passed me. Who? The middle-aged women with long lean legs and buns of steel. When I say passed me, I mean she was going so fast her tail wind knocked me off course! As I watched her fade away into the horizon, I realized something. I wasn't the cheetah; she was. I was more like an elephant lumbering with floppy ears and stocky legs toward the watering hole.

It was a terrible moment. There is nothing like the image of an elephant to send your self-confidence spiraling downward.  So what did I do? Did I call my husband and ask him to come pick me up and take me to Sonic? Yes. Yes, I did.  But he had just gotten the baby to sleep, and I wasn't about to wake him up! So I did the only thing left to do: I ran home.

I guess running home was best anyway because it gave me 20 minutes to think about the lesson I just learned.  You see, I decided that I may not be a cheetah, but even elephants deserve to fit into their skinny jeans.