Why Now?

I’ve planned to run a marathon for several years now. But something always seemed to get in the way. I’d think, “Maybe when ___________” (Fill in the blank here). I mean, I’m not trying to make excuses for myself, but there have been some pretty good reasons for why it wasn’t a good time to train for a marathon…I was in school, it was snowboarding season, it was too hot, it was too cold, it was too expensive, I worked weekends so there wasn’t time for long runs, etc, etc, etc.

Oh wait, but I’m supposed to be writing about why, not why not. Okay, so here’s the story:

For the week of my 30th birthday, Saign (my husband) and I went on a snowboarding trip. While on this trip, we decided to go swimming in the hotel pool. When I put on my swimsuit, I was in for a surprise: I had excess fat hanging over the top of my swimsuit bottoms. “Hmm. This doesn’t seem right, the bottoms must have shrunk,” I thought to myself. I changed my swimsuit bottoms, hoping that doing so would remedy the situation. Unfortunately, even in the new swimsuit, there the love handles were, looking just as out of place as they had in the first swimsuit.Both of these bathing suits had been worn on our honeymoon, 6 months earlier, and I didn’t remember them looking like this. When had this fat arrived?After arriving home from our trip, I decided that I should probably purchase a scale, given this unexpected fat development. (Yes, in 6 months of marriage, I had never weighed myself).

Here are the monsterous bottoms that no longer fit.

When I arrived home with the scale I set it down and weighed myself. Oh man, was I surprised when I saw the number! I weighed approximately 13 pounds more than I had when I got married. Oh, and lest you try to make excuses for me, this was not muscle weight. I know that for sure…because prior to getting married I ran, walked, and did circuit training nearly everyday, which I no longer continued with after getting married. In other words, I had definitely lost muscle and gained fat since the wedding…just like so many brides do, and just like I thought would never happen to me. (The same thing happened in college with the freshman 15…but that’s not the point…I’ll write a post another day about how this fat gain snuck up on me).

Okay, so, at that moment, having just turned the big 3-0 and realizing that I had gotten bigger, I decided that it was time to finally get off my butt and do the marathon I had always said I hoped to run. There are several other reasons why this point in my life is a great time for me to get going with a marathon, but of all the reasons, the 14 unexpected pounds + the abandonment of my 20s were the experiences that tipped the scale (ha!) and made me say that I really, really, really should commit to something that will get me back to a healthier me.

Here's me in a swimsuit 2 years ago. I would like to look like this again! (Funny thing is, I didn't realize until a few weeks ago that I didn't still look like this!)

*disclaimer: When I say “fat,” I am not using an adjective to describe myself. That would clearly be a mean, insensitive thing to say on the worldwide web. What I am saying is that I had more “fat” (noun) on my body than I expected or needed.

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