Working Out

Aaaand… now it's the end of August.

I'm not even going to apologize for the huge lapse. Life happens. Must mean I'm busy, right?

Back full swing at the gym and changed my diet to exclude most wheat/glucose. I've been doing this for 6 weeks now and am down 15 lbs and have my running legs back. I am up to running just short of an hour and a half at a stretch without stopping. First few weeks back were brutal but I'm in my groove again. A couple more weeks and I'll start on a little speed work as well. I may shoot for a half marathon this coming Friday. On a treadmill. Why? Because it is more of a challenge mentally…. and it's supposed to be close to 100 degrees F this week (summer is finally here now that it's almost over). While I'm good at pushing myself mentally, I'm not so good at pushing myself when running in a furnace. I won't be a Bad Water contender (even though I give HUGE props to those that have done Bad Water!).

I wanted to talk a little about working out, and the gym in particular. I've been member of Gold's for almost 2 years now, and my membership has been well used. I'm going 5- 6 days a week. I use the cardio gym, so I can watch a movie while running (helps with the monotony). I also utilize the child care that they have. Cade can hang out with other kids for up to 2 hours for free- which he enjoys. I wouldn't drag him along if he didn't, but he either is a sweaty little mess when I pick him up or he is gathered in a group of boys playing with their DSs/iPads or Nooks.

I love reading about my FB friends gym trials and tribulations. They often make me laugh out loud. For the most part, I have a good gym experience. No one bothers me. There a a few minor things that both me, such as the people who cannot walk on the treadmill without talking on their phone (come on people.. give it a rest for 20 minutes!) and the people who don't clean off their equipment after using it. I have the habit now of cleaning before and after. Better safe than sorry! But what I really wanted to touch on is how I look during and after I work out.

I do not look like the women in the workout magazines. I was of the belief that no one looks like these women (not even the models themselves… I've seen how much they "fix" the photos first hand working where I do), but the past couple of weeks I've really started looking at the women in my gym after they have worked out, and a lot of them DO look like they stepped out of a magazine. They are nicely groomed, have that nice post-workout glow to them and they look strong and ready to take on the day. And then I look at myself in the mirror and I can't help but laugh.

I look like I've been dragged behind a bus, through a pool of sweat and left out in the desert sun for about 10 hours too long. I am beet red with sunk-in eyes, hair alternately stuck to my head with sweat- or flying everywhere from bouncing around in my pony tail and working it's way towards being a dread lock. It is dripping a trail of sweat behind me. I can actually feel it drip on the treadmill during my cool down. My shirt is soaked. I could probably wring out everything on my body, not exaggerating. My mouth is stuck in a grimace. I work hard to pick my feet up because I am worried they are just going to completely jelly-out on me. I go directly to my locker and get out my belongings. Carry them back to the sink. Wash my face, hands, arms… as much as I can without actually having a shower. I try to cool down and get some of the redness to settle down before I leave the gym. I used to exit the gym as quickly as possible so I had limited exposure to not scare off prospective members. But now, I walk out slowly and proudly. I completed another workout…and I don't look beautiful afterwards. But I feel beautiful on the inside. Strong. Committed. A good role model to my son. And who knows? Maybe I'll inspire someone else who doesn't look so great after a workout to sign up. The outside isn't the important part- it's the inside. So while on the outside I may look like the wildebeest that has been run to it's death in the Serengeti, on the inside, I'm the lioness.