LUSH vs. LEAN

In June I was invited to run with the Advanced Marathon Training Team in Richmond.  These people (Those People) are quite something.  Knocking out 7:30's on their training runs while singing Scottish Drinking Songs at the top of their lungs, not to mention doing random things like running sub 3 hour marathons...  it's sick.  And I mean that like ~ they're freaktastic ~.

One thing that really sticks with me as I reflect on Those People is that they are a really fit crew.

If you come visit RVA and see a bunch of UBER fit people running around town in black shorts and no shirts (the women just wear sports bras), that's them.  And by UBER fit I mean they are lean, muscular, runner build 'type' people.  On the TYPE scale of runners, Those People are lean like Death Valley.

I guess, on the Type Scale with Death Valley (1) on one end, followed by the Grasslands of the midwest (2), in the middle we have the small tree clusters that dot the African Savanna (3), which is squeezed up next to Temperate Deciduous Forests of the Eastern Seaboard (4), ...I would fall at level (5).

The Tropical Rain Forests of South America.

I'm lush, thick, a little wild, quite dense, with a darkness tossed in there that even I haven't fully explored.

This "lushness" is really noticeable when you put me next to a runner type... like, say, my Bestie T.

There's just a lot of me.  It's good that my H doesn't seem to mind all the extra me there is these days.

After my run with Those People in June, I realized I'd moved beyond curvy and onto squish.  I had the equivalent of one of those foam can-coozies people use to keep their drinks from overheating wrapped around my midsection to stop my abs from getting hot.  er, from being hot.

What's frustrating about this is that I think under all that *coozie* there's a really good runner.  A much better runner than I am right now.  And I'm not going to mince.  I'm "good".  Am I ~like wow~ show stopping, Black Team Worthy, 7:30's for 15 miles?  No.  But I'm a solid little runner.  I get that.

I just... well, I could be better.

"I could be better..." are words I live by, sad but true.

So.  After my Black Team Student Exchange with Those People... I decided I was really selling myself short.  I have connections, and managed to get in touch with a nutritionist, Brooke.  This lead to my break up with Nutella (~sigh~) and Ray's Italian Ice & Frozen Custard.

Brooke really struggled with the runner thing.  We had to build a calorie schedule around my (lame) metabolism that also worked with my ever changing mileage, had enough Iron to meet my needs, and a lack of red meat to meet my lack of interest in eating cows*.  Her theory of "set a calorie count & only eat that count - no more, no less" got derailed once my long run hit about 10, and add in rest days and toss in some 3 milers for fun.... and we had some challenges to get the plan rolling.

For the most part I hung in there with the "trial and error-slash-mad science experiment", did what she said, and ground my teeth as the feedback on the scale was unchanging.

Then she decided I wasn't eating enough, and set me up on a new plan.  I've lost about 4 pounds since we started the new plan.  It's a far cry from where I'd like to be, but 4 pounds is measurable progress, and at this rate I'll be close to the racing weight goal I set by the time I get to my A race.  I just need to keep my focus.  I said as much in our last phone call.

And, I love Brooke for saying this...

"GBA gf?  If you put as much effort into your eating as you put into everything else, you could be at racing weight whenever you wanted.  For some reason, you don't.  It's the one area in your life that you allow yourself to be lazy.  Why would you choose this one area, of all things?  You have will power to get up at 4:30am, but not will power to avoid animal crackers?  It's selective reasoning that makes.no.sense."  
(well, that and cleaning house, I'm lazy there too, but I feel we're going off topic).  

Thanks Brooke.  I (heart) you.

I shared all this because many of you who read my blog are runners, and I know ~ some of us ~ don't run to lose weight, but would still enjoy a little less coozie and a little more hotness.  I'm going to get up now, and get back to work cleaning my house.  And yes, Brooke, I'm on track today.

Because really, today is the only day that matters.  Stop worrying about what you ate yesterday.  Stop fretting about how you're going to handle avoiding animal crackers or bunny snacks tomorrow.  Just be in the moment.

*I'm not a vegetarian, and I do eat red meat including cows, but I don't eat much, because I just don't care for it all that much.  This is not a social statement, nor is this a suggestion that you need to eat or avoid red meat.