A Blast From My Past

A couple days ago I went back to my old high school to run around the track. Once I stepped on the track, I heard someone say, "Hey Terry!" It was a girl I gradusted with that I haven't seen, probably since graduation day. I gave a quick "Hi" back to her and started to do my streaches.

She continued to jog around the track as I streached, then I began my run. I remember her being in pretty good shape in high school and once I caught up to her I noticed she was sporting a "Lady Skyhawks" jacket, which I'm pretty sure means she played a sport.

Since her pace was somewhere around a light jog, I quickly passed her. Throughout the course of this three mile run, I passed her about three more times. Now I know that men are naturally more athletic then women, and I also realize I have no idea where she's been fitness-wise over the past six years, but it still felt really good to have that much stronger a run then her.

At the end of the day, in high school I was the geeky overweight kid and she wore a letterman jacket and six years later I can lap her three times. I don't care who you are, that's going to feel good.

With that said, I'm really glad that she was out running and is concerned about her fitness. I always love to see someone I know out when I run, maybe next time I'll see you.

A Revolution of Dance

Whenever I first started this whole weight loss thing, about two years ago now, my primary exercise was the Mario version of Dance, Dance Revolution. I wasn't really into running back then and I was slightly obsessed with DDR in high school, so it seemed like a good fit. Eventually, I started doing "legitimate" exercises and left DDR by the wayside. Little did I realize just how incredible a workout it turned out to be.

Recently my brother bought a used DDR game (DDR Max 2 for curious minds out there) and I took it for a spin. I played the Standard difficulty setting, went into Work Out Mode and was immediately impressed at the options for those looking for some good cardio. In work out mode, it displays how many calories your burned, your total calories burned, then it gets awesome. It shows you a conversion rate of how many times you would have jumped rope, how may miles you would have jogged and how may miles you would have swam.

With these new resources at my fingertips, or shoelaces as it were, I danced enough songs to equal roughly 4 miles, a pretty typical run for me. It turned out to be about 16 songs, which was lots of fun, but really exhausting. I couldn't believe how fast my heart was beating, how sore my legs were and just how winded I was. DDR was as much, if not way more, of a work out as running. I started playing it expecting to be better at it with my new found endurance, but I pretty much picked up where I left off.

For anyone who ever made fun of people that have claimed to be exercising by playing DDR, shame on you. Its no wonder so many people lost weight playing it, it is really intense cardio, not to mention,so much fun. Runners out there looking for a creative way to cross-train, pick up a copy of DDR, its amazing!

Running In The Rain

Now that I've been running everyday for a little over a month now, I've realized that one of my favorite things to do is run in the rain. I never seem to get too tired while its raining. Something about the tiny drops of water brushing against me as I run is really refreshing.

That being said, when I say "running in the rain" I mean a pretty light rain. Nothing like a storm, just enough that someone would say "its raining" as opposed to "its sprinkling." Today, I went running during a flash flood watch.

I went outside and it was lightly raining. I was looking forward to a pretty relaxing run. After about a mile, it started to downpour. It was kinda cool at first, I enjoyed the slightly larger drops of water hitting my face, but as my clothes got heavier and the puddles got bigger, it was no longer relaxing.

I'm not saying I'll never run in a heavy rain again. It was actually pretty exhilarating. It was a new running challenge. I still made it four miles and I seriously wasn't sure that I would. It was also much easier to keep running, I really didn't want to walk home in the rain.

I'm a Runner

I've been what I call "kinda a runner" for about a year now. Even after I started this blog, I would still call myself that. I couldn't commit to just saying, "I'm a runner." Its like there was something missing, I couldn't put my finger on it, but I couldn't classify myself as a runner.

However, a few nights ago that all changed. I went running earlier in the day, went to work and got off around 11 p.m. It was a nice night out, so I sat on my front porch for a few minutes. Then it hit me, I wanted to go running. It wasn't because I had to, I'd already gotten my run in for that day. I genuinely just wanted to go running.

That was it, that's what was missing. I couldn't call myself a runner because it wasn't something I did because I enjoyed doing it. It was something I was doing to fill a void. I started running primarily because I couldn't afford a gym membership and running outside is free. Now I run because I like it, because I want to.

When I go outside, I enjoy the way running makes me feel. I like the challenge of pushing myself harder then last time. I love the feel of the wind on my face. And honestly, I appreciate the chance to listen to music or catch up on podcasts for about an hour. Running is a way I relax now, its a form of escape for me.

So I'm a runner, that's all there is to it. Running is officially a part of my personality now, its who I am. I may not be able to run a marathon yet, but I'm well on my way, and I'm really looking forward to the opportunity.