Girl In Motion

Last February, my winter gear consisted of 2 longsleeve tops, a cheap wind jacket and a pair of wind pants that, on especially cold days, I wore layered over pantyhose. Yeah, I was hawt. Because at that point, I couldn’t yet justify buying running garb if I wasn’t sure I’d be sticking with it. So I rinsed my running clothes after I got home and wore them again the next time.

Then Spring came, and with it more mileage, more days running and stinkier sweat. Rinsing would no longer cut it - I would have to start buying actual running wear.

Now, Real Life shopping is not a happy time for me; I hate the hunt, the parking, the not finding, the trying on taking off trying on taking off, just all of it, so when I discovered all the great online running apparel stores, well let me just say…pig in shit. I started buying shorts, socks, sportbras, tops, more shoes, running skirts, visor and hat (because after I bought the visor, everyone on the forum said they loved their hats), and more socks.

To Nick, my manly man boyfriend, this was all very amusing until he realized that my new stuff was now living in the porno drawer, the drawer previously reserved for skanky-girl nasty sex wear. Those flimsy pieces of string and fluff were now smashed by my Hinds, my Adidas, my Nikes, my Asics. Unfortunately, I still have not found a good resolution for this, because it’s still the porno/running clothes drawer, but I digress…

Winter is now upon us and I have declared that no longer will I swish loudly in wind pant/pantyhose loveliness this year. Instead, I’ve been shopping, because gosh dern it, I deserve it!

I started out with my tried and true online shops, but soon discovered that running tights and pants are not as easy to fit as shorts, in fact, they’re an elusive pain in the ass if you’re 5’4” and female. From incorrect inseam sizes, to crotch seams that could sand a piece of plywood, to ankle elastic that borders on tourniquet, you really have to try on tights in person.

And try on, I did. I ended up going to my local running store, Philadelphia Runner, bought 2 regular weight pairs there, then walked a block to City Sports and tried on about 15 more pair (no exaggeration), settling on a single cold-weather pair of toasty tights - a fine replacement for the wind pant/pantyhose combo.

I also tried on an Asics jacket, the Storm Shelter, because a jacket that can handle shitty weather better than my cheap wind thing would be a good idea. For $100 I was unsure, then I got home and found it at Paragon Sports online for $80 w/ free shipping, so I ordered it.

And these meager items, ladies and gentlemen, along with 1 other pair of tights, some flare-leg running pants, 3 capris, 6 new longsleeve shirts, another dri-fit hat to replace the one I lost at the Philly Half, plus a fleece headband and gloves - all of which I neglected to mention because now I seem downright greedy - is just about enough winter wardrobe to keep any girl in motion.

So it’s been about 9 months since starting my run/walk program and the general consensus is that my improvements have been on the rapid side, which is extremely heartening.

I’m a glutton for running books, forums, articles, anything I can lay my hands on, so that helped tremendously when I began training for my first Half Marathon last September - the PDR (Philly Distance Run). I fashioned a program using the Runner’s World SmartCoach as a base, but tweaked it all over the place. I added mileage, a weekly tempo run, speedwork every other week, lengthened the long run, all of which whittled my pace down at a steady rate.

My last race of the season was a Turkey Trot, where I placed 2nd in my Age Group (40-49) with a 23:30. It was a PR for me, but what was sobering was that the first 3 Overall women to cross the finish were also in my AG, the fastest getting a time of 18:13 (unbelievable…she’s 46, like me!), the other two, sub-21s. So I started a thread in the Boomer forum of Coolrunning.com to see what type of numbers I can expect to be looking at if I keep working hard. Sub-21 was agreed by most, with some saying sub-20. Well. That certainly makes things interesting.

One of the responders suggested I get a coach, others agreed, so here I am, in the midst of setting a time up for next week with an actual running coach! Freaks me out a little, because although I’ve been driven from the start, this is suddenly becoming more serious in that I’m increasing the pressure on myself. And here I was going to be lazy and enjoy the winter, running without a goal in mind.

Lol, me hiring a coach. Hilarious coming from the fat drama-class girl who skipped PE and smoked cigarettes in the school bathroom.

I’ve always avoided physical exertion at all costs. A fat kid who became an overweight adult, I’d joined gyms a couple times, made some weak attempts at fitness, but only because I wanted to lose weight and look better.

Somewhere in my 30’s I finally figured out the eating thing and enjoyed a normal weight from that point on, but remained a sloth of a gal - “skinny fat” as they say. Exercise meant swiveling in my computer chair.

Cut to age 45, I was flabby, felt ugly, hated my body, then finally some bad shit went down in my life and that was it for me. I was a middle-aged women who, if I didn’t make some positive changes for myself, would be one big ball of depression from here on in.

So in December 2006, I started buying exercise DVDs. Lots of DVDs. I became the Callanetics-Bootcamp-CardioSalsa-Pilates-Yoga Queen. And it was working; I had something to concentrate on, my body was toning up and my general outlook was positive.

Then, for some reason unknown to me, in February 2007 I ordered some running shoes online.

When I tried them on, I couldn’t believe the way they felt, seriously the most comfortable shoes I’d ever worn. I became curious, glancing outside at the winter days, imagining myself jogging around in my fancy running shoes. I googled running sites and forums, found the C25K plan and Robert Ullrey’s accompanying podcasts, and that, my friends, was the beginning of my second life - my Running Life.