Use Code SI2019

Peeps, this weather blows. I look forward to Fall all year, and I feel ripped off.  Again. Screw you, Ohio. I defend you all the time, and this is what I get???

Ohio before Thanksgiving.  Just kidding.

Usually this is the time that I consider ramping down my miles, but USUALLY I don't because I love being outside this time of year.  Yeah, right now, not so much. My motivation is seriously flagging, and I'm trying to be ok with it.

This morning it was in the upper 20s when I wanted to run. In November. The upper 20s. Now, in January, I will totally accept this, but NOT TODAY, OHIO. Now the treadmill starts, if I can even force myself to get on the treadmill. I've actually been pulling out some of my beloved Tae Bo DVDs, and I've even gone back to my Masala Bhangra.  That's good, right?

My first love

I thank goodness that I've had two nice weekend runs in a row. First, I ran with the Trail Sisters for Talula's 20 miler (I only did 10 miles). True to the Trail Sister creed, there may have been some shenanigans involved.

Beginning of the run

We found The Shining house!

Don't cross the streams!  (A second movie reference!)

Marta and I were going to catch the train. . . which went all the way to Peninsula.

This past weekend I ran toute seule because most of the Sisters had races. I ran ten miles on the Towpath. It was sunny but very chilly, and I found it difficult. I think I need to get used to the cold a lot sooner than I have in the past, and I'm not happy about it.

You know what I am happy about, Peeps? I get to be an Ambassador again this year for a race I love, the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon. I want to pass that love on to you, so I'm encouraging you to register now so that you can run with me (or run ahead of me).  I've even got a code for 10% off to sweeten the deal: SI2019. Use it!

How are you doing in this unseasonably cold weather? However you run, I hope you run happy, Peeps!

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What Got Me Started

On Thursday morning I did 45 minutes of  a Tae Bo DVD I had bought about eight years ago.  I was amazed at how good it made me feel--especially in the core area.  As I punched, kicked, and jumped, I asked myself why I haven't been doing more Tae Bo lately. . .and I didn't have an answer.

Oh, Billy, I can't quit you.

I remember clearly the day I called the number from the Tae Bo infomercial.  I had decided that enough was enough.  I was tired of being fat and inactive, and I was tired of fooling myself into believing that I "wasn't that big."  The day my new tapes arrived (yes, they were VHS), I sat down with the first video and a bag of fat-free potato chips and watched it.  On the couch.  No movement, except to put the chip to my mouth.  That's how pathetic I was.

But.

I had paid for these tapes, so I intended to use them, and I did.  Everyday.  At first I thought I would die during thirty minutes of exercise, but gradually I was able to increase my fitness and my skills.  Eventually, through exercise and tracking my food choices, I lost about forty pounds.

This is EXACTLY how I look when I do Tae Bo after losing about forty pounds.

Tae Bo was a gateway drug for me.  I moved on to other challenges:  biking, walking, Bhangra dancing.  I loved all of it, but what I really wanted to do was run.

For nine years, I watched runners on the Blue Line run by my house for the Akron Marathon.  Eventually I had two children, and together we would cheer on the runners going by our house.  Each time a runner passed, and there were SO MANY runners, I was envious.  I wanted to be that strong person who was running so far, so fast.

On the tenth year I decided to do something about my jealousy; I joined the Towpath Turtles.  My original goal was to run a three mile leg of the Akron Marathon, but my newfound running club buddies convinced me that I had what it takes to run the half marathon.  And they were right.

I intend to write about the powerful influence of a running club later; today I want to take it back to what got me started, or more precisely, WHO got me started.

It was you, Billy.  If I hadn't ordered those tapes, if I hadn't stopped eating chips so I could try a jump-kick, I would never have been able to run 8.5 miles for FUN this morning.  I would never have run five half marathons and a gazillion other distances since 2011.  I wouldn't be blogging for the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon, an opportunity that excites me since it combines three of my loves: running, Cleveland's funky neighborhoods, and writing.

I look forward to sharing my journey with you.  I promise you that while I may take a few stutter steps now and then, I will NEVER go back to being that person sitting on the couch eating chips and watching exercise videos.  I have gained so much; I intend to continue forward.

This is EXACTLY how I look when I vow to continue to move forward.

Like what you read?  Follow me on Twitter @itibrout.