I Get By with a Little Help from My Friends

I love running.  It has been, up to this point, my alone time.  I have enjoyed the freedom of it, and I really love it now that I can do it outside, and not run around inside my house or school.  Today I had the honor of running with someone for the first time - Kristal.  She helped me pace myself.  She encouraged me and tried to get me to run faster.  She even ran behind me and said, "Pretend I have a knife and I am chasing you."  I laughed so hard, I almost peed my pants!  Working out with a friend is definitely entertaining and passes the time quickly, that is, if your friend is as funny as Kristal.  Kristal changed her tactics at that point, and she tried running in front of me and said, "Pretend you are chasing me!"  There is only one person in this world I chase around, and that is Shalom (Kristal's adorable almost three year old daughter who knows me as "Auntie Al").  I apparently screamed at Kristal, "You are not Shalom!  That is not going to work on me!"  Sometimes I get crazy while working out. 

Today was especially liberating because while we were doing our running, we actually passed some people on the trail.  I have never ever passed someone while on a trail.  I am always the person that gets passed.  Today we passed two different sets of people.  That was an awesome feeling to me.  That moment when you realize you are becoming a runner...very sweet. 

The other crazy thing I have done a couple of times this week with Kristal?  A workout DVD.  I got so burnt out on doing them that I have not wanted to do one in a long time, but working out with a friend, I did not mind doing the DVDs so much.  Some days this week I actually put in two workouts - my running/walking routine and a Jillian Michaels's workout.  Wow!  That was very empowering.  I wouldn't have done it without a friend to push me to do it and through it. 

A funny story about working out to the video this week is that at one point Shalom decided she was going to try to climb on my back while I was working out.  This, of course, made my workout even more challenging trying to balance her while doing whatever crazy move Jillian was trying to get us to do.  She kept saying, "Auntie Al, why is your neck wet?"  Trying to explain to her why I was sweating was interesting.  You know what else I realized during that balancing act?  I have lost more weight than Shalom weighs.  I kept thinking how difficult it was to work out with her on my back, but then I realized at one time, I was carrying that much weight and more on my body.  Whoa. It feels good knowing that you have lost as much weight as a small child. 

Excited about weigh-in tomorrow!  Even if the numbers do not say I have lost weight, I am feeling better about the progress I have been making. 

Who wants to run with me next?