Thankfulness & Appreciation

Today Sonya and I went running.  It was the first time we went back running since I came back from Florida a week ago.

While I was in Florida, I decided I would keep running.  I will admit that on a period of 2 weeks, I ran, I think, a total of 3 times.  Kev, my very patient boyfriend, helped me measure the private plane runway in his neighbourhood and it was exactly 1 km long.  I thought I would run it back and forth 5 times. Easy enough.

Welcome, Me, to Florida weather.

The ambient humidity is probably 99.9%.  Your sweat does not evaporate.  In fact, as soon as you step outside, you have a nice and oh so sexy fall of sweat running down your back. And that's when you just stand there breathing.

So I thought "No big deal, right. I'll run when the sun sets.".  Ha. Hahahahah. After sunset, aka the hour when the sun has shone 14 hours straight on the pavement with enough intensity to make you feel you are walking on the surface of the sun, is not (much) better. And you're really gasping for that 0,01% left in the air that is oxygen.  Not a pretty sight (a Canadian running in Florida, I mean).

In any case, first night was a disaster with me stopping every length to catch my breath (that's a really nice way to put it).

The second time I went, it was better, I felt. I thought if I can run here I can run anywhere (I confess I had this really cool mental image of me running in the savannah, then).

The third time... Now the third time was one of the best runs of my life.  Let me put you in the context though: Kev, who's an AMAZING cook (don't even get me started, I swear!) was lovingly cooking my favourite meal in the universe, giving me all the time I needed to run, and it was completely dark outside.  After a hot day, heat lightnings were lighting the sky, far from the runway but close enough to look beautiful, turning the dark skies into a shade of soft orange.

I started to run, my Parlotones songs in my ears, slowly breathing the air that had time to cool a little.  I barely saw ahead of me except for the houses along the runway that were lit up.  I ran my 5 km, admiring the sky above, feeling lucky to be where I was...  In fact, I had this acute sense of being exactly where I wanted to be.  The love of my life was a few steps away from me, I had the best spot in town where to run all to myself, I was in one of my favourite places in the world, my heart was pumping, sweat was rolling, legs and lungs were cooperating...

When I was done, I downed my (now warm) water and allowed myself to lay flat on my back on the pavement.  In front of me, the sky looked like a black velvet coat with golden stars lovingly embroided by the hand of God.  Yes, I was exactly where I wanted to be and where I was supposed to be.  Here and now.  I gave thanks to the Universe and listened to my own heartbeat slowing down.

It was one of the best moments of my life.

Now back to today, Sonya and I had a perk:  our friend M was supposed to meet us "somewhere, sometime" on the mountain.  The run went well, although I had to take several small breaks, but we both made it to the top and all the way back.  When I arrived at the end, Sonya and M were waiting for me, M taking pictures of my triumphal (at least in my head) arrival.  Sonya had beat her time of 45 minutes (amazing!!!!!).  By the way, I want to give kudos to M who managed, lately, to reach the top even if he's not a runner at heart!!!!  I'm amazed, M, and I bow to you!

We were discussing what keeps us going when it gets too hard (Sonya and I both have the hardest time running between the stairs and the Beavers Lake) and usually, it's a perfect stranger: someone who's old  and/or handicapped and is still insisting to be there on the mountain to walk.  You see them struggling at every step and you can only think that if they can do this, you can definitely put one foot in front of the other.

So thankfulness, I guess, is the theme of this post. Thankfulness for love, for friends, for doing what I love to do, for being healthy enough to run,  for goals achieved and new goals created, for life, because it is such a good one, for inspiration under all of its shapes...

Always (try to) remember to take a moment and say thank you.  For no matter what's going on in your life, there are always blessings to be counted.

Stoked!

I don't think I've ever used that word before but I am STOKED.

I am stoked because yesterday, Sonya and I went running and I ran a distance of 12 km!!!!!!!!!! Longest run yet, yes!!!!!!!!

It was very cool and it was raining a little and as every time, we started by walking between our two lucky trees (we also come out between those two same trees) and before long, we were jogging slowly until I told her to go ahead and pointed where we'd meet back.  I started my jogging playlist on my iPod and started the same stream of positive thoughts I mentioned previously.

To us, the time we spend jogging really is a time of meditation and thankfulness, a time we take selfishly for ourselves and there is no thinking of what goes wrong, but only what goes right.  I have found it is the only way that your body will follow beyond physical pain/fatigue. You have to find what will make your feet continue to go one in front of the other.

Something else I have noticed is that when you run, you want to take your mind off the effort so bad that your senses become more aware of your environment.  The green of the trees is greener, the sky is bluer,  you rejoice in the scent of pine trees and new flowers (something I especially notice at the mount and also when I run at the botanical garden), the sound of your feet hitting the gravel keeps your rhythm as does your breath.

Speaking of rhythm, I find it important to mention that when you are out of breath because you did not keep your pace as cautiously as you should have, it's okay to stop running for a minute and walk, take deep breaths to calm your heartbeat and start running again at the pace that is yours (we all have a pace we can go a long time on somewhat comfortably).  See it as a new beginning rather than "Oh no, I walked.". And a good way to feel good about that mini-break is also to tell yourself that a lot of people are at home sitting on their butt while you WALK.  :)

So back to my awesome run, when I reached the top, I felt like an asthmatic gasping for air. I'm sure it was a pretty sight. :P  Of course, that doesn't last long, you just have to take a few steps and keep breathing and really enjoy everything about reaching the top (or your goal distance) like the rush of blood I have become so addicted to, that feeling you have because your heart has pumped a lot, the sweat running down your skin, even the people looking at you with that obvious look of "I could never do that." (I want to guarantee them that if I can they can too).  (I refuse to think they might be thinking "Should I find someone who knows CPR?!? She looks like she's about to DIE!!!")

Nods.

So I was doing all this while admiring the view and then there was this amazing song that started playing in my ears. Not sure if I've ever mentioned it before but it's maybe my all time favourite song for running. 

Here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQYpF2pCkLI&ob=av2e

It was all I needed to turn right back on my steps and run down instead of taking that shortcut that saves me something like 20 minutes of run. So there! Instead of 8 km, I did 12!!!!! And it never felt better!!!!!

Here I go again...

"Miss P.", said my friend, "you haven't updated your blog in forever."


I know I know I know I know I know..... (Hey I oughtta leave young thing alone... ain't no sunshine when she's gone... heheh...)
 

So here is how it is.  Last summer, Sonya and I subscribed to a 5 K marathon and finished it UNDER our normal time  (somewhere around 27 minutes).

We were SO PROUD.

Allow me to share a little story about that run.  Despite Sonya's reminders, I did not eat enough that afternoon. I was worried I wouldn't finish the run. We had run 5 K a few times without problems but it was still hard and we usually ran in the morning and that 5K run was at night.  Anyway, we ate milk bread before going and peeps, please take note: that never is enough.

Yes, good to eat bread before a run but for the love of God, add an orange, yogurt or nuts. SOMETHING to hold you to your feet for that kind of physical effort (yes, even just a 5K!).

In any case, I started the run on a high "How beautiful this landscape!", "How exciting to be here!", "I feel so good about this!"... I wouldn't shut up.  Sonya was running next to me, focused on her breathing and giving me side looks until she warned me to do the same or I would lose my breath talking so much.

Every km we ran was announced on a little board. 1 km... "Pfff! Feels like we haven't even started yet!". 2 km... "Omg.... A BREEZE!".. 3 km... "I'm *panting* still feeling good! Wooh! Go we can do it!"

For some reason, when I got to 4 km, I flenched. 

It had happened to me before on our runs when I had forgotten to eat or did not eat enough. Near the end, I would feel totally empty. Head would start spinning and I would feel the blood drain from my head and limbs to my heart. It is not a good feeling.

So I was ready to stop. I told Sonya. I did not care. I want to stop. I feel like crap.

"You can not stop now."

She was adamant and I did not want to give up on her. But as my partner, I knew she was aware of what was happening to me so she gave me a look.

"You can do it."

One whole kilometer to go and the meters seem to go endlessly... 4.1....4.2..... Impossible how is it going soooo slow?! (hum... because you feel like shit maybe...)

4.5 km

"I MUST stop, Sonya, I'm sorry."

I thought I would fall face first on the ground.

She grabbed my hand.

"I'm not letting you."

She squeezed my hand and we both ran hand in hand like that and however silly it sounds, it is how we ended our run. For half a kilometre she was dragging me behind her.

I surprised myself telling her:

"Don't let go of my hand please."

And she gave me a "I won't. I won't let go of you."

What was ahead was the hardest part of the run: in the dark we saw dozens of lights (we all had to wear a little led light) going UP and I mean UP.

"This is how I die." was the thought in my head.

But my feet kept pushing me up, her hand kept pulling me up.

Up, up, up.....  Then all I remember is a turn and that arriving line. And our time. 27 something. Faster than we ever went. A LOT of people applauding and cheering. And that feeling, that indescribable feeling of "I DID IT!!!!!!" and also SO MUCH LOVE for my partner who flashed me a victorious smile.

I could see us the first time we decided we would run. 1 lap is what we did. 1 lap of run. 250 meters.

And here we were. We did the Energizer 5K.

Fall came and we decided we were crazy for running around the Beavers Lake. I mean in the summer, the heat there is unbelievable. The sun thinks your head is an ice cube it has to melt or the world will come to a full stop.

So we decided to run up the Mount-Royal. In fact, Sonya did.

"Are you NUTS?!", I asked.

"I'm sure we can do it."

I kept silent. But then I said 

"I'm sure we can."

And that was it. It is always like that with us. One has a "brilliant" idea and the other gives a resounding  "Yes we can!".

I'm sure if it had been our mandate some 50 years ago we would have been the first to walk on the moon.

It would have gone something like:

"Look at that moon... I always wanted to walk on the moon."

"Dude so did I! Let's DO IT!"

.............Thinking of it maybe it's better the way it was with Neil Armstrong and all the crew....

So we run up the Mount-Royal right.

So now it's not only about running a 5K (we had no idea then but it amounts to something like 8K), it's about running up and up for 8K. It burns your butt and legs where you never thought possible and it makes you shut your pie hole after 1 minute of running.

Ipod on ears and I'm zoning out or else forget it.

Mind focused on keeping my breath regular and repeating the same positive thoughts that don't necessarily make sense over and over again.

"Life is beautiful. I love this life. The tree tops are so green. Love running on gravel. I'm here, I'm healthy, I'm alive, I'm happy." 

And other randomness of the same kind.

We arrive to the top and we go down. Immediately. No break. But we take a short cut to go down by the stairs which saves us a bit of the way back. Going back down really feels good. It's not EASY because your heart is still pumping and you're tired, but it really almost is.

So yeah... 8km.

We did this for a little while then it quickly became too cold.

I started school and little by little, I really ran less and less.

I did run sometimes but it was like once a week if even.

Then last week I thought about it. I had to make a choice: did I start again or did I give it up for good running only when I felt like it?

I remembered how much I loved it. And also I love being with Sonya. Really when you think of it, if you make abstraction of your laziness, there is NO downsides to running (if you pay attention to not hurting yourself like I used to, for examples, with my shins and Sonya with her knee until we paid attention to it and avoided what we did that provoked it).

Running makes you feel free, running is good for you, running doesn't cost a thing, you can run anywhere, everywhere, any time, all the time, it helps you focus, meditate, appreciate, it helps you reach goals quite quickly, it's very rewarding, it transforms your body, it boosts your metabolism, it gives you that rush of blood through your veins that feels so damn good...

I'm a HUGE fan of running.  And I've decided this is going to be a lifestyle. Not a short time interest. It's a passion.

So I went back to the Mount Royal with Sonya this week. I wasn't sure I would be able to do it.  We both agreed to meet somewhere at the end because we don't have the same pace (Sonya always ran faster than I do and she did not stop running during the winter, running one her treadmill so she was not at the same level anymore and she actually runs all the way down now, which amounts to 14 km!) and off I went. I had forgotten my iPod so I focused on my breathing. I breathe out a bit longer than I breathe in. I feel it helps me breathe slowly enough. I kept my pace. It went very well.

I stopped about 3 times for 1 minute promising myself not to stop longer than 1 minute each time I would feel the need to catch my breath. But I made it to the top. I was super proud and impressed at how my body remembered. It needed some regular exercise again but I was still maintaining a certain level from all my previous work. Amazing! I ran back down without stopping and my time was quite good! Sonya told me how impressed she was too and I congratulated her on her amazing work and we went home quite happy with ourselves.

I will not give up again. I'm in for the long run, no pun intended.

I'm a runner because I run.... and it feels AMAZING to be back. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQYpF2pCkLI&ob=av2e

The 5 km Milestone

We did it!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We finally did it. 8 laps. 5 km.

There was something about that day. We could just smell it. It was today (yesterday) that we would finally achieve the goal we had set for ourselves months ago. Before we started running, we told each other that today was D day. We said it confidently, calmly, like it was a fact.

"Not only we CAN, but we MUST."

Exactly a month prior to this day, we had told each other that if we could run 5 km by August 1st, we would suscribe to the 5K run taking place at the end of September. It was July 27th. We were right on schedule.

Monday, we ran our usual 7 laps. Then Sonya pushed me for half a lap more. I told her she was crazy. I had been panting like an animal for the past 2 laps. The air was humid and I could feel the sweat rolling off me. I was not in my zone. But I did it. I followed her, not really hearing her encouragements, but gathering the general sense of them through her uplifted tone of voice. When we were done, I crashed on the grass like an agonizing horse.

"I'll give you 5 minutes for you to be happy.", Sonya said, downing what remained of her water.

So it felt good 2 days later to be back on track and feeling the excitement of a new distance to beat. What we call a "new standard".

We didn't keep track of time, not that day. Nothing was going to make this success taste like anything else than what it deserved to taste like. Distance was what we had in mind in the here and now.

We focused on our breathing, on running with a straight back, on pacing, on how good we felt, on how delightfully cool the temperature was.

On our 6th lap, we still felt good. It took us by surprise. The last 2 laps were always hard. We could still talk to each other. Not a whole convo but enough to encourage each other, make a sentence, give an answer.

"Our bodies are following us!!!", I told Sonya, thrilled at the idea that mind was now in charge.

7th lap. Not much harder than the 6th. I had one word on my mind: amazing. "Amazing" seemed to keep my legs moving. Amazing kept my focus away from my exhaustion. Amazing was what we were, what we had accomplished, what we were about to do. Amazing was the day's mantra. I kept repeating it to myself and pushed all other thoughts away. I was still moving! Amazing. Did I lock the door when I left home? Amazing. Move over, lady! Amazing. My hair hurts. Amazing. Amazing. Amazing. Amazing. It just took over everything

When we passed by the point marking 7 and a half laps our pace slightly increasing under the excitement, I told Sonya:

"Sonya, what we are doing now, you have never done before!"

"I knooooowwww!!!!", she said, reflecting to me the pride that was submerging my heart.

All I could hear was the sound of our shoes on the pavement. My eyes were filled with the green of tree tops. Breath was getting shorter. 200 meters to go.

"Sprint!!!!!"

My son at the finish line, two arms extended, ready to receive our victory touch. He almost staggered under the double impact and us, we were walking on clouds.

"We did it! It's DONE! We did it! Omigod! Can you believe it?!"

High tens. This was a high ten moment. So much better than high fives!!!

We shared our surprise at how easy it had been compared to previous times where we could barely breathe enough to finish 7 laps. Now breathing was comfortable and we could still talk!

But you know, this is something I have noticed through our training. You will stall at some points. And then, if you keep pushing yourself to the limit every time, eventually your body will kinda... "upgrade a notch" is the best way I can express it. It just gets stronger at some point and then it stalls for a week, two weeks, then you get a new upgrade. The key is to keep pushing. And yes there will be days when you will crash on the grass with your hands on your eyes like I did and think: "Man... Why can't I just DO it?!" and it's frustrating because you want to, desperately, but you physically can't. The truth is if you stick to your efforts, you WILL eventually do it.

Give time to yourself. Your body IS doing its part of the deal. It is changing and adapting to what you are putting it through. Be patient and perseverant. This is YOUR part of the deal.

So... 5 km!!!!!!!! Weeeeee!!!!!

Partners In Crime

Back when I had just given birth to my son, I was envious of those I saw jogging in my street with a partner. Of course, not having a partner is no excuse for giving up on exercise altogether. We should always make ourselves a priority no matter what. But still... there was something about that bond that I really wanted for myself.

Now, I am usually a loner. I always dreaded team work in school and although I have a wonderful circle of friends, they usually have to make the first steps for us to spend time together (let me grab this opportunity to apologize to them for being such drag, sometimes). But isn't it ALWAYS easier, antisocial or not, to do something you don't particularly enjoy WITH someone else? Like repainting the walls, washing the dishes, making the bed in the morning or visiting grandma?

Well, working out (for most of us) is yet another occasion of the sorts, my friends.

Therefore, if you are lucky enough to find a partner made of flesh and bones (and preferably something to cover all of it), it is important to find the right one.

And this is where I am going to quote the best workout partner of all: mine.

Sonya: "It doesn't have to be your best friend in the whole wide world that you start running with. It can be that work collegue of yours you give a wink to when your boss is being a pain and have a good laugh with. You know? It just has to be that one reliable person who shares your goals and visions and with whom you get along."

I have mentionned that Sonya and I didn't know each other well before starting our regular training. But what really mattered in the beginning, more than common ground, was that when one would say "Let's do it.", the other would be there and would follow. Bonds will form by themselves after going through some of it together, the effort of it, the pain, the mistakes, the successes. But what you are looking for, your main criteria in the choice of your jog (or workout in general) partner should be to choose the one who WILL BE THERE.

You will push and encourage each other. Sometimes you will have a better day than they do and be the wind under their wings, and sometimes you will say to them, totally out of breath: "We...can...do...it...." just because you need to hear them say aloud to you (and they will): "Oh yes, we can!!!" and this is what will bring you to the finish line of whatever goal you have set for yourselves and sometimes, you will both feel vibrant and push it just a bit further together that day and be that much closer to a bigger achievement.

From the bottom of my heart, I wish you this person if working out regularly is something you want to do.

If you aren't that lucky, I suggest you still go out there and do you thing. Who knows? Maybe you will meet some lonesome soul with a lion heart to whom you will end up offering to join forces and become like Yin & Yang (sorry, Micha, Yin never turns against Yang), peanut butter & jelly, Betty & Veronica!

In the meantime, iPods make pretty good jog partners. For those who like cool gadgets, check out the Nike + iPod project. It's the next best thing, I say!

The Right Way To Run....

So I'm back from the gym with Sonya whose birthday is coming up. Happy birthday, pretty lady. I adore you.

I haven't even showered yet. I'm gross. But girls don't sweat, right? We glisten. Tell that to my soaked up tshirt. It's damp with glow.

2.22 miles in 22 minutes!!! I'm letting you guess the lucky number of the day.

I do have a plan to eventually get to 30 minutes (the so very desired 3 miles) when I'm done crawling instead of running the last minutes.

So... Focusing on the topic of the day: the right way to run.

Cuz there is one apparently and it's a good idea to start with that. It's like learning how to break when you take on biking. Good old logic.

I remember when we told Seb (our boxing coach) that we wanted to jog, he predicted I would hurt myself. And me with my foolish pride, I didn't go beyond the "Naaah...." in my mind. But yeah. I mentionned the split shins. Good times. I don't want it to happen to you.

I have found a great article on the matter called "You probably don't know how to run properly" , which I wish I had come across earlier. I highly suggest that you, my little aspiring runners, read it and try, as much as possible, to reduce the impact on your body.

Another good point that is brought up in this article: don't slouch when you run. I'm a sloucher. I'm 5'10" and Quasimodo has a better posture than I do. Sonya pointed it out during a particularly difficult jog for me, that I should stand straighter to allow my breathing to flow better. I tried to pay particular attention to it the next time and it made all the difference.

And yeah, get good shoes. You deserve it. Think of all the miles you will have to devour. You're a warrior out there! Get a good armor.

I am concluding this post with the song that got me through today's run: The World Is Mine by David Guetta .

Because the world IS mine (and yours, as well).

Intro

So... I'm 30 years old. I'm a Montrealer. I am a self-confessed procrastinator.

I'm a runner.

Now... It wasn't always like that. Back in the old days (a bit less than a year ago), I was wondering if that theory about imagining that you were working out really helped to get you into shape. I closed my eyes and imagined I was running along a river. I could hear the sound of the breeze in my face, my steady breathing... Then I opened my eyes cuz I was exhausted.

Then Sonya happened.

The first time I saw Sonya she was peeking at me from behind a mutual friend of ours. I was almost ready to turn to her and go "What?!" but she knocked me out with her amazing smile that spreads to her eyes like a wave on a warm caribbean beach. I was hooked.

During that week, her and our friend mentionned to me that they were suscribing to a gym. Maybe I would like to join them? I had been through pulmonary embolism a year prior to that and had gained about 30 pounds (so I was around 175 lbs) due to various factors. I thought about a million ways to turn them down but ultimately, I said okay.

It was the best okay I've ever said in my life. And the first of many I would say during that year.

Shortly before Christmas of 2010, Sonya and I were working out with weights when I mentionned I would love to try boxing. I am a tall girl and I have good wide shoulders that make me look like a football player with a taste for low waist jeans and glittery lip balm. I have a square jaw that can crush a jaw-breaker like it's a jelly teddy. I could totally see myself being the next Million Dollar Baby. And Sonya, in her usual Sonya ways said two words.

"Do it."

So I took it literally and ran downstairs to tell the gym owner I was interested in boxing and she immediately set me up with a policeman who would make Mr Miyagi green with jealousy with his knowledge of martial arts. I started the classes with him and loved it although it was extremely, extremely demanding. But I was so excited that Sonya ended up wanting to join me in my classes and for maybe 3 months, we did boxing.

Then spring came. We decided to go take a walk on the Mount-Royal and we were congratulating each other on adding to the fitness training, our mouths admittedly working out more than our butts, but still, we were there. As we were discussing, it was more and more obvious that we had a lot in common. Now you'd see us and you'd probably crack up at how different we are. A caramel petite exotic beauty with long flowy hair in a ponytail, very energetic and talkative dressed in Burberry walking next to a reserved blonde giant nodding and smiling dressed in her ex boyfriend's workout clothes. Except that once in a while, you'd see these two jumping up and down, highfiving each other, squealing like only girls do: "YeEee!!! Me tooOooOo!!!". Well, that's during one of those squeals that the magic happened. One of us mentionned she would love to participate in a marathon.

Squeal. High 5. "YeEee!!! Me tooOooOo!!!"

Done deal.

Fast foward to the next day. We're on a track in a shady neighborhood, I swear, there are bags of drugs hanging to the branches of trees and suspicious weirdos walking by who grab them and shove them in their jackets. But we're dressed in our brand new Lululemon outfits with our bottled water and I see her walking towards me with a big smile and I'm thinking "Alright! This is it!".

Runner friends of Sonya had advised us to start with walking half the distance we would run and then do it again. So we aimed for 2 laps around the track and then we'd be walking for one lap. We tried that and honest, it was so hard. We were really looking forward to the lap we would walk and to me, it never lasted long enough. Sonya, in a much better shape than I am and owner of a very good cardio, didn't seem to find it as hard as I did but still had to push herself to achieve our four repetitions of that exercise.

I knew there was a gap between our capacity to do it so I tried to go more often and trained alone when I could. But I didn't have a good way to do it, it seems. I do not know if it was the way I ran or my weight or lack of stretching or overdoing it too fast... or all of the above. Nevertheless, I hurt myself pretty bad. My shins had hurt for a while but I kept running on it. I thought it was surely muscular, that it would pass. I had read that by starting to run, my body would hurt. I sucked it up and ran. But it started hurting more and more. The thing is when I started running, it would hurt less and less until I stopped, then I could barely walk on it. I asked a doctor friend of mine who quickly diagnosed split shins .

I had to stop running. It took more than a month for me to feel I could run again. During that time, Sonya and I walked. I felt so guilty and mad at myself. How stupid! To just barge in there and do it the foolish way, not listening to my body at all.

Switching shoes helped a lot. See, I thought that by inserting a shock absorbing sole in my shoes, it would help. But if you buy a good pair of shoes, it is already designed to do that, so adding a sole only adds disbalance, which will make things worse. Just sharing experience acquired the hard way here...

When I got better, we had come to love the surroundings provided by the Mount-Royal and during our walks we always saw the Beavers Lake, which is a small lake at the top of the mount on which people skate during winter. It's very cute. Sonya suggested we run there during the summertime. It would be less hot and more agreable than the track.

Her partner even calculated the distance around the lake for us so we would know how much distance we nailed.

0,629 km

If we wanted to run a 5 km, which was the new goal, we'd have to run 8 times around the lake.

We decided to run and see how much we could do. With much effort, we could do 3 laps, then walk one lap, then run 3 more.

Soon, we could push for 4 laps, walk one lap, do 3 more.

Then we diminished the pause. And what I'm mentionning here was quite rapid progress. In about 2 weeks or so.

So we were now running 4 laps, walking half a lap, then we ran 3 more.

One day, Sonya's best friend came to see us run. We got distracted then and realized that we took less "pause" than usual so the next time, we decided not to stop.

God it was hard. SO hard. Frankly, maybe the hardest thing I ever did.

We ran it between 35 and 40 minutes.

Then we did it again: 35 minutes.

We are both competitive on different levels. Sonya seems competitive in a more general way. She likes to be at the top. I am competitive with myself. So we both agreed that we'd try to do it faster and faster, eventually adding the missing distance for our 5 km.

Last week, the skies were gray and rain started pouring, suddenly. It soaked us. But we kept running and it gave us the whipping hit we needed. At the last lap, when it is hardest because you are tired and your breath is short, we always pushed. But we felt good enough to push this one during the whole lap. I am estimating we ran it twice faster than the other laps. When we stopped, we checked our time.

30 minutes.

THIRTY MINUTES!!!!!! We were walking on clouds. We bragged about it to our friends and were surprised to find lukewarm congratulations. But we were not defeated and went back running this week... until that guy happened.

You know. That guy.

That guy life sends you when you're sitting on your laurels. Of course he's young, breathtakingly beautiful, arrogant, and much better than you are.

He's the Devil's Advocate.

And he's there to push your limit.

When Sonya told him about our progress, looking for advice so we could run our 5K at the Montreal Marathon on September 25th, he gave her that killer answer:

"What... that's it?"

Wait. I need to stop scoffing. It's bad attitude.

YAH that's it, man!!!! I mean, "It" started with nothing. Two lazy girls who hated to exercise but ended up progressing enough to run an "almost 5 km"... I mean....

That was my reaction when Sonya called me last night to tell me that. And like she says, at least I didn't have to "live it" as she did because he actually made that comment in front of her friends!!!!

More scoffing.

"We have to do better than that... can you imagine?", she said, with a whispery giggle that cracked me up.

In that guy's opinion, we should aim to run the full 5 km in 25 minutes, no more. Or else we should be ashamed.

Ahem. Yah.

Oh he also called us crazy for running under the sun at a 30 degrees temperature.

And we MUST do weight training to strenghten our legs and therefore increase our performance.

So... Here's the plan today. I'm meeting Sonya at the gym. And we'll step on the treadmill. And we'll run and see how far we can get in 20 minutes. Then we will do weights. And curse that guy. But also send him a bit (and I do mean a LITTLE BIT) of love cuz he's not only the negative trigger factor I will write down on a Post-It and stick to my fridge so that it feeds me the negative energy I need to propulse myself.... he is also the wind beneath our wings.

So... send us all your positive thoughts. :)