Day 82 - 2 days to go!! Biggest Loser

This week I felt a bit slouchy.  I really didn't run this week (aside from 3 miles on Tuesday) because I  wanted to rest my body.  I'm glad I did -- I feel good and raring to run.  But I miss the daily sweat for sure.  (Uh.  Did I just say that?)

Anyway, with all this non-running free time, I'm catching up on my Tivo'ed shows and one of my guilty pleasures is The Biggest Loser.  Holy crap, I had tears running down my face (damn reality television!)  The BL gang traveled to Texas to challenge the biggest people in the biggest state to take control of their health and do a 5K with them.

Wow.  Did this show stir some stuff up for me.  There was the stories of self-doubt, of fear of failure, of embarrassment, anxiety and assumptions of not being able to do it.  One by one these people shattered those self-imposed myths and whether they ran, walked or crawled - they crossed the finish line.

And then there was the last lady wearing team grey.  She was walking with her daughter and had to stop several times from pain and fatigue.  She was very out of shape.  The whole time she had to dig deep.  Koli and Sam (two Biggest Loser contestants) promised to go back and help her and they did.  It took this lady more than 2 hours and she was the last  to finish but her pride radiated right through the television.  Around 100 people were at the finish line and they were cheering for her like she was running in the winning touch down at the Superbowl.  As she crossed the finish line and collapsed into tears, she exclaimed through sobs, "I don't even walk around Wal*Mart, i use a scooter!"  My heart burst for her.  Here's a woman who believed she was so done that she'd been using a scooter to get around and had long given up on her body and herself and she had just walked a 5K -- she might as well have climbed Mt. Everest.

And I totally related to her.  Thankfully I wasn't at the point of needing a jazzy but  I can relate to thinking no way, not me and then all of the sudden discovering unbelievable joy and liberation when you realize you do have it in you to do something so momentous.

There's a quote that Nicole sent me this morning that I'm going to paraphrase.  It said something like:  "I run because of the adrenaline I get at the start of the race and the winner I become when I finish."  And I guess that's why we do this.

I can't think of better inspiration to help me cross my own finish line.

XO

Jen