Am I a Snob??

Day 8 into my 100 day challenge complete!!! I decided to go to the gym a little later in the evening tonight, thinking that the treadmills would be a little bit more open and I wouldn't feel like such a snob for re-starting my machine when my 30 minutes were up. BTW - try that at 4:30 in the afternoon, and you get UGLY stares!! Don't these people know that I'm training for a marathon, and 30 minutes just doesn't cut it? Isn't my run way more important than everyone else's agenda anyway?? Or does that thinking just make me a running snob?? ;)

Anyway, my plan backfired on me, and all the treadmills were full so I decided to ride the bike for a while. This gave me plenty of time to stalk observe the other runners on the 'mills.... Here's my observations (and I'm sure you'll recognize these people from your gym too):

• The Huffer-Puffer - this guy is definitely running way too fast for his ability, and trying to impress that cute girl next to him. In his haste to try and break a 10 minute mile, he doesn't notice her engagement ring, and she definitely did not notice him.
• "The Treadmill is going to blow away so I better cling to it for dear life" runner: Hello!! It's a treadmill, not a mountain!! If the incline is set so high that you need to grab the display, set it down a bit. Or better yet, go hike Camelback and open up your treadmill - for me!
• The Shuffler: This one cracks me up. This lady's feet scuffed the treadmill so much, I don't think she had any tread left on her shoes. So much for buying new shoes every 500 miles - this lady is going to need new ones after every workout!! BTW - the definition of running is that both your feet come off the ground at the same time. Otherwise, it's walking. Either way, you're doing it wrong. 
• The Screamer: I cannot make this up. This guy was YELLING (at himself?!?) to "keep pushing!!" "one more mile!" "oh yeah, baby!" WTF? And then he grunted - I don't know if he was in pain or if he climaxed... But it was comical.

FINALLY!!! A FREE TREADMILL!!!

• The Inspiration: The girl next to me was ME - a year ago. Overweight, fighting like hell to make it 1/2 mile at 5.0 on the treadmill. Sweating like a pig. I wanted to hug her. She inspired me tonight, to remind myself what running does for me, and to kick it up a notch to show myself just how far I've come. I was literally in her shoes just 365 short days ago, and I wanted to tell her to keep on going, just 1/4 mile more. Instead, as she got off her treadmill, we just nodded at each other. I hope I see her again. And again. And again. Because, if I can do it, so can she.

So tonight, I'm going to share some pictures that only a handful of people have ever seen. I'm hoping that maybe the Mysterious Inspirational Woman may just be surfing the Internet and stumble upon it. Or maybe she'll start blogging about her own journey and find inspiration here.

BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE IN THE WORLD.

The challenge continues.... And has anyone seen SR?

I'm on Day 9 of my 100 day challenge, and so far I've run 7!!! I'm pretty excited to be getting back into the swing of things, and get my running groove back!!!

Have I missed something, or did Skinny Runner disappear off the planet?? I love following all of your blogs, but does anyone know what happened to her?

I'm back!! And this time I'm as serious as a heart attack!

So on Monday, I realized that I'm getting married in 104 days! Yikes! That means I need to squeeze into my dress!!! So I decided to put myself on a 100 day challenge - 100 days of running before the wedding - and only four "off" days. Crazy? Yes. Insane? Probably a little. But am I going to look goooood? DEFINITELY!

So Monday, I dragged myself to the gym. I HATE the gym. But since it's hotter here in Phoenix than Satan's kitchen, I don't have much of a choice. Ran 2.5 miles in 22:50. 9:08/mile. I also managed to do 15 pathetic pushups. Have I mentioned my dress is strapless? Yeah... pushups are good.

Tuesday - more gym time. Have I mentioned that I HATE the gym? Ran 3.1 miles (5K) in 27:53. A new PR!!! 9:00/mile. Thinking about the dress, I managed 20 pushups.

Wednesday - more gym time! (By this point, I think Paul realized that I'm actually serious about this 100 day challenge). Ran 3.4 miles in 30:00. 8:49/mile. One of the trainers actually complimented me on my run!! Since the treadmills automatically shut off at 30 minutes (again, have I mentioned that I HATE the gym?), he said that he doesn't see too many people get over 3 miles in 30 minutes. Sweet! So I left feeling like a rock star, and banged out 25 pushups (strapless dress, strapless dress, strapless dress)....

Thursday - Since I'm a sales manager, the last day of the month is always sheer stress. Making sure sales ship, quotas are met, final reports are done, making sure my employees have their numbers met... got home and I was mentally and physically done. So I decided to use up one of my free days and have two galsses of wine. A good friend of mine gave me a MONSTER wine glass that says "Mommy's Super Sippy Cup." I've decided that the last day of every month will be my free day. I'm going to need it.

Friday - We got home from work, and I was starving. Paul grilled up some awesome burgers, and I thought "There's nothing wrong with taking another free day, right?" So after about an hour of telling myself that I deserved another day off, Paul "gently" reminded me that if I took another night off, I'd only have 2 free days left. We have a bet on whether or not I will finish this. He thinks it's insane. So I ran. Pathetically. HUGE hamburger + Phoenix heat + running = not a good idea. Ran 2.5 miles in 20:45. 9:08/mile.

In other news... My flowers are finalized for the wedding!!! And I ordered a sweet pair of shoes that should be here on Tuesday!!! I'm getting pretty excited!! And as of today, I have only 100 days left of being a "Miss"!!!!!

Any fun weekend plans?? Mine will include early wakeups to run before it gets over 100 - I don't have that luxury during the week since I have to be at work at 6AM (I know - doesn't that sound awful?? It is.) I have a 5 miler on my schedule tomorrow, so wish me luck!!!