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.