Fighting it for all I'm worth.....

I recently had a friend who posted on her blog here. She celebrates her own sense of self within her own skin. Me, not so much. I'm fighting the "Forties" for all I'm worth. In fact, Blackbird Adventures (her blog) posted a thought-provoking poem by Lucille Clifton. I copy from her blog......(oh, no - librarian admitting copying! Egad!):

Homage to My Hips

these hips are big hips.
they need space to
move around in.
they don't fit into little
petty places. these hips
are free hips.
they don't like to be held back.
these hips have never been enslaved,
they go where they want to go
they do what they want to do.
these hips are mighty hips.
these hips are magic hips.
i have known them
to put a spell on a man and
spin him like a top

I'm not there yet. Not even close. I feel NO magic for my hips (or, in my case, the Butt-Thigh Brigade). The Brigade WILL be enslaved as long as I can move. I fight, push, and prod those beasties into Lycra and running shorts so I can take off and pretend I enjoy exercise. Which I don't. I sweat like a farm animal and turn bright red as soon as I begin running. Anyone who's seen my post-race self knows I'm not a pretty picture finishing a 5k, never mind something longer.

Why fight the inevitable? Why push myself? Aside from obvious health and wellness benefits, I wanna look good and turn my husband's head. I crave wearing skinny skirts and giggle about my now too big wedding dress. I seem to have missed my Southern Mother's hair-makeup gene, but I can keep trying to rock the tiny tops and cute capris.

Accomplishments for the week: 3 arc trainer days, a 8.5 mile run, 9.5 mile run, and a yoga class for my "day of rest". Bring it "Forties"! I'll keep on running.

The Season Begins!

Aaaaaand - Back in the saddle~Two weekends & two races dun.

4/10/11 - Red's Road Race (5 miler) through Dover to support the community. Beautiful weather, but I wish SwimGirl had had more fun. Starting the season on a 5 miler turned out to be a tough one. My Runnermom41 (egad.....who woulda thunk it!) self did well, running all winter at a decent trot paid off well.

4/23/11 - Whale of a 5k in the rain/sleet/snow. Yowza - "spring" in New England. The Whale of a 5k takes place at Ordiorne State Park as a fund-raiser for the Seacoast Science Center. The staff did a fabulous job dealing with all of the wet, hungry, smelly runner folk. SwimGirl had much more fun on the trail run, even in the nasty, slippery, mucky conditions; she finished in just over 26 minutes. I had a great run, finishing in 28:34 - HAPPY (!), especially since I gave my old bod permission to speed walk down the crazy slopes. I'm NOT going to wipe out and get a nutty injury this early in the season. Nopenopenope.

On a bright note, FirstGradeTeacher ran her first trail run in the "spring" weather. She did awesomely! Go FGT! You ROCK!