Tea Time Talk

I am currently on COFFEE FREE DAY 9 and believe it or not, there has been no need to hide any bodies.   The first day or so I had excruciating headaches but I was determined not to give in to the temptation.  I had a few friends that kept telling me to wean myself off, to take baby steps.  But I know myself and if I had tried to ease off I’d still be swilling coffee right this very minute.  Oh I might be down to ONE cup a day but that one cup would be the size of North Dakota.  It has actually been much easier than I dreamed.   I guess just like smoking or giving up any habit, you have to get there in your mind first.  You have to want it for yourself, no one else.  I was determined and by golly I’m going to do it!  So far so good other than that one day while walking down the coffee isle at the grocery store.  I felt like Pavlov’s dog drooling over the smell.  I walked quickly and held my breath.  Yeah, me! *fist punches the air*

I really want to talk about something else today instead of the detox from my much beloved coffee. 

Last Friday I was at a tea party with a couple of my sweet lady friends.  While we sipped our green tea (my friend hosting made this concession due to my going on the coffee wagon), munched on healthy low-cal cookies, fruit and yogurt we chatted about our running, weight loss struggles and strategies and a topic came up that really opened my eyes.

I AM AN ATHLETE!

Athlete is never a term that I would have thought applied to me at any point in my life.  Not as a kid, teenager (even though I was in marching band and that is a sport all its own!), young adult or now even though I run.  I first heard “athlete” applied to me when I went for my measuring and weigh in for the Git Fit Challenge.  The man doing the initial numbers, who happens to now be my “diet coach”, complimented a part of my body I hate, my legs.  UGH!  Short, stocky and never a favorite part of myself he said I had great legs, with good muscle tone, I must be an ATHLETE.  Oh. My!……..it was all I could do not to giggle or swoon.  Then as we talked I told him I ran, but I pooh-poohed it like I normally do.  Like I am almost embarrassed to say it, admit it or that the fact somehow needs to be downplayed. 

That is until I had my tea talk with my friends. 

They both acknowledged they feel the same way, as if it is almost a dirty word or somehow taboo.  Here are the facts.  My friend L is amazing.  How she manages to do all she does is a mystery to me but she runs circles around us, with an oxygen tank!  If anyone qualifies as an ATHLETE it is her.  L, you are an ATHLETE!  My friend T is also amazing.  She started running not so long ago after quitting smoking.  She is currently preparing for her first full marathon and an iron man competition.  WOW.  T, you are an ATHLETE!  How can you be a runner or walker for that matter, whether you are training to run your first 5K, first full marathon or your 15^th half marathon and not be an athlete?  I think we are just so mired down in the fact that we came to this lifestyle later.  I will be 43 in less than a month but let me tell you this, I am stronger, healthier and more fit than I was at 23 and definitely more so than any other time in my life up until this point.  I am an athlete currently in training for a half marathon.  Let me rephrase that, I am currently training for 3 half marathons, a 55-mile relay and a 15K all before the end of May.  I’m pretty doggone sure that qualifies me as an athlete.  I am not the skinniest, the strongest, the youngest, etc but I am determined and I am here to say now in a clear voice for all to hear, especially myself: I AM AN ATHLETE!  It is time to embrace it because I’ve earned it.  Just as my friends T and L have earned it along with all my other fabulous runner girlfriends. 

WE ARE ATHLETES!

All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. 1 Corinthians 9:25-26 (NLT)