out of breath

back in june i was waiting on the playground to pick up e, making small talk with a mom that i was getting to know. she mentioned that she had been running earlier in the day. i mentioned that i was just about to start running to loose my baby pouch (yes, folks a year later i still look about three months preggers). she suggested that we run together. me, ever so naive, thought this was a grand idea. we made plans to run the monday of the following week.


after dinner on monday, i suited up and met her on her front porch. i was a little bit terrified as running with a partner can be a bit challenging- you just don't know if you are a good match until you hit the pavement. and as for me, i've never really run before in my life, so i didn't even know if i was a good match for running period. seriously, ask anyone that knows me and they will tell you that tasha doesn't really run.


i should tell you a little bit about my running partner- things that i should have thought of before committing to this little adventure, but didn't. she is a former police officer for the oakland police department. if you know anything about oakland, you know that it has some pretty high crime rates so it is safe to assume that this girl could run. if you know anything about police officers, you know that they go through some pretty intense physical training. again, things i should have thought of BEFORE this little running party. but i didn't.


we began jogging down her street and headed around the corner. as we ran we started to chat. for the first few blocks it was rather manageable. at that moment, i thought i might ask her how far we were going to go. her reply- "oh, about 3 miles."


i almost started to cry. seriously. i am not a runner. i hadn't done any sort of physical work-outs since before my pregnancy with p and those workouts were light jogs on the treadmill, easy weight lifting, and a few sit-ups. but there i was, running, not sure how to get out of this situation. i was sort of wishing that i could fall and twist my ankle or something. i began to have an internal argument with myself...


"you can do this, t! just put your mind to it!"


"no way! i'm going to die right here on the side of the road and we just started."


"you're going to look like a fool. this girl is cool and she'll think you're the biggest looser if you don't go through with it."


"i don't care! i'm fine with being a looser! i really don't like running and there is NO WAY i can go "about three miles"."


the internal conflict continued and the running continued. in a way, it sort of helped to pass the time. as i fought with myself, we continued to chat. our conversation was light, but very enjoyable. it was nice to connect with this woman, to fell like i could be making a friend while getting some good physical exercise. if i was going to loose this weight, this was by far more enjoyable than hanging out at the gym by myself. i kept running and we kept chatting.


at this point, i looked up and realized that we were about to run over the highway- the bridge that crosses the highway has a small incline. this was getting serious. i put my head down and geared up for the hill. i was talking myself into each and every stride that my short legs were taking. as we got to the top of the overpass i lifted my head.


oh, nelly! after a little down hill, there was a GIGANTIC hill that went straight up. i'm serious. this midwestern girl hasn't encountered a hill of this magnitude in quite some time. if you were in the midwest, this would be like a mountain. for real! they just don't have hills like that there. but there was no turning back. and so i powered through the hill and powered through the rest of the run. as we were approaching her street, she made a comment-


"that was actually 3 and half miles."

and with that, i collapsed onto her porch and had a mini heart attack.


and we've been running a few times a week ever since. apparently, i AM a runner. not a very good one. not an enthusiastic one. but a runner none-the-less. oh, and in the process of running, we've become great friends. i still haven't dropped a single pound from my belly, but in the grand scheme of things, i'm not sure i care.