Fat Woman With A Band

I’m never in the moment. I’m always trying to get to the other side. I don’t remember to enjoy the journey, or experience happiness in reaching the goal. I just want to get to the other side.

That may help me when racing. That is maybe it’ll help push myself to finish the half-marathon in less than 3hrs and 40min. I recognize that I may not then enjoy the walk itself. The thing is, I do want to enjoy the walk. So during this training, I’m going to have to work on enjoying the walk. Wonder how I do that?

I know that during the training one easy way to enjoy the walk is talking to the other participants. Everybody has a story. Some exciting, some boring, but something. And one of the participants said that she found one way to enjoy the walk is for a “treat” during the walk. She didn’t mean food or drink; she meant a beautiful plant, a songbird, or a beautiful vista.

Working on enjoyment of the journey – another task on the list. Changing your body is a lot easier than changing your mind.

I’m starting week 2 of the “walking a half-marathon” training. It all seems do-able, happily. Basically a whole bunch of walking, with some uphill walking to build strength, and then fast walking to build speed.

The hard part – I’m thinking doing the uphill walking will be hard – begins the week I’m in Barcelona. Darn. I’ll try to do it on my own the weekend after I get back, and then do it with the group from then on. I’m also thinking that even if I missed one of these hard sessions, no biggie. What might be a little difficult while away is any big walks to keep my weekly mileage up. Again, I’ll do what I can, and not stress about it.

The training is given by The Running Room/The Walking Room. There are about 20 people in the group – all women. Some women have already done a half-marathon, or a full marathon. They’re doing the training again, well, for the training I suppose. We meet three times a week, and then are expected to do some walking on our own to make sure we get the mileage in that our coach has outlined for the week.

We were asked to set some goals for ourselves. I have two easy ones – at least easy to think of, that is. The first is to finish the half-marathon in 3 hours. The second is lose 20lbs by the end of the year. Easy to say – hard to do. I’m more confident in finishing the half-marathon in 3 hours, then in the weight loss. Maybe the former will help the latter. I hope so.

I know that I need to keep my activity level up, so committing to the training is important. Exercise seems to be the key for any weight loss for me, even more than the eating.

Got to go put my walking shoes on to begin week 2.

Losing weight is like the Great Wall. It’s an upward climb, with a bit of a break, and then another climb, and another break. Over and over again. And along the way the steps are uneven, some easy, some almost insurmountable without assistance. I’m still doing the weight loss, and I walked a very little bit of the Great Wall. I couldn’t have done the latter without the former.

My China experience was everything I hoped for it to be. I saw China; I saw the places in China I wanted to see. I did the things in China I wanted to do. I left knowing where I would go back to on my next trip.

I could not have done this trip 112 lbs ago. No way. Not a chance. A couple of times, mind you, only a couple of times I saw women who looked like me more than 18 months ago. I knew exactly how they felt in their bodies, travelling in places where everybody is smaller, and where the Chinese are quite happy to stare and stare at you.

We did a lot of walking, and it was not a hardship. I ate what I wanted, when I wanted, without a second thought. I enjoyed Chinese food and the more than occasional ice cream or treat. It was all fine. I came back to a two pound weight loss. What could be better than that?

I thank S (& the kids) & M for the opportunity. Great travelling companions. A trip I will not forget.