I don't know if any of you remember me saying I hadn't received a compliment for the amount of weight I've lost. Well, I'm still working on that one. I'm at the point where I'm overhearing or having to (nearly) demand a compliment, but that's OK. I know I'll get them when I show the before and after photos
Anyway...
In the evenings, I go to the bike track near my house and do my 30 minute run--which I'm just getting back into after 2 months off
). So there I was tonight, doing my thing and running the track when a young girl, about 5"6 and slim, and her bf showed up. I kept running and when I was halfway around the track, I looked back and saw her warming up near the start/finish line. She started running after I'd done another lap, and then the lap after that she shot past me. I thought, 'Wow, she's fit. But I'll wait and see if she can last as long as me with that pace'. Surely enough, after passing three more laps (passing me once more), she was at the start/finish line puffing.I had been running for 15 minutes by then (I do 30 mins) at a pace of about 7.10 mins/km (I don't know miles, sorry) and I think she ran past me doing about 6.30 mins/km.
The look on her face as I ran past her was priceless. I can't say for sure, but I think it was a look of, 'Why is she still running?! She's fatter and shorter than me. Why isn't she puffed?'
After another lap and a half of mine, she was back out running; slower this time. She passed me after 3 or 4 laps and then she stopped to speak to her bf. I was up to 24 mins. Another lap went by and she was about to pass me again. However, at the end of that lap (and at 28 mins), I, with a skip, I put my pedal to the metal and left her in my dust. (I'm training myself up for the 5km fun run in November to finish it strong.) For that final lap, I ran it entirely at a pace of about 6 min/km (I had to hold myself back from sprinting. What can I say, it's Friday
)Again, she was on the side of the track puffing and staring (chin down, mouth slightly open, leaning against the barrier fence), dumbfounded, as I blistered past her. I finished my lap and ran the short distance home.
That has to be the best compliment I have ever received and I felt, and still feel, so good. It got me thinking how since January this year, I've gone from being 90 kgs and puffing after power-walking 100 metres to 66 kgs and lasting 30 + minutes running. Who cares about receiving compliments when I have that to show for!
