A Marathon...NOT a Sprint

On Saturday, October 2, 2010, I achieved a major milestone in my life. I ran my FIRST 5K. No, a 5K is not 5,000 miles, as Dunder Mifflin Regional Manager Michael Scott thought, it is a mere 3.1 miles. For the running enthusiast, this is NOTHING. But for my thick behind, this was a MAJOR feat. At first glance, this might seem like this has nothing to do with being Young, Black, or Married, but in reality, it has to do with all three.

As a child, I was small, fat, small again, and now I will classify myself as thick. I have fat genes in my family (thanks mom and dad), and at 25, I see the weight (which is a significant, but undisclosed amount) that I gained at Howard holding onto my thighs for dear life. As a black woman, being overweight brings a whole HOST of issues that could affect my health. Therefore, it is important for me to watch what I eat, and have an exercise regimen that I will stick to. I’ve played the whole, “I’ll start my diet tomorrow”, or “maybe if I just walk an extra 20 minutes a day the weight will come off,” game. Yea, it doesn’t work. Therefore, when I set the goal in May to run a 5K by fall, I had to be serious. In May, I wasn’t even able to run more than 3 minutes without stopping. My time for the 5K (which in runner speech is terrible) was 42 minutes (of NON-STOP jogging). For me, that was an amazing feat.

When Julius and I met, I was between a size 2 and 4. If you see me now, I’m obviously not that small. Even then, Julius said I could stand to gain some weight (he’s from the south, so he likes them a little thick). I took his words way too literally, and went completely ape shit. Or did I? I thought since I was young, I could eat whatever I wanted, do whatever I wanted, and I wouldn’t gain weight. LIES AND DECEIT. However, through it all, Julius has never judged, belittled, or made me feel as if I was not pretty. Well I guess he couldn’t, cause I am still a FINE STONE-COLD DIME. Nevertheless, when I started my weight loss journey, he was and is 100% supportive. He’s supported me through my countless diets, cooked healthier food, and always exercises with me. (He ran the 5K too, 20 minutes faster than me, but he did it just to support me.) And, if you’ve seen Julius, you know he doesn’t need to do ANY of the above. He does it because he loves me. And I love him for his truly unconditional love. But if I consider myself to be a good mate, I know that to keep the passion and fire in our relationship, I have to work on my flaws as well. He shouldn’t need to point it out for me to want to fix it. That comes with time, and serious self-reflection.

I haven’t reached my weight goal yet, but I know I will. I am in some of the best shape of my life, and I am happy that I have my husband/best friend to share this with. I am gearing up for a 10K in December, and I know that Julius will be right there with me.