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Running. I hate it. Yes, I said it, I hate it.....BUT I love how it is such a simple activity that does so much for your body. Or at the very least affords me the option of eating pizza once a week. Really – who needs an expensive gym membership when you have a good pair of runners and your own two feet? I also hate running because it’s just so easy that’s it’s hard to make excuses to avoid it! I prefer my exercise options to be packed full with readymade excuses as to why I can’t do it.
But as much as I hate the act of running, I like going to races (not for the running part, but for the social and fun part!). Last October I went to Disney Land in Florida and take part in the inaugural Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon. You could run either the half marathon or run it as a relay team with a partner. Immediately I decided that I was going to run the half marathon because if I was going to go all the way to Florida for a run, I was going to set my goal for the full half marathon. Then I had my first training run and promptly called Candace and asked her to be my relay buddy (then secretly I made it so she had to run the long leg of the relay). What?! I said I liked going to races because of the ‘fun’ and ‘social’ aspect. If I had to run more than 8km I would have been dead. Which is not fun, nor social.
So the big run day came and it was probably the most fun I have ever had in my life – even with my serious dislike of running. Add to it the 3 days of park hopping before the actual run and it was one hell of an incentive to keep on training! Honestly – if you really want to enjoy a race, do one in Disney. I ran with Heather and Jo and Racheal (who really did make us all look sooo bad) and Eric (who ran a half marathon on his first run ever!!!) and Brian and was fortunate enough to have a member of Jeff Galloway’s RunDisney team run with us. And now we’re like this running ‘gang’. We email each other about runs, and when we’re going to run next, and people are already signing up for races! It’s insanity!! The pressure is killing me!!!
So being someone who is kind of obsessed with pop culture and celebrities and celebrity form – I have decided that I need to find my celebrity run inspirations, because as much as you would think that my own muffin top would be inspiration enough, sadly it isn’t. And I’m talking the celebrity women who really run, not the Kim Kardashians of the world who go to the gym in full evening make up and designer workout gear and leave looking as though they just spent 2 hours at the spa.
So this week my running inspiration is Reese Witherspoon. Now a mother of two, Reese seems to be the type of celebrity that most regular women (that’s you and me) can relate to, especially her exercise regime. I mean, look at the pictures of Reese running – this isn’t a beauty queen! Reese wears typical running clothing, throws her hair in a pony tail and just runs. And she sweats! Reese runs alone, she runs with friends and she runs with boyfriends. Obviously she takes her running seriously!
So this week I’m going to channel my inner Reese as I try to motivate myself to run on my treadmill at least 4 times this week. Because my Disney dream is to best my time from last year – any maybe, just maybe, run the full half marathon (OMG did I really put that in writing?!). After all, my running ‘gang’ already has me committed to the National Capital 10k race in May, and the 2nd Annual Wine & Dine Marathon has been scheduled for October 1st.
So I want to know – who are your celebrity running idols?! Who do you love to see out there running and who’s form do you covet that makes you lace up your own shoes and hit the pavement (or at the very least the treadmill?!) And please, don’t say Kim Kardashian!
Scene and Heard
Confessions from a Pop Culture Mummy