RunFasterSarah (my running adventures)

It’s 5:15am. My iPhone sounds suddenly – boing boing boing!! And I’m up, and then hubby’s up… And we’re throwing on our run gear. I grab water, he grabs juice, we both eat a banana. Shoes, GPS’s, gloves… And we’re out the door.

Why am I telling you this? Because last time I mentioned the alarm going off early in the morning, I also told you how I lay dead still hoping hubby would ignore it and I’d get another hour of sleep. But I got something back in the last few weeks I’d really been missing: my passion for training.

Maybe had it had something to do with my new mantra?

Not long after my Skagit Flats half marathon I was out for a run, and hubby happened to be running beside me. Sometimes on an easy run he’ll slow to my pace and run with me – I like it when he does that but at the same time feel a bit guilty like I’m holding him back from running his potential. But it’s an easy run – and I’ve learned that you almost can’t run easy too slow. So we’re cool.

We’re only 4km in and I’m struggling a bit. He says to me, “Just tell yourself you’re strong, you’re fit, you’re fast!”.

We had just watched this movie where we’d been introduced to the main character saying, “I’m big! I’m hot!” as he was pumping weights. Apparently it was a catchy line.

So I repeat after him, “I’m strong, I’m fit, I’m fast!”.

I like it. We’re going up a hill and he is WAY stronger than me on hills so we part ways and I watch as he disappears ahead of me. But I’m cool. I repeat my new mantra to myself and I feel strong. I feel fit. And I even feel fast. My GPS isn’t reflecting this new “fast” speed I feel, mind you – but whatever, I feel good.

I have this loop I like to run from my place – the UBC loop. I run up the hill to the university, around campus and then finish by flying down 8th Ave to complete the loop. It’s 14km but it doesn’t feel long at all. Maybe it’s because of all the turns or maybe because the last 2km are all downhill. Whatever it is, I run that loop often. Hubby adds on 2km in the middle of the loop because he can run 16km in the same time I run 14km.

So I’m nearing my last 2km, looking forward to flying down the hill and feeling super awesome – nothing at all like the way I was feeling 8km ago when hubby presented me my new mantra. All of a sudden, he comes up from behind me and settles into my pace alongside me – he’s caught me after doing those extra 2km. Huh, usually he catches me only at the very end. He’s fast today. Or I’m slow. Whatever. I’m feeling good.

PG version of a popular internet meme

As we run side by side, I turn to him and exclaim with gusto:

“I’m strong, I’m fit, I’m fast, I’m fabulous!!”

“Where’d the fabulous come from?”, he asks.

I don’t really know. I’d been repeating the three words over and over again, and then the fabulous just kind of tagged itself onto the end. The whole phrase might actually sound a bit conceited. But I used it again as I ran through my 36km run later that week. I ran so strong I swear I wish I’d been racing that day.

Over and over again, reminding myself, “I’m strong, I’m fit, I’m fast, I’m fabulous!”.

I think sometimes we can spend too much time berating ourselves. Not good enough, too slow, not dedicated enough, didn’t want it bad enough. Missed too many workouts, should have done those strength exercises, should have done more core work. Stomach’s not flat enough, ate too much, ate the wrong stuff, shouldn’t have had that to drink. Too heavy, too busy, too tired, too much. Crappy day, shitty hair, stupid face, aging skin. Should have worked harder, gone to bed earlier, eaten better, trained smarter. So much wrong with me.

So if I finish my runs feeling good about myself and thinking I’m strong, fit, fast and fabulous – I just can’t see anything wrong with that. In fact, I think it’s a practice that many of us may do well to take on. It took me through my 142km week two weeks ago. And then last week, a 124km week. Feeling really good.

You’re strong. You’re fast. You’re fit. And you’re freakin’ fabulous.