I've Got the Power

Okay, so, on this very site, I made a commitment in my New Year's resolutions that I would become a body in motion.

And I did.

I'm coming up on my 6 month anniversary of joining weight watchers. Man, I love those people! I don't tell, unless directly asked, how much weight I've lost, for a couple of reasons. For one thing, to actually say the number would imply to some I'm done. When in fact, I need to remind myself that each day is the first day of the rest of my life. And we all know losing weight never seemed to be as hard to maintaining weight loss. When it comes right down to it, food and I...well, we have a long and twisted relationship. We are trying for a healthy one right now, which works sometimes, sometimes not. I'll go on record right here that I suspect I will always be Aunt Annie's Soft Pretzels' little bitch. And I'm okay with that.

So, since I doubt very seriously, I will be blogging about Idol this year (END IT ALREADY), and I do miss blogging, I'm slanting my blog now to my journey for fitness, and how I mentally, in small letters sometimes refer to myself as an athlete.

I've been working up to running for a while now. Who knows how long it will last. Let me say right now, I have no desire to do a marathon, or a half marathon, or any distance that would burn an entire gallon of gas. But I do enjoy throwing on three jog bras (because seriously? boobs don't go with running or golf), and hitting the pavement. Just me, my iPod (more about that in a minute), and my thoughts for however long I'm out there. Last week, I got a little crazy and jogged (and you all know when I say jog, I mean a combo walk/jog, right?) from my office at Penn Quarter to the Lincoln Memorial, back to the mall, and back to my office. It totally kicked my ass, but at the same time, I loved every moment of it. I love to watch people when I have my sunglasses on, and when they think I'm so into what I'm doing that they are not watching me. When in reality, I'm usually thinking something between "what the hell is wrong with my playlist", and "I wonder if I can take a cab from here". Anyhoo, last week I saw some tourists taking pictures of squirrels. Really? Smack between the Korean War Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial, one of the most iconic structures in American History and you take a picture of a furry rat? I kinda wanted to stop and ask what the deal was, but was afraid of the answer. It was a black squirrel, if that makes any difference. Anyway, once I got to the Lincoln Memorial, I ran up the stairs like I was being chased, and stood at the top as if I were Sylvester Stallone. I actually walked into the memorial. I'm sure people thought I was paying my respects to President Lincoln, but I was really trying to catch my breath and speed dial a cab company.

Yes, I always job with my phone, courtesy of Joe Krebs who may or may not be on Channel 4. He had a heart attack while running one day YEARS ago and credited his mobile for the quick response that saved his life. So, if you can picture it, my cell phone sits between bra 1 and bra 2, and sometimes vibrates, simultaneously scaring the hell out of me and making people think I'm Inspector Gadget.

It is a lot more peaceful jogging in the suburbs which I try to do at least once over the weekend. I don't know enough about the science of exercise to know why sometimes it feels like my feet are cased in cement, and sometimes they feel like feathers. I just know I prefer the feathers. I was also confronted by a pug a couple of weeks ago who scurried back when I used my best mean voice and told him to go home. One other time I encountered an owner with his two big assed Rottweilers. I asked if they were friendly, and he said "because they are with me". Which made me want to then ask "Are you responsible", but really wanted to get as far away from those dogs as quickly as possible, especially the one who looked at my leg like it was his Sunday brunch. I now understand why I see people walking with big sticks.

One thing that constantly challenges me is my iPod. i just got the new Nano, which I LOVE. I discovered this morning, however, that it has the same problem as all of my other iPods. The playlists are completely effed up. And it's me. I've done this. I always cue up my Workout Mix playlist when I work out. Which makes perfect sense. What doesn't make sense is how the hell Al Green got on the playlist. I'm sure that I just copied wrong the last time I was in iTunes, and am going to have to spend a couple of hours really going through it to get it straight. And she always seems to come on when I need to go fast. So picture it, the iPod is shuffling, Ricky Martin asks me if I really want to drink from the cup of life? Which I do, so I go faster, then Salt N Pepa tells me to shake my thing. Awesome. Marky and I have a couple of Good Vibrations, then the Rolling Stones, then...Sade. And the feathers on my feet turn into concrete as I start singing "one of these things is not like the other one".

I love my girl, but even the Rottweilers were all..."Sade? Seriously?"