Take THAT, Canada Fitness Test!

So I have recently committed to kicking the ass of running - it makes me absolutely FURIOUS that, my whole life, I have let running defeat me.  So many buses never caught.  So many races finished last (or not at all). So many calories not burned.  So many years spent believing that I couldn't. 

Forget about it - I am no longer letting my past define me.  I refuse to continue identifying with the girl who was awarded nothing but a "participation pin" from the Canada Fitness Tests (a plastic pin?  Come ON!  Not even a bronze badge?  Nope - not for that soft clumsy girl, the one the other girls called spaz, the one who looked for any excuse to sit inside and read for fear of being stuck being "it" for the thousandth time in tag.) For so long I've looked at people busy using their bodies and thought "not me".  I actually turned down an opportunity to play softball once because I didn't own a pair of runners or sweatpants - I actually hadn't for several years!  Now I just put that kind of gear on as soon as I get home from work (my play clothes, I call them), so I'm ready to go when the spirit moves me.

Canada Fitness Awards - clearly not from my personal collection!

But how did I get here?  Not to the elite land of the uber-fit; to be honest I'm not even close to being fit - but to the place where I can walk into the gym, head held high, and feel like I belong there? To a place where I want to grab running by the throat and let it know who's boss?  I honestly don't know; it just happened very slowly.  A waterfit class here, a tennis lesson there, a hundred walks, some yoga, some kayaking, bellydancing, a little advice from a trainer...and then one day I thought screw it, and I signed up to participate in a 10k with some people from work.  That was two years ago.  I walked it, very slowly; and I walked it again last year, albeit at a slightly brisker pace.  This year I will run at least part of it.  I know I can do this because tonight I held running to the mat for a 120 count. Yep, I ran for two entire minutes without stopping, and after a two minute walk, I did it again. And again. And again.  I really got that I'd changed when I invited a couple of friends to come and work out with me.  You know, like, just for fun!

Hey Canada Fitness Tests! Take your plastic pin and stick it someplace really uncomfortable, cause that's not who I am.


How many thousands of Canadians once wore this badge of shame?