Is Last Place So Bad?

Before I go further, I want to make sure you all know about Trish's blog she wrote on our other PNP blog...Life Changes and Menu Plan. Ya'll give her a little love because she is also without computer right now which is the double-boredom whammy.

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"Last place is the girl who is laying on her couch Saturday morning, watching TV, and wondering what you are doing." - Corinne Crabtree

Yes. That is my favorite quote I ever said. In fact, I said this to a friend of mine way back when I first started doing triathlons, 5Ks, and bike riding. I was so new to the whole world of recreational sports and needed to put the whole thing of racing and Fat Girl Thinking into perspective.

You see, even here at my fittest I'm not a fast runner. I've never been fast anything. When I compete, and compete is a stretch, I do it for the joy of pushing Corinne a little further. I have raced and come in dead last, I have ran half-marathons and crossed the finish line a half hour past finishers of the full marathon, I have started the bike portion of a tri while the winners were crossing the finish line after the run, and I have always finished MY race with a smile and pride.

The best race I ever ran was a local 10K. My best friend finished WAY ahead of me in about 50 minutes, she was enjoying her banana, talking with people from the running community, and waiting for me as she always did. Well, this race had a 5K that started 1:30 after the start of the 10K. There were about 5,000 people lined up getting ready for their gun. The finisher shute for the 10K was along the side of all these people lined up at the start. As I came through the long tunnel, people started clapping and cheering, celebrating the fact that I was still slogging the 10K, and high fiving me! You would've thought I was the first one to finish the way the crowd lit up. If you have never heard 5,000 people cheering for you, you really should try it!

I love this memory. It's better than any race where I finished in the middle. Last place was the best place in my opinion. I proved I could do a 10K on a hot day, did it with a smile on my face, and accomplished my goal.

It's not easy being a woman of size and trying to do events you never thought you could. Most people assume it's our size that gets in the way but it's our mind. We worry about what we look like, what will people think, will we be in the way of the "real athletes", and will we be last place. You know, WHO CARES! You pay your money to race just like the girl who wins first place. You put your hours in on the pavement, and usually more because we are a little slower, just like the "skinnies." Those of us who are not natural born athletes deserve more cheers and applause because we have to fight hard just to get there. We know we'll never win but we will win the race of life.

So, today, if you have been toying with the idea of trying something new or doubting yourself in your current training...DON'T. Get out there and grab life. Fear and doubt just won't get you anywhere but on that couch wondering what your friends are doing.