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Honestly I take my slow and steady progress as a great personal victory, not being on the bottom as a painful weekly defeat. So ha! Chew on that!
I haven't been this light since 2005.
In recent memory (May 2009) I was dangerously close to that magical number that would designate me as a Clydesdale in triathlon events. A mere pound or two away truth be told. This is not something abhorrent, I would have raced a duathlon in the Clydesdale category with pride. It just would have hurt a lot more.
Half the challenge of any race for us larger types is lumbering one's own bulk along for the ride. It ain't easy.
Before this competition began, at the first team weigh-in for dragon boating this year I was a pack mule of 188. Just a touch under my normal "winter weight".
Dionysus would be proud. I have lost weight steadily week by week without compromising having a good time this summer. I am not one to starve myself when there are alternatives. Lack of fuel makes me tired and cranky and no fun at all. The alternative: eat something dammit!
Just make it something GOOD that is actually worthwhile. No crap will be tolerated by my tastebuds and stomach. They are my harshest critics.
More salads are thrown into the mix and junk food like chocolate bars and chips becoming almost completely absent in my diet is nice. Sure I miss some things, I never really consciously gave up the really GOOD chocolate (Just Us! bars from Nova Scotia...yummy!!) but when money and backpack space is tight...some things just stay on the store shelf.
I am no longer afraid of dying in the marathon, now less than a month away. I'll just go slow, knowing I have a bottle of La Fin du Monde waiting for me at the finish line. If it takes me six hours then so be it. The lessened load on my joints is already a marked improvement especially when I'm not grumbling with hunger which only makes other discomforts more noticeable.
We all need fuel to keep going. It gives us the strength to carry on.
Even a tortoise. Ain't 'e cute?