Back on the treadmill today, an early run before work.  6 miles,  again!  One of the last few (yeah!!).   This time I was testing out a second option for Marathon Day in Florida.  My UnderArmour Tank (in pretty breast-cancer awareness Pink!) and my new Running Skirt.  SKIRT?  Yea, I was All Girlie today as I ground those 6 miles into the carpet upstairs.  Don’t call the fire department, that was just ME….SMOKIN’!!!!  (tee – hee).

Ok, so — running in a skirt — well, I was worried.  Nah, not that anything would show.  These running skirts have built-in briefs inside, so they are shorts, with a skirt overlay.  And just so we all have the same mental image…this is NOT one of those tulle tutu things.  As my 16-year-old daughter would say, “Girl, P.L.Z.!”  No, just a simple black running skirt.  Why I was worried is this — well — in the past, with shorts, or skirts, my thighs would rub together and well — by the time I was done just walking through Disney on vacation — my inner thighs would be all chaffed, and sore, like they were on FIRE!  Chaffing is a worry, when you are over-blessed in the thigh department.

But.  Here’s.  the.  Thing.

Diane…..your legs dont rub together anymore when you walk.

Say WHAT?

Nope.  They don’t.  Hey, they are still chubby, and jiggly, and I have more weight to lose south of the belly button, let’s say, BUT…..my thighs didn’t rub together as I ran those 6 miles.  I Was So Surprised.  And Relieved.  And Happy!  Yea, that’s the right word.  Happy.

We women are complicated, deeply emotional, and silly creatures sometimes.  How a woman can lose 75 pounds, and NOT consider that her thighs juuuust might not rub together anymore — is kinds crazy.  But Hey….only I’m allowed to call myself that!  So don’t YOU go tryin’ it.  K?  🙂

So I have more testing to do on both the shorts and the skirt….but I think the skirt is the winner so far.  There was an added bonus of feeling feminine when I wore it.  I ran feeling Strong, and Comfortable, and yet in touch with my inner girl.  Don’t laugh, or look confused.  You might not think about it much, but sometimes, when a woman is buried under pounds and pounds of fat, they lose touch with their inner femininity.  It’s h.a.r.d. to feel soft and delicate, when you are large.  It was for me.  As I have been losing weight, and becoming smaller and more toned……I’ve realized that I have also been becoming softer.  Softer on the inside.  Letting myself relax, to be comfortable with myself, to be less defensive, to smile more, to not feel like I have to hide my stomach or my thighs with my hands and arms.  I can be vulnerable, and not break.  I can be soft AND strong at the same time.  WOW.

I love running all girlie.  Reality Check:   You WON’T be seeing me running in a Tinkerbell costume or a Minnie Mouse tutu…..but you MIGHT just need to be on the look-out for the girl running by in her black skirt and pink tank on Marathon Day.  Oh there will be alot of us out there, I’m sure….but for the first time….I will be amongst them……and not on the outside looking in, wishing I Were Doing That!

Ciao for now…….Diane