Did I ever think I’d say I was a runner or a swimmer?  Um, not in my wildest bootylicious bookworm dreams!

After a few years on the exercise binge-and-get-injured-and-then-stop-and-whine-and-eat roller coaster,  I put my big girl shoes on last year. I got sick and tired of being a slug and started exercising again, but in a sensible and reasonable way by cross-training and building up slowly.

I decided to  start running in earnest and put my wimpy running from Britain days to good use–I had really enjoyed it despite the fact that it never became easy and my short legs certainly would not be winning any races anytime soon.

Did I enjoy getting used to running in 93 F heat?  Not one bit.  But I stuck to it with the desperation of a woman that wants to look and feel amazing in her Carnival costume–which is exactly what I was.  I slowly added more time and distance, the operative word being slooooowly, and kept at my strength training to keep my diva knee in check, and before I knew it (ok, months and months later) I was clocking up a 3-miler here and a 4-miler there.

I also stared down my old nemesis, The Pool, and guess who won?  I had taken plenty of swimming lessons as a little girl–but I had hated them and learned almost nothing.  However, I hoped against hope I would remember the absolute basics  I’d been taught and I hit the pool, first like a six-year old with my wimpy board, then increasingly like the Little Mermaid on speed.  I never expected to love it so much!  I’m now a bonafide, lap-swimming, mirrored-goggle-wearing pool regular, with the bag full of sunblock and back full of wonky tan lines to prove it.

Add in some strength work via Core Fusion and Pilates and the occasional Zumba session… And so my cross-training goes.  I am convinced that I would not be able to run as well if I didn’t swim too, and vice versa.  Running lets me indulge a gadget-and-gear sweet tooth, swimming lets me show my mother that her investment in swimming lessons for me (and aggravation at my refusal to learn) have finally paid off, Zumba lets me pretend I’m in a Japanese hip-hop dance crew, and the strength training keeps my diva knee in check.

So far, I’ve run five races:

• Scotiabank 5k (Trinidad, September 2009):  my first race!  Who cares about speed when you’re running through beautiful Port of Spain and raising money for breast cancer and running in honor of your grandmother?
• Newsday 5k (Trinidad, September 2009):  the race I’d rather forget and probably shouldn’t have run half-sick in the heat–and the race I ran in the best running company ever, with the Most Fabulous S and Her HubB
• Freezer Run 5k (Buffalo, NY, December 2009):  in which I ran with my little sister (who certainly hadn’t run in a LONG time) and we came in dead last–but still celebrated like we had won medals
• CLICO 5K (Trinidad, January 2010):  in which I felt amazing and ran to the sounds of live pan music at the beginning and the end
• Susan Komen 5K (Buffalo, NY, June 2010):  in which I seriously whomped a race!

And I’ve participated in one amazing bike ride for cancer research:

• Ride for Roswell 2010 (Buffalo, NY, June 2010):  in which my superstar team of sisters and friends rocked as we raised money for cancer research by riding for 20 miles

Stay tuned for more races!  You know I can’t sit still for long…