I could hear the monolog pounding through my head. “How did you let this happen? Why are you soo weak? You might as well just give up! With each step it grew louder and with each step, I became more and more exhausted. “You’ve just started and your already tired?!? Pathetic! I struggled to just keep going, to keep moving and to keep breathing. “You used to be an athlete, now look at you!!!” I blamed my bad iTunes mix for ruining my rhythm and wanted to give up. To quit. Wave my white flag and surrender to flabby thighs and cellulite forever. Then something caught my attention.

A flash was coming toward me and as soon as I saw her my jaw literally hit the pavement. In only bright pink spandex shorts and a sports bra, the cover of a fitness magazine blew past me. She was incredible. Not an ounce of fat on her body, she was at the peak of human performance! And here I was, struggling to run minute intervals.

At first seeing her made me want to crawl into a deep hole of depression, with LOTS of carbs and sugar!! I’m not exactly sure what happened next, but I started running, faster! A fire was lit under me and all my negative thoughts were blown away. I figured, “hey she didn’t get that strength by giving up, then why should I?”

She circled us throughout the rest of our run, putting to shame our measly efforts, but I finished my run. I pushed through a wall that I’ve been building for far too long. Did it feel good? Well yeah once I regained feeling in my legs!

One of the unknown facts about photographers is that we spend more time on a computer then you’d guess. Like 10-12 hours daily! This among other things has contributed to my lack of fitness, but last night something clicked inside me.

It’s easy to get soft, to give up, to settle! I’ve settled with my health and fitness for too long. Life is too short and too precious to waste sitting down! There are no more excuses. The time is now and the only thing standing in your way is YOU!

Dear pink spandex lady, you are my inspiration! I hope our running paths meet again some day!