100 Posts!!!!!!!

I would like to kick off this monumental moment of 100 posts in my running blog by talking about….spinning.

Yup, last night I went to an hour long spinning class at my air-conditioned gym.

I was struck by how spinning classes are kind of like races. You don’t have a ton of your own space, you can’t really avoid the people all around you, and you have to maintain your own pace, form, and speed while looking at everyone else’s efforts. I’m also always reminded both in races and in group exercise classes that I can’t judge people by their shape. I’ve had bigger people pass me in races and last night I saw larger women outlast the skinny chick who seemed to be giving it her all but had to leave 15 minutes before the class ended. Did she work harder? That I can’t answer, but she certainly didn’t work longer.

I have to admit that sometimes I really do want to judge people by their size. Then I’m always reminded of the very inspiring movie classic, Mean Girls (yes, I am being sarcastic, I know it’s not a classic). In the end, our heroine Lindsay Lohan learns that it’s not about what people look like, it’s what’s going on INSIDE. And the truth is that you really can’t tell what people are capable of just by looking at them. We need to give everyone in every race the same benefit and the same support.

LIFE LESSON LEARNED. Kind of. At least I can put it into words.