Weight Off My Shoulders

On November 16 I went to Lululemon to purchase a pair of Wunder Under pants I had promised myself after completing the marathon. Well I tried them on and all I could look at were my thighs and I said out loud to myself: "Hello! Thunder Thighs." I'm sure the people in the other dressing rooms were thoroughly confused by this little outburst.

After posting the picture on Social Media...

... friends far and wide commented and said they had no idea what I was seeing.

How could they not?? I mean look at those thighs jumping out of the pants! I had gone out of my comfort zone and tried on a blue/grey pattern instead of going with the ~~normal~~ slimming black option.

But as the responses came in one after another, friends continuously used the words - lean, strong, muscular and fit - to describe the thighs above.

Interesting.

While sitting in my car in the mall parking lot reading the comments (see don't Tweet, Facebook or Instagram while driving!), I asked myself: "What legs were they looking at?" I really just didn't see it!

So I put the phone away, headed to my first Pure Barre class and let the comments/compliments from Twitter and Instagram resonate. But in my subconscious I was coming to grips with the fact that those Wunder Under Pants I pined for just weren't for me.

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Over the next 10 days or so, things changed.

Ever so slightly.

With each activity I did, another one of those pesky compliments from my friends/followers jumped back out.

* I took the stairs to one of my Weight Watchers meetings a little bit faster than usual. My mind thought: "Wow, this seems easier than the last time I made this trek. Those Pure Barre classes are really paying off.

Muscles.

* I set a PR in The 18th Annual Framingham Turkey Trot Classic 5k on a course I found rather challenging. Okay, I wasn't ready for any hills and there were some. :P I thought to myself: "Something is changing in my body. Those Spin classes are really working to strengthen my legs. Go cross training."

Thighs.

* With each Pure Barre class, the exercises were getting slightly more doable. But since the exercises were being done in front of a mirror, I could actually catch a glimpse of their transformation. The "burning" in my legs was paying off. The Brain said to me: "Look at those strong legs in the mirror. THOSE belong to you."

Fit.

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My girl Nazalee on Twitter immediately pulled out the big guns. A campaign that Nike featured about how the phrase Thunder Thighs is actually a compliment.

(Feel free to click on the image above for a better look or check out the ad here)

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So over those two weeks, the little tweets/instagram messages from November 16 were breaking out of my subconscious and starting to break down through the self-negativity!

But the tweet I got that finally made the mental change was short and simple: "I see a pair of strong legs that just dominated a marathon."

Truth ... but I had to change my mindset to see that!

On November 28 I went back to the store and purchased those pants and now wear them proudly!!

Even in public! :)

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So moral of this little story?

Simple.

We need to be as positive with ourselves as we are with others!!

And of course wipe the phrase "Thunder Thighs" from the vocabulary! ;)

Now what the HECK did I do on Day Two in Savannah? There was some major life-changing event in the morning, but for the life of me it's slipping my mind. Oh wait!

It was that little Rock 'n' Roll Savannah Marathon. Duh!

Here's the recap for that... ENJOY!

We left the Finish Line area by 1pm, which meant there was a WHOLE lotta day left to be had.

So what do you do once you finish the marathon?

Find beer ... and food!

Cuhlearly you know the priority for me :P

But, first we stopped at the hotel to change and somehow this was the outfit my peeps let me out of the room wearing:

I mean it's sexy, right?

And you are seeing it correctly - Lululemon cardigan and pants, compression arm and leg sleeves, a Sparkly Soul headband, flip flops and of course my race medal.

HOT. It will be all the rage next season.

We actually ended up going back to Molly Macpherson's for lunch. It was good food and it was one of the few places that didn't have a line out and around the corner.

After filling our bellies with food and beer, Michelle and Tori decided they needed to relax for a little while and wanted to head back to the hotel. I was feeling the opposite. I thought if I went back and laid down - my legs would tighten up or cramp.

So my dad and I dropped them off at the hotel and the two of us roamed the city. He didn't have a chance to check it out the day before since he got in so late so it was nice to show him River Street, Bay Street, etc. He also enjoyed that we were able to stop at a local watering hole, pick up a beer and keep on walking. :) We also hit up one of many candy shops so he could get a praline, what Georgia is known for. I opted for some delicious homemade fudge that was in a word - heavenly!

We made a big loop around the city before heading back to each of our hotels to rest up/shower/get ready for the night.

We had made a reservation for Tara Haunted Tours at 8pm that night. A walking ghost tour around historic Savannah entitled "Boos and Brews." You guessed it folks - you got to carry a beer while you walked around hearing about ghosts. So there were ghosts for the wife and beer for me/my dad.

And yes you read that right, we are the people that ran that morning and signed up for a walking tour for the same night. Funny enough, we weren't the only racers in the group that night. :)

We were running late so we were only able to grab some chips & salsa at McDonough's Bar where the tour started, which meant we would have to eat at the final bar.

I don't like ghosts, but it was interesting learning about some of the history of Savannah and the wife was happy.

These bricks had people's fingerprints in them from when they were made

We also got to stop in three local watering holes along the way

We finished the two-hour tour at Moon River Brewing Company, where we enjoyed a late dinner and a few more brews. :)

After that the fatigue from the race really started to set in for me so we headed back to finally get some rest. But of course, I made sure to get my situps and #plankaday in before I hit the sack.

Overall, it was one perfect day in Savannah. I highly recommend Tara Tours to anyone looking for a little history of Savannah with a possible ghost sighting thrown in!