Naked Jog Approaching

Way back when I started my weight loss journey at nearly 420 pounds, I jokingly passed the comment that if I reach my goal weight of 250 pounds I’d jog naked up the street. At the time knowing how many times I’d failed to stick to past diets and my history of valuing fatty foods over a healthier and trimmer body, there was no way I honestly expected to ever come close to reaching that goal. Therefore, I had no fear of ever having to strip off my clothes and take a quick run.

I’m reminded of one night in September at a Men’s League Golf Party when after our round we were sitting in the clubhouse eating our meal and drinking our free booze watching the World Hockey Championships. Canada was losing late in the game and one of the guys, clearly having had too many wobbly pops, made the bold statement, “if Canada wins this game I’ll streak naked up the number one fairway.” No sooner had Canada come from behind and won the game, he was up and out the door tearing off his clothes as he went and sure enough he was streaking up the fairway as promised. It’s an image I can’t erase from my mind.

So back to my dilemma; as of today, my current weight is 253.6 pounds. Yup, you guessed it, I’m just 3.6 pounds from reaching that lofty goal I set for myself a little over a year ago and have lost a total of 165.2 pounds. Now I realize I’m not compelled to do anything I’m not comfortable with. And I can guarantee I would never do it when there are children around.

If I do finally reach my goal I’ll decide then if I’ll do it. I never said at what time of day it would happen but should I find the courage to get naked and take a stroll in my birthday suit to celebrate the accomplishment, I’m pretty sure it would happen after dark late at night.

So then people will question whether I actually did it or not. If It does come to pass that I find some hidden courage to put myself out there like never before, I’ll be sure to video it and take photos which I will carefully edit for public consumption.

But of course, regardless of what actually happens and whether I really go through with it, the feeling of accomplishment and knowing that I successfully attained my goal will be reward enough for me. I can’t speak to how the ladies will feel.

When Running Becomes A Sport

As many of you know I was once a young star athlete with plenty of promise.

I could have gone pro in Football, Baseball, Shot-Put or Badminton but sadly a career ending injury causing weak ankles combined with packing on about 200 pounds of "Molson Muscle" brought an end to that dream.

So it always does my heart good to hear of other young Canadians who are excelling at their chosen sport. It could be Sidney Crosby in Hockey, Cindy Klassen in Speed Skating or Jason Bay in Baseball.

Now I don't mind admitting that I don't think "running" is much of a sport. I understand that you have to be in great physical shape to be a runner of both short and long distances but lets be serious...you're only running. It's like walking, only faster.

However, if you were to combine the running activity to something else, then you might have something. In fact, they already have something and it's called a Triathlon. This combines three events; swimming, biking and running. It takes a well conditioned athlete to compete in this competition where three disciplines are involved. For all those people who just run, try running 10-thousand metres after you've completed a 1500 metre swim and a 40 kilometre bike ride.

On May 13, 18-year-old Kirsten Sweetland became the youngest Canadian to win a triathlon World Cup race by capturing the women's event in Richards Bay, South Africa. The win moved her into 3rd place in the world rankings.

Sweetland's time of two hours, three minutes, 32 seconds put her 15 seconds ahead of Olympic bronze medallist Magali Di Marco Messmer of Switzerland. Christiane Pilz of Germany was third.

As a 15-year-old from Victoria she showed her determination to compete. After taking a spill during a bike leg in 2004, she slid her face along the asphalt transforming it into a bloody mess. She didn't quit but instead picked up her bike and continued on. Her father asked her if she wanted to call it a day prior to the run but bleeding profusely she refused and showed her true Canadian grit and determination.

She managed to climb all the way back into fourth place and after she crossed the finish line she proceeded to pass out.

Congratulations Kirsten! You have given us yet another reason to be proud to be Canadian.