I admit I have a little bit of a problem. Yesterday I went running around Lake Johnson in the morning…only 2.75 miles, but with some killer hills…and then ran another 2.5 miles in the afternoon just because I felt antsy. This is becoming more and more the norm. Run once, run twice. Run more. Wait, run again.

I like the transformation it has made on me. I like running outside, in the cold, the rain, the fresh air. The elements just make it seem more “present”. I also like the fact that I now can’t seem to gain a pound and I am finding muscles that never existed before. I’ve dropped about 30 pounds and kept it off, but the dispersion keeps changing. Not that I am complaining…

The hard part? The clothes. Oh my, my beautiful clothes. I went through everything earlier and can probably only wear about 1/3. And of those, it is only because I purchased them in the last month, couldn’t fit into them before, or can effectively hide the fact that they truly are too big. Not to be materialistic…but there are some beautiful things that now just sit and scoff at me.

So…I am becoming friends with a local tailor. I spent several hours there today, being groped, and pinned, and stuck and laughed at. In a nice way of course. One of the seamstresses actually asked me if I purposefully bought all my clothes three sizes too big. And a very nice man actually giggled a little as I stood holding handfuls of cloth in my hand in order to keep my favorite pair of Tahari pants from falling to the floor.

It was all worthwhile though, as another woman in a similar predicament started up a conversation with me. Turns out we are both new runners and running is what we credit for our clothing dilemmas. As I stood on the platform holding up my shirt so I could get pinned yet again…she looked at me and said…YOU ARE REALLY SUPER SKINNY.

I thank you oh stranger at the tailor. I have NEVER heard those words before. I have never known that term. I like it. I own it. I am it. Running is more than just sanity.