So often it happens...
I read a friends blog & am inspired.
I read a strangers blog & laugh out loud.
I read a celebrity blog & feel befriended by the glamourous.
So many blogs, so little time!
What about mine?
With each blog it hits me! I could do this! I could inspire something...laughter or friendship...those are two things people love most! Two of the most important things in life, I'd argue, and I am sitting by the wayside, schlogging around...bloggless!
It's not that I haven't tried...I have! I give it my best shot only to slip & fall on my gluteal cleft! (Usually within the first couple of weeks! Okay...days!) I'm not sure what it is about blogging that makes it so easy for me to read them and so difficult for me to write them. I am an interesting, fun & literate young lady! I tweet & people love it! So here I go, embarking on blogging attempt #3 as Nike Twin Tab...
The word 'twin' implies there are two of us...and there are. I am coaxing Nike Twin Jones into erecting her blog...expect it any day! She is a major player in my life and the direction it has taken. She has influenced so much...but nothing more so than my wallet...as this damned Nike addiction of mine (which stemmed from hers), has spiraled out of control! We run together, shop together, train together, LiveSTRONG together...all while living 3 hours apart! We hardly look alike, but our heart...identical!
I have to admit that this did not come about from thin air, nor an idea formed in my mind alone, but from my lobster, Melly (whom, as fate should have it, I was introduced to by none other than...You guessed it! Nike Twin Jones)! We are so much alike!!! I just know that if she can pull off a blog as groovy as hers is, that she can keep me motivated to post to mine often! I'm not promising daily updates like she busts out so regularly! That's too much pressure for a previously failed blogger such as myself! But perhaps, given a little time & support, I can evolve into the blogger I know I have the potential to be! Maybe it's true what they say about the third time being a charm?! Stick around & see what happens...I might suprise you! :D
So, why Nike? People ask me this all the time! Most often after a week or two of seeing me in civilian attire, which usually consists of a Nike FitDry T, the essential Nike Tempo track shorts, some Nike no-show socks & one of the 100 pairs of Nike kicks lining my closet. Every now & then I will show up in Nike Slacker running pants or capris, depending on the weather (or, let's not beat around the bush, if I had time to shave my legs recently).
In the last year, I have done many things that I have never done before...many things I am so proud of that if you asked me to tell you about them, I may never stop talking!! One of those things is my weight loss. Now, I am by no means tiny, skinny, little or any similar adjective you may use to describe a petite woman...I have a very long way to go before I get to where I want to be for the rest of my life! However, I will not downplay the success Weight Watchers has brought me in losing 52 lbs in one years time. Actually it was about 8 months time...but with the amount of exercise & weight training that I do, weight loss has recently been slow going. The body is changing...the numbers are not. I don't care, as long as I am kissing that fat goodbye! I raise the point because I was left with a lot of space in my clothes! Too much to comfortably exercise, which is what I do most often to continue my streak of success!
It was not until I was at the LiveSTRONG Summit with Nike Twin Jones that I realized this...when she brought me a present...a LiveSTRONG t-shirt!!!!! Size...Medium?!?!?!?! Uh...Houston, we have a problem! I went from excitement to horror in a matter of seconds! I didn't want my fit & tiny friend to see that I was no Medium...to see that this shirt wouldn't fit around my boobs, let alone my stomach! When I divulged the little secret, that I wear eXtra Large t-shirts, she wasn't buying it! And after trying on her gift to me I was completely dumbfounded! It fit!? At that time in my life I was right around 30 lbs down, but fitting into that Medium shirt was more amazing to me than the numbers on the scale! I don't know if it was because Nike Twin Jones had NEVER seen me as an eXtra Large...or because I had NEVER seen myself as a Medium!
The 'fitting' in Ohio @ the Summit opened my eyes to the sizes I had been wearing! At work, my uniform pants were 5 sizes too big & my shirt 3 sizes, when I finally bought new ones! Citizens in the city where I work had actually commented about my 'hand-me-down' uniforms, which fit like a glove when I first got them! Outside of work though, no one said much. Almost like people were used to me working out in moo-moo's & wearing sweatpants everywhere I went. I owned one shirt that fit (thanks to Jonesy), no pants that fit, no bras that fit, no panties that fit! I felt like the most uncomfortable person to ever lose weight! Then it began...
I love the functionality of Nike clothes. The moisture wicking, anti-bunching, place keeping clothing has led me to finish line after finish line this year! I do not own a regular bra that fits me. I have no idea what size cup I wear, only that I used to wear XXL sports bras and my closet is now full of Nike sports bra after Nike sports bra...size L. I do not own a pair of shorts without a swoosh on them...and my color coordinated closet is full of Nike...in all the colors of the rainbow!
That is for several reasons really...
Partly because these were the first things I put on my new body...I didn't just like how it felt, I loved it! Didn't just love the look, I wanted it! Didn't just want the fit, I needed it!
Partly because of Nike's history...in Greek mythology, Nike was the winged goddess of victory! Bill Bowerman happens to be the greatest running coach of all time, who founded the company and coached Steve Prefontaine, the greatest runner in the world, IMO! There I was...losing weight, wanting so badly to form myself into a runner. It was fate that I should dawn Nike!
Partly because of the advertising...Have you ever seen a Nike ad in a magazine, on TV or on a billboard? Those ads speak to my soul! They say everything my heart beats, everything my muscles ache, everything my tears cry, everything my sweat falls...I get goosebumps when I read them. My eyes water when I see them. I swell with pride when I hear them. Every single time! Heard it before? Who cares! Seen it elsewhere? Still gets to me! If someone could pay me to watch Nike ads day in & day out, everyday for the rest of my life, I would be the happiest girl in the world! If I could write them...OMG! Dream job!
If by now I have not convinced you that this is a valid addiction...
If you do not understand the justification made for this...necessity...
Perhaps you have led a sheltered, cursed life in which the word Nike has no meaning...
Nike bears no consequence because it is something you have never heard of...
Maybe you are not an athlete...
To those of you who aren't athletes: your lack of love of sport is beyond me. I will never understand a person who would not train in pain, bleed for speed, sweat to get across the finish line, make the goal, score the point etc... There is no hope for you to ever understand my addiction. Truthfully though, I don't care that people like you don't get it. It doesn't matter to me that you are judging me while you read this...thinking that I am superficial, absurd or otherwise full of nonsense. It doesn't matter to me that you are judging me, because I have already judged you. I have written you off for your weakness, your inability to believe in something bigger than yourself, your neglect of team. Yup, that's right! I judged. You failed. Move along...
To those of you who have never heard of Nike and are confused when I say the word swoosh: you poor, poor dears! Surely it is through no fault of your own that this is something new to you! I will do my best to introduce you to Nike slowly through my blog. Follow me, hopefully you will like it! Nike is not just a clothing company with bad ass shoes, gear & accessories, it is a way of life. The Nike lifestyle is one of dreams, goals, hope...believing in yourself...believing in others...just believing! So while I may not spend blog after blog posting pictures of sweet hoodies or fly headbands, know that you are still learning the Nike mantra...that the glass is always half full...until you pour it over your head at the finish line in an attempt to cool down! :D
And so, I will leave you with a few of my most favorite Nike ads...Yes, this is a few. Once you start to watch them, you will see why it is just too hard to narrow them down. I will have to start leaving some at the end of every blog and some people still may never grasp the whole awesomeness...be prepared to believe...
~These are the confessions of a Nike addict~
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