{"id":5759,"date":"2019-04-10T19:03:17","date_gmt":"2019-04-11T00:03:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/?p=5759"},"modified":"2019-04-10T19:03:17","modified_gmt":"2019-04-11T00:03:17","slug":"why-ask-me-were-they-desperate-to-fill-a-speakers-spot-kiwanis-club-speaking-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/?p=5759","title":{"rendered":"Why Ask Me!?! Were They Desperate to Fill a Speakers Spot? Kiwanis Club Speaking Report"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Brad called me, probably about a month ago and asked me to be the speaker at the Kiwanis Club Luncheon today.\u00a0 Why in heaven&#8217;s name he asked me, I&#8217;ll never understand.\u00a0 The only thing I can figure is he got stuck with providing the speaker for today and couldn&#8217;t think of anybody else?\u00a0 I agreed to speak and today was the day.\u00a0 This is a report of today&#8217;s &#8220;speech.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>First, backtrack how I know Brad:<\/p>\n<p>He works at our County Utility Coop.\u00a0 One day I was doing, I think it was a 28 mile training run and part of my route took me past his office, the County Coop Headquarters.\u00a0 It had been a particularly difficult run in regards to traffic.\u00a0 There is a lot of fleet truck traffic along this road and to be frank, the drivers were being rude.<\/p>\n<p>I noticed after a while that if I saw a white pickup truck, I didn&#8217;t have to worry about diving for the ditch because all those drivers were very polite.\u00a0 They&#8217;d slow, move into a further away lane if at all possible and wave as they drove by.\u00a0 After this had happened a half a dozen times, I noticed without fail the drivers worked for the County Coop.<\/p>\n<p>Seeing as I was running past the headquarters, I decided I&#8217;d pop in and thank whoever was in charge of the fleet drivers for their polite drivers!\u00a0 I mean, it&#8217;s always nice to hear something good about your employees, right?<\/p>\n<p>Brad was the guy I ended up talking to.\u00a0 He&#8217;s a super nice guy, too, and we had a nice chat and I thought that was that.<\/p>\n<p>Over the past few years, we&#8217;ve had opportunity to speak a few other times and I guess he decided to ask me to be today&#8217;s speaker.<\/p>\n<p>He wanted me to talk about my journey from being obese to becoming an ultra runner.<\/p>\n<p>Now, I don&#8217;t find my journey all that amazing?\u00a0 Let&#8217;s think about it.\u00a0 I let myself get very large.\u00a0 I&#8217;m 4&#8217;11&#8221; and was tipping the scale at 275lbs.\u00a0 That&#8217;s pretty rolly polly.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/?attachment_id=5760\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-5760\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-5760\" src=\"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/17361996_10212819292105235_6836418578306644894_n.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"537\" height=\"960\" srcset=\"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/17361996_10212819292105235_6836418578306644894_n.jpg 537w, http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/17361996_10212819292105235_6836418578306644894_n-168x300.jpg 168w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 537px) 100vw, 537px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Losing the weight took an eternity.\u00a0 I joined My Fitness Pal and started logging my food.\u00a0 I didn&#8217;t diet!\u00a0 MFH (My Favorite Husband) and I went to the bookstore and bought a few cookbooks for Diabetics and I started cooking the recipes from them and simply increased my activity level!\u00a0 Nothing fancy.\u00a0 No weird diets or shakes, pills, powders&#8230;I still had my treats~a Nutty Bar and a beer, because I don&#8217;t believe in cutting out foods, labeling them &#8220;Illegal&#8221; or &#8220;bad.&#8221; No, I simply made smarter food choices and moved more.<\/p>\n<p>Three and a half years later, I had dropped 170lbs and it has stayed off.\u00a0 Maybe it&#8217;s because it took so long to lose the weight I haven&#8217;t had problems with regaining?\u00a0 Dunno.\u00a0 I do know that I&#8217;m a very blessed and fortunate woman!<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/?attachment_id=5761\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-5761\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-5761\" src=\"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/56781117_2153147341472057_8669955240088305664_n.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"960\" srcset=\"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/56781117_2153147341472057_8669955240088305664_n.jpg 720w, http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/56781117_2153147341472057_8669955240088305664_n-225x300.jpg 225w, http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/56781117_2153147341472057_8669955240088305664_n-624x832.jpg 624w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>That&#8217;s what I was supposed to share with the group today.\u00a0 I shared about my amazing running buddy, Aiden.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/?attachment_id=5721\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-5721\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-5721\" src=\"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/51823951_2072719119514880_2323419385483493376_n.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"960\" srcset=\"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/51823951_2072719119514880_2323419385483493376_n.jpg 720w, http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/51823951_2072719119514880_2323419385483493376_n-225x300.jpg 225w, http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/51823951_2072719119514880_2323419385483493376_n-624x832.jpg 624w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I shared about how wonderful and supportive MFH is.\u00a0 I&#8217;m just a very lucky girl!<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/?attachment_id=5765\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-5765\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-5765\" src=\"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/54436030_2126671137453011_3391880345329598464_n.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"960\" height=\"720\" srcset=\"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/54436030_2126671137453011_3391880345329598464_n.jpg 960w, http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/54436030_2126671137453011_3391880345329598464_n-300x225.jpg 300w, http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/54436030_2126671137453011_3391880345329598464_n-768x576.jpg 768w, http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/54436030_2126671137453011_3391880345329598464_n-624x468.jpg 624w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>AND, I was supposed to take up 20 minutes with this!!!\u00a0 It took you what, 5 minutes tops to read this far!?!<\/p>\n<p>Yikes!!!<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/?attachment_id=5762\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-5762\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-5762\" src=\"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/giphy.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"480\" height=\"197\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Somehow, the time passed and I was supposed to open it up for a Q\/A.\u00a0 I figured nobody would have any questions and they&#8217;d be relieved I&#8217;d shut up!\u00a0 Quite frankly, I was afraid of putting people to sleep.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, during different parts of the, about 15 minutes I talked, they&#8217;d start applauding!\u00a0 Now, this wasn&#8217;t anything that I&#8217;d expected!\u00a0 I was soooo embarrassed!\u00a0 I would quickly move on and cross my fingers they&#8217;d stop.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/?attachment_id=5763\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-5763\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-5763\" src=\"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/08ba655ce598859f54956f113d09aa7b.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"498\" height=\"278\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Okay, they weren&#8217;t QUITE that enthusiastic.\u00a0 LOL!!!<\/p>\n<p>My 15 minutes I allowed myself were over and I was going to park my rumpatootis when people started asking question.\u00a0 I&#8217;m guessing the Q\/A lasted close to 20 minutes!<\/p>\n<p>It wasn&#8217;t anything that I had expected and quite frankly, I was out of my depth.<\/p>\n<p>Of course I got asked about my knees.\u00a0 Wasn&#8217;t I having problems with my knees? My knees are just fine, thank you.<\/p>\n<p>And I got the, 100k that&#8217;s 62 miles!\u00a0 I don&#8217;t even like to drive that far!<\/p>\n<p>Those two things really tickled me.<\/p>\n<p>They seemed genuinely interested, not the, &#8220;We&#8217;re just being polite&#8221; interested, AND I got a free lunch!<\/p>\n<p>Oh!\u00a0 I totally forget to lead with a joke!\u00a0 #MissedOpportunity<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/?attachment_id=5764\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-5764\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-5764\" src=\"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/LavishFluffyHapuka-size_restricted.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"269\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>#IRun4Aiden<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/?attachment_id=5766\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-5766\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-5766\" src=\"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/56219868_10218637965451110_5654138254056751104_n.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"960\" srcset=\"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/56219868_10218637965451110_5654138254056751104_n.jpg 720w, http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/56219868_10218637965451110_5654138254056751104_n-225x300.jpg 225w, http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/56219868_10218637965451110_5654138254056751104_n-624x832.jpg 624w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Brad called me, probably about a month ago and asked me to be the speaker at the Kiwanis Club Luncheon today.\u00a0 Why in heaven&#8217;s name he asked me, I&#8217;ll never understand.\u00a0 The only thing I can figure is he got stuck with providing the speaker for today and couldn&#8217;t think of anybody else?\u00a0 I agreed [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[21,22,3,7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5759"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5759"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5759\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5767,"href":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5759\/revisions\/5767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5759"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5759"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5759"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}