I’m not your typical girl.  Not by a long shot.  I get my hair cut once a year, usually by force from my mother when I go home for Christmas.  There are maybe 2 pairs of high heel shoes in my closet, the rest are running shoes or Converse high tops.  I usually talk myself out of buying a cute dress because when will I ever wear it?  I rarely straighten my hair and I’m not even 100% sure if I put makeup on properly.  My driver’s license picture is fresh off of a workout.  I rarely tweeze my eyebrows and eyelash curlers scare me.  The palms of my hands are covered with calluses from lifting weights.  I shave my legs once or twice a week.  I keep my fingernails short because I feel as though I don’t have the hands for long fingernails and they get in the way when I lift.  I own only 3 thongs and don’t give a damn if my underwear lines are showing.  I’m more likely to paint my fingernails to coordinate with a race I’m competing in than for a date with a guy because let’s be honest, running never lets you down…guys usually do.  You want to impress me?  Don’t take me to a fancy dinner; challenge me to a pull up contest.  I purposely run through muddy puddles because I like getting dirty.  I hock loogies and blow snot rockets and shamelessly discuss peeing myself while running marathons.  I’m not your typical girl.

     These conventionally unfeminine qualities that I have are hard to understand for some people.  Some girls would die before leaving the house without makeup.  Some guys would never date a girl who wasn’t always dressed to the nines.  I’m not friends with girls like that and I would never date a guy like that…needless to say, they would never date me so we’re square.  I see it a lot with girls.  The insecure ones shoot me nasty looks as I walk by them at the beach feeling 100% comfortable in just my bikini.  Truth is girls, if you worked your ass off like I do, you would look fit in a bikini too.  It’s really not a secret.  My theory about the gym is this: if you still look cute after your workout, you’re not working hard enough.  Break a sweat…it’s good for your pores.

     I understand that these things may not seem very attractive but to me, they are beautiful.  They are real.  This is who I am and this is what I do.  It’s the less than glamorous and downright unladylike things that for some reason make me feel beautiful, unique and so damn strong.