I'm BACK! After a several month hiatus (my winter hibernation, of course), I'm back and ready to rock and roll into the nice weather! Speaking of nice weather...
As you very-well know, if you know me, or you could tell by reading my earlier blogs, I did not grow up with an extreme passion or drive for exercise. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn't a complete lump on a log growing up. I played my fair share of sports in middle school, and have always enjoyed the outdoors, but I've never been “that girl” that just has to always be doing something in order to be happy. In fact, my partner laughs at my “TV benders” and is absolutely amazed that I can be perfectly content sitting on a couch watching CSI on Netflix for hours on a Saturday because “it’s kinda chilly outside, anyway.”
One thing, however, that I learned in my 20s after repeatedly bashing my head against the same brick wall over and over is that the beautiful family metabolism I was blessed with was NOT actually going to last forever, and that my absolute love of all things food and drink would actually, really have to be moderated. Now don’t get me wrong, I've been “a runner” since I was 17-years-old. However, I've also been a lot of other things in the last decade, like a “I drive to work every day instead of riding my bike-er” and “I run… but also smoke cigarettes and eat fried potatoes like it’s my last day on earth-er” and of course, the “I deserve a day ‘to myself’ to just curl up and ‘relax’-er.” And when it really comes down to it, I have not stuck to entire calendar year commitment to working out and staying fit, but rather spent the “nice” months (which, in the Pacific NW is approximately mid-May through mid-October) running and getting fit and eating healthy, and the “not nice” months hibernating in a hole of comfort food, warm a fuzzy slippers and blankets, and worn-out excuses.
Shortly after the celebrations and libations of my 30th year of life were a memory (albeit somewhat fuzzy in parts), I finally decided it’s time to nail this life-long fitness thing in the butt and jumped over the ultimate physical challenge cliff: I signed up for a marathon. The lightning bolt of the latest and greatest idea came in the car, actually, listening to the country station, and Tim McGraw’s “Next Thirty Years” came on… the lyrics go something like: “Eat a few more salads and not stay up so late Drink a little lemonade and not so many beers.” And also a few more Arbonne shakes a few less animal by-products (another unintended consequence of one of the worn-out excuses that I “need more protein in my diet”) and adopt healthier desk habits at work to avoid sitting all day long.
But it was more than the “little” things, it’s a lifestyle change… even for someone who has been pretty darn active my whole life, I mean, up to this realization I’d run dozens of races, including four half marathons and a sprint triathlon. But the ups and the downs of making it a “hobby” instead of a “habit” was no longer something I could maintain. To put it simply: I’m just getting too old for that.
All right, so here I am, it’s December, and I just signed up for a marathon in July. So then I make the NEXT crazy decision and sign up for a half marathon in March. I’ve always run long races in June (see the paragraph about being a fair-weather runner). I could probably write a whole other blog on the Run to the Pub, but long story short, I survived, and I finished, but it wasn’t pretty. I hurt, and I was exhausted. I hit a point that I've NEVER hit where I actually had thoughts around mile 10 that I might not make it to the end, but I pushed through, and I’m very glad I did, but I also NEVER want to feel that way EVER again.
Next weekend, on April 20th, I’m doing my second sprint triathlon ever, and I’m very excited to say I’m shooting for a sub-1:50:00 time (which would be 15 minutes better than my last tri). I’m still a little shaky on the bike, but the running and swimming are going great, and the cross-training has me feeling really good.
I have a partner for the marathon, my sister Bridget, and so we’re running our long runs together and trying not to be scared of this endeavor we've taken on. I’m still not 100% there on the food/drink intake always being “good” choices, but slow improvements, and Bridget has really helped there, too. She loves to cook, and we like to eat the same kinds of things, so we share meals when our partners are working/at school and that helps me to make better choices.
Plus really, any time I have an excuse to hang with my baby sis is a good excuse.
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