Running for the fun of it

Today's workout looked like this...

60 min kickboxing class (this class always kicks my booty!!)
20 min core work/stretching (I'm really trying to work on stretching properly in order to improve and eliminate injury risk)

I read this article the other day that really resonated with me. It was from a blog called “Marathon Mommies" and was about a woman who finally understood the joys of just being able to run without worrying about setting PRs and setting a new pace standard. After lots of hard work, she had finally qualified to run the Boston Marathon. During her training however, she started to develop some severe abdominal pain and eventually had to have emergency surgery to remove a large mass from her abdomen just weeks before the race. In her own words she says this…

“After surgery and staying in-and-out of the hospital with complications, I was left unable to run for about four months, let alone even walk comfortably. It turns out I have something called Crohn's Disease, not a glamorous thing to have, but at least it was not what they thought it was, cancer.

There is one thing I can say (many people may think I am nuts.) I feel truly blessed to have gone through that. It is in those frightening, dark moments, that I learned the most about myself, what I am made of, and the way I think about moments in my life is completely different than in the spring.

My running used to be all about how fast I could run and that is really all I cared about. Forget about the fun along the way, going for a run just for the fun of it without worrying about my pace - the pureness of running had been wiped away and I was obsessed with splits, the newest gadget and not being satisfied with a race unless I placed in the top three.

Now things are different. The first week I started back it took me 20 minutes to walk a half mile. I am not kidding, I was that sore and stiff…But, even in that moment, 20 minutes felt like winning a marathon. I could move and that was all I needed.

I am now back to running. I have run a 15k and a half marathon this past month. I am not setting records or caring about my speed. I am just out there enjoying the moment and my ability to be doing something I love so dearly. Someday, maybe, I will again try a shot at Boston. But, for now, I am just enjoying the roads and taking it all in.

Now, I would never wish what I went through on any of you. However, the one thing I can say is sometimes we all can use a little reminder to sit back and enjoy the moment. Enjoy the movement. Enjoy the scenery. Enjoy your health and the ability to go out and run.

Every now and then, take off the watches, forget about your splits, feel the sun on your face, take a look around you and just enjoy the road you are traveling.”

This was exactly what I needed to hear this week. Sometimes I get so focused on time/pace/distance covered etc. that I miss out on the true joys of getting out and moving my body. I don’t give my body credit for all of the many wonderful things that it allows me to do. Sometimes I focus too much on how LARGE my thighs are rather than revel in how far those LARGE thighs have taken me, how many lunges, squats and miles they have endured and conquered!

I can’t even tell you when I last went out on a run without my Garmin, but I want that to change. I really do like knowing what my pace, time and mileage is at any given moment, but sometimes it does tend to take the joy out of running. I need to enjoy the experience of running a bit more and revel in the fact that my body can do a lot of wonderful things, even if it isn’t perfect. I love you Mr. Garmin, but I think a little break from you now and then may help me to focus more on what I CAN do rather than on what I CAN”T!

Perfection vs. Precision

Some of you have asked questions regarding the "no sugar" challenge for this week. I think each person will have to decide what "no sugar" means to them. For me personally, I will be avoiding deserts, candy, cake, ice cream and the like, but sugar from more natural foods like fruit and milk will still be acceptable. Take for instance last night...I had a group dinner at my house where I ate a few candied pecans on my salad (without even thinking about it) but I did pass on the homemade peach cobber and ice cream. Even though technically I ate some sugar, I still count it as a successful evening over all.

There are times in life where you just have to do the best you can with what you have to work with. If I had all the money in the world, I would love to shop at Whole Foods and buy "organic" everything. Unfortunately our grocery budget doesn't allow this so I have to pick and choose what is important to me. And yes, my kids still love to eat fruit snacks and bright orange-colored macaroni and cheese! But they also like things like shredded carrots and apples dipped in peanut butter so I do my best to strike a balance in the things that they eat and try not to beat myself up about it.

I think we as women really give ourselves a hard time by constantly striving for a state of "perfection." We feel a need to be perfect mothers, perfect wives, perfect friends, perfect sisters, etc. while also trying to attain the look of perfection we see glaring down at us from lofty billboards and magazine covers. When we fail to meet these impossible objectives, we get down on ourselves and wonder why we can't do or be better. If you have ever had any of these feelings, you might like this Youtube video. I found it very interesting to watch and certainly put things in a better perspective for me...



Really makes you think, doesn't it? No wonder people become depressed when they strive to attain something that isn't even real!!

So instead of striving to attain perfection, focus more on aiming for precision. Do those things repeatedly that give you the results that you want to see. This doesn't mean that you won't make mistakes along the way, but as you learn from them, you will start to develop a more concrete pattern for success in every aspect of your life. You will start to see the value that you have to offer to this world regardless of the shape of your nose or the girth of your hips.

Talking Point: Do you ever get discouraged when looking at magazines or billboards and their images of what a person should look like? What is something you did today that makes a difference in the world? And don't overlook the small things either...like today I wiped down the treadmill after I was done using it so that the next person wouldn't have to run in my sweaty mess. I guess I made the world just a little bit better!