Running to live

I'm kind of ashamed to admit this but... I haven't been running in two weeks. Two weeks today, actually.

Yes, you read that right: I have a half marathon in 28 days (well, about 27.25 days, give or days), and I haven't been running in two days.
Thanks to the Liebster Award nomination, I've been checking out the blogs of other people and, because I follow a couple running blogs, I've found some more running blogs to follow. The word I saw used on one of them (if only I could remember which blog!) was... "Lethargic".
Maybe it's just this time of the year, and the fact that the Midwest doesn't have the greatest weather this time of year, but I certainly feel no motivation to get on my running shorts and freeze my butt off outside to trudge through the cold to a treadmill.

Heck, I'm having a hard enough time writing this blog, but I think that's because Sex and the City 2 is on right now, and I haven't seen it in well over a year.

Anyway, back to the running bit... It's funny saying that basically I've been having one heck of a time running lately, because I've been thinking more seriously about deferring my Disneyland Half registration (see also: not the Dumbo registration) to part of the Goofy's Race and a Half. I would absolutely love it, too.

It's amazing to think of how much I have gotten from running. Greater confidence, on top of everything else. Excitement, opportunities - hello, I am doing FOUR Disney races this year (5K and Princess Half at Disney World, and the Dumbo Double Dare at Disneyland)... Even though I don't do it near as often as I'd like.

What can I say? Life gets in the way.
I know, I know, I'm over here typing a blog post, so I've got time to run, right? I just haven't felt the... Inspiration. And to make it even more... Ironic... Yes, ironic is the word I'm looking for! Diabetes runs in my family. So does obesity, apparently. A bit of high blood pressure (although mine is really good), probably some high cholesterol (again, mine is quite good).
But one of the things I've been discussing with DH is that even though we have no intention of having kids any time soon - and unless my IUD magically fails, there's no way I'm going through the hell to get it taken out any time soon! But I have no intention of raising my kid(s) in an unhealthy environment. That's not to say that they won't be allowed to have sweets or watch TV/movies or anything like that. But I want my kid(s) to grow up knowing physical activity and the importance of taking care of one's self. And I think that running, or at least modeling the physical activity I plan to encourage, will help to encourage that. Maybe break down some barriers, some of the limitations we impose on ourselves - like I mentioned in my Liebster Award post, and probably a different one, I never thought that I would ever be a runner. Or even vaguely close to it. Walking, I can do. Shopping til I drop, I can handle - in heels, strangely enough. But running? I never saw that happen, and I guess I never thought I would get support for it, although in retrospect I guess I should've known better. When I mentioned it to my dad a year ago, he was all for it, encouraging me and telling me training was important if I planned to run the Runway Run, and that since I wasn't trained for it last year, it's definitely something I can work toward this year.

(if only I could find a link to the race... I hope they have it again this year)

I'm not saying I felt like I wasn't living before. But I was living under the limitations I imposed on myself. Full-time graduate student. No running outside of running laps in marching band. Don't like sweating. Can't do it. Afraid of looking silly. Don't want to do it alone - granted I think that last one was more along the lines of wanting support.

But still, you get where I'm coming from. Now I'm just afraid of freezing ;)