Why not make "Some Day" today?

It's only been, what, 4 months since I last posted? And in that time a lot has happened. 2 half marathon PRs, my first full marathon, a whole lot of headache and enjoying time and Skyping with my best friend... Sounds like life, right?

(One day I'll get my race recaps up... I only need to post 7-8 of them, between Dumbo over Labor Day Weekend, Women's Running Series St. Pete, and the entire Dopey Challenge a month ago... No big, right?)

😳

😅

And through all of this, the hubs and I have been talking about what we want our future to be like, and how we're going to get there. Health, finances, eventually babies (although that's a long way off), travel, and overall quality of life.

Well, health is one of those big things for me, and I hope for us as individuals and as a family - and yes, even though there are only two of us we're still a family! 😊

The discussion is and continues to be that we have a lot of health problems in our immediate family - just the parents. We're talking obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular concerns with a hx of heart attack, stroke, cancer... It's not a pretty picture.

Sorry, "hx" = "history". It just flows really well to say that, because that's what I'm used to.

For future reference, "dx" = "diagnosis", "tx" = "treatment", and maybe I should just leave all the technical stuff at work, no? 😉

Anyway, we've been talking about becoming healthier as individuals and as a family.

I've been running for two years this month (Yay!) and I'm working on eating better and everything... But one of the things I kept getting from the hubs was "I'll do it when..."

That's short for:

• When I'm less stressed

• When finals are over

• When I lose weight

• When we buy a treadmill

• When I'm not tired

• When I finish that

• When it's warm and not snowy (... BTW, we only live in the Midwest. It snowed a couple inches last night. AND today's high is about 54*F)

There are so many others that I've lost count.

Finally I had to say "There will never be perfect conditions. You're going to get stressed out, and have a million things going on at once, and have bad days. That's. Life."

Don't get me wrong, I have days of "I'll get around to it!", too! I'm only a little embarrassed of the number of cookies I've eaten the last few days (Come at me, PMS!)

But how often in our own lives do we just put our foot down and say "You know what? "Some Day"? That day is TODAY!"

I wonder how much happier/less stressed/more vibrant/more fulfilled we would be as individuals, and what our quality of life will be like.

I know after Dopey I got hung up on the excuses. I'll run: in a few days, after it warms up to like 20*F cuz that's better than -10*F (ok, that was a garbage temp, but true! Lol), after I feel better, etc. etc. etc... And then it ended up being 4.5 weeks until my next run. And I was a crabby MESS. I wasn't very nice when I finally did go for a run 😳

I guess the point of this is... What's stopping you? How do you plan to overcome it? How can I (or anyone else) help you get to where you want to be in your life? (You know, aside from picking winning lottery numbers for you!) 😉

Sometimes we're all that's standing in our way.

ETA: AH! I knew I forgot something! I was going to brag a little. Last month the hubs came to me and said he wanted to do his first half marathon!! Super excited. He decided it'll be Dumbo at Disneyland - as in, the whole challenge (10k + half). I'm probably more excited that he is, if we're being real. This feels like a huge step for us being healthier and happier together... Like you couldn't tell that that's a big thing for me 😉

Welcome to the Unsavory: Another Look at RunSpiration

Well, hello, ladies and gents! I'm baaaaaack!

It's only been, what, a month and a half?

(Whomp whomp whooooooomp)

I owe you all a few race recaps, and I have more races coming up soon. But, sadly, I'm lazy when it comes to getting the pictures off of my cameras.

But pictures there will be! Just not now, because I'm on my phone, and I don't really have squat for race pictures on my phone - for Dumbo Double Dare I had a point-and-shoot in my hand, and the hubs had the SLR.

A little bit ago I got to thinking: what are reasons for running?

Sure, there are those who run for charities, for loved ones, for the fun of it, etc... But there are some less savory ones out there.

I admit it, I have some less-than-savory reasons for running. I mean, sure, I started running because I wanted to prove to myself I could. I wanted to see what the big deal was about people doing races, and I was a little jealous that others were doing it and I, well... Wasn't. I also enjoy the satisfaction of completing runs - I'm not going to finish first, but that doesn't make it any less amazing to me.

But thinking about family and Thanksgiving coming up and all (that's a whole other long story) got me thinking. And I realized that I definitely have some less-than-savory reasons for running - although I'm not quite sure about calling them "unsavory", not just yet 😉

The fact is this: I'm afraid of getting fat.

Bet you weren't expecting that bomb, huh?

And professionals everywhere and those who deal with ED just died a little on the inside, with a part of them screaming "ANOREXIA!!!!"

(Sorry, but I really like food, I try to pay attention to nutrition, vomiting makes me cry so why would I intentionally do it?, and I prefer not to speculate over other methods of purging and such... Just to name a few.)

Part of it is vanity. It's a bit embarrassing to admit. But I also equate part of it to along care of myself, and being a casual runner has helped with that for over a year and a half now.

On the other side... Most of my family is overweight or obese. Some things stick with you over time - my increased risk of diabetes due to genetics (relatives with diabetes, as well as being black), the lack of encouraged physical activity, the heart problems, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, knee replacements related to weight, family history of cancer, family history of stroke... It terrifies me, especially when I see how much of it is weight-related.

And it doesn't help when you have memories of people jokingly saying "You don't have a butt! You'll get one when you gain some weight like everyone else in the family!"

I know it was a joke, but I've always been a little sensitive.

And I don't want that for myself.

Oh, and I'm lazy and don't want to have to do any more clothes shopping 😉

Do you have any "less-than-savory" reasons for running? Better yet, what ARE your reasons for running? (I know some of you like to celebrate with beer/wine/chocolate!) 😉

To end on a slightly more positive note... Some pictures from Disneyland:

(You know, just a little preview of goodies to come. A picture's worth a thousand words, right?)