“A dream written down with a date becomes a goal. A goal broken down into steps becomes a plan. A plan backed by action makes your dreams come true.”— Attributed to Greg S. Reid
I got up today, threw on some tights and a shirt, laced up my sneakers, and ran out the door. It didn’t matter that it was wet. It didn’t matter that it was suddenly cooler. It didn’t matter that my heel still hurt and my back was still sore. It didn’t matter for a hundred reasons. It mattered only that today is D-day. On any given day, I could give a reason as to why I wouldn’t run, shouldn’t write, couldn’t make the time. But today is not that day. Today, I’ve determined to take one step in the direction of my dreams, forgetting the days behind me and looking ahead to the possibilities wrapped up in all that’s before me. I will not waste another day in the I -will-get-to-it-soon camp.
You see, there are a dozen reasons and hundreds of excuses for procrastinating. I’ve been there, done that, and it doesn’t make getting the thing that needs to be done any easier. Akin to that dig-deep feeling you get when you’re running and tired and you’d love to call it quits and just stop but somehow and from somewhere you feel resilience bubbling up – and like a phoneix rising from the ashes -you’re able to shake it off, fan those wings into a flame and burn a path to the finish line. It must be the runner in me but I have this desire to get back on the trail of my passion for writing about my health and fitness journey. Gratefully, technology makes it hella easy to just dive in. For unlike the “ole” days when I would quite literally take pen to paper, I only grab my phone, find a corner and some silence, thumb out a few words, and voila, today is d-day! The thing about falling off a routine is that it’s actually way easier that most of us anticipate. All it takes is no accountability and some procrastinating and pretty soon it’s a thing I used to do that I’ll get back to soon and almost two years later you’re like me wondering how the heck did I fall off the blog. Truth is I know what happened, life did. Life happens to us all. In fact, it’s happening right now. You and I, we’ve got choices and decisions to make daily that will either take us in the direction we want to go or not. I won’t bore you with past choices, but I will tell you that today I choose to write and I have every intention on going for a run tomorrow. It won’t pay to get too ambitious, so I’ll leave it there for now.
Back to the run today though, it was the best kind – easy and pretty or pretty easy. I ran 2.5 miles to the gym, worked out, and then ran back home. Running in Georgia in the Fall season can’t compare with New York at all. The weather is so much warmer in these parts thankfully, mostly, I think, so I can run at midday and feel pretty good. It was a gorgeous sunny day, mild really, so I was able to stop on the way home to grab a couple of pics and appreciate the Fall foliage. I ran past farms and lots of greenery with some construction and traffic tossed in for good measure – and for a few minutes I could have almost imagined I was back in the big apple, zigzagging crazily to avoid ending up as road carnage. I ended up taking to the brush to keep pace and the lack of sidewalks reminded me that running in suburban Georgia is at my own risk. No matter, I won’t be thwarted. This city runner knows how to get around anywhere and everywhere is fair game when you’re low on options. And, well, let’s just say there are no commuter trains out here. No worries tho, I have feet that’ll take me where I want to run and then there’s biking around. The rest we’ll figure out I expect.
And that goes for writing too. I have a few ideas bubbling around that I’d like to mix and match with running.
Let’s see how I do.
Thanks for reading. I can’t wait to share more!
Right away let me point out that this method of exercise is not just something I do. It is, for all intents and purposes, a way of life I’ve adopted into and I couldn’t be more pleased. As with everything I do, I dove in fully prepared to give 100%. After all, anything less would have been unacceptable and surely wouldn’t have worked in an environment where giving 110% is routine. The term “bring it” well describes my daily workouts as each one seems designed to have you leave it all out there on the floor dripping, exhausted, and hurting, but oh so good. As it is I’ve become rather good at complaining aloud at the demons that drive our coaches when in reality I’m really struck with their ingenuity and creativity in coming up with varied WODs (workout of the day) that keep us interested, excited, and eager to return.
My only complaint is that of there not being enough hours in the day. I find the days slipping away so quickly and I have yet to figure out a sustainable workout schedule that will merge CrossFit workouts, running, and my relatively infrequent but necessary yoga and soul cycle sessions. The truth is now that marathon training has begun and it’s smack in the middle of Summer, I have to schedule my workouts around my job, which has intensified things somewhat and leaves me with but one option of training runs in the morning before work, CrossFit workouts in the evening, and long runs on the weekend. This of course is based on the premise of being well rested ie. getting to bed by 10pm so I can be up and ready to go at 4:30-ish and getting my mid-day nap. At this point, I’m still struggling with making this my reality and know that I will eventually figure it out.
Meanwhile, the jury’s still out on the physical impact CrossFit is having on my running. This is of course largely due to my inability to find a fixed schedule to maximize both workouts. On the other hand, my physicality has improved tremendously: I’m stronger, more flexible, certainly more skilled and adept in the gym, and I’m told I look fit and strong. To that point, I feel great and look forward to the time when I’m able to combine the best of both worlds. For now, I remain chasing dreams and perfection.
February brings to mind: hearts and flowers, and hugs and kisses, and endless mushiness. Cute and necessary I think, but ideally it’s how we should live everyday, receiving and sharing love with those in our lives and those we have the opportunity to meet. Before and beyond that though is the notion of loving ourselves. Just what does that mean anyway. Aside from pampering oneself and giving others the permission to treat us with dignity and respect, how can we engender love for ourselves that has a multiplying effect that extends beyond us to make a lasting impact on our world? I posit that how we treat and care for our bodies, minds, and spirits speaks a helluva lot more to how we care about ourselves and in turn determines whether we can truly care for others.
runningwithfaith 