So I have realized that I am not the most diligent blogger out there. I enjoy writing, but along with the chaos that occasional appears in my days, it generally is not a priority...no offence intended :)
Running has been going quite well since my last post, including a great 10 km run and despite a cold last week I have been able to put in most of my runs.
Last weekend Cst. Hubby and I ran the Ottawa Army Run 5km, my time was 33 minutes which was better than expected. During my training runs I generally am slower, partially in fact because I am pushing Roosters stroller and partially I am running at a maintenance pace. Being in the larger group during the race was a definite incentive to keep moving as well as a distraction of the task at hand. While I was running I was thinking how excited I was about the Tinkerbell in January...closely followed by a strong feeling of overwhelmed. To be part of something so fun and exciting is almost too much to handle and than the shear panic that I was only running 5 km and in less than 5 months I will be running 4x that length...I had to quickly change my thoughts. I again was very thankful to be surrounded by 16 000 members of the running community because there were distractions everywhere. Two of my favourite things were:
1. watching how many young children were involved in the run with their families. What a great way to incorporate family time with physical activity as well as developing a better understanding of what our soldiers do for our country. Running with the ill and injured soldiers had a real impact on me. I am so blessed to have not only my freedom, but to also have the ability and facility to get up and run whenever I want to...my only limitations are ones I put on myself. Many of the soldiers were racing with prosthetics,canes, braces or wheelchairs. It was amazing to hear the crowd applaud them as they ran by-it is something I will not forget.
2. the second thing I took from this race was an affirmation that all sorts of people and body types can be runners. Something that has been an insecurity of mine is not being the 'typical' runner, it doesn't effect me as much now, but it still is present from time to time. (This is where I send a message to my younger self..."seriously, what were you thinking? Get over yourself and enjoy it while you got it !" ) While running there was a girl just ahead of us wearing a t shirt that said "strong is the new skinny", and it completely spoke to me. It is FAR too easy to get caught up in the appearance of it all, but reflecting on it as my 30 something self I have been thinking that just as I reflect back on my 20 something self and how "off" my body image was, I realized that one day my 40 something self will be in the same place. I want that person to be able to look back and be proud of what she did in her 30's, taking the opportunity to practice healthy lifestyle choices and create a new passion (did I just say that? :)
So, for now this 30 something is going to stick to her schedule and plug away and reaching this first goal. I am pretty proud of how it is going so far, and I look forward to working towards this bigger goal. Now we shall see how excited I am tomorrow morning ;)
Smiles,
Lisa
