Gratitude Saturday...

So the family cold has finally hit me.  I spent last night in bed praying I didn't have strep throat again.

Which, praise the Lord, I do not have.  

My throat feels better this morning.  

But as with most colds, the sore throat comes before the nasal congestion so good news!  I can't breathe.  

Normally, a cold would just be annoying but, well, I'm training for my first half marathon.  And I have ten miles to run today.  

Heck, even next week wouldn't have been bad.  Next Saturday is a 10K (about six miles) training run.  At this point, six miles is doable.  Which is kinda the whole point of the training to start with.

But this week, I am totally not looking forward to running ten miles all hopped up on Muscinex.  

Every Saturday I ask myself why am I doing this?  I mean, no one threatens your life if you DON'T run a half marathon.  It's not like it's a requirement to be a functional member of society.  

Maybe it should be. 

Although, I say everyone should work in a customer service field at least once to be a functional, contributing member of society.  

The waitresses and call center employees...they are living the dream, y'all.

PSA for the day...TIP MORE.

Anyway, to add to the excitement, my phone has been randomly dying during my runs.  It died the first time on my Chicago run.  Just when I'd reached the end of the Navy Pier and was about to take my runner selfie.  Of course.  

Last Saturday, at about mile two and a half, it gave up the fight as I was moving from my 80's play list to the last episode of Serial season 1.  (I'm still not sure if he's guilty.)  (Other than being guilty of lying about something)  (Just maybe not murder.)  Leaving me alone with my own thoughts and the sound of my feet hitting the ground for six and a half miles.  

Listen, I love to run.  Really.  But I'm not a natural born runner.  You've probably met a natural runner.  They are those annoying people who can roll out of bed and run five miles.  For the first time in six months.  I believe those people process oxygen better, more efficiently than us mere mortals.  

I am a mere mortal.  

It takes me weeks and months to run again after a break.  

The number of mornings I roll out of bed and run five miles easy-peasy equals ZERO.

Running six and a half without any form of distraction makes the run even more difficult.  Although I did pass the same cycler three times.  We were both traveling around the same road.  But I wouldn't classify him as a true distraction.  

For true distraction, I need music or a podcast.  

Today, I start Serial season 2.  

So why am I doing this to myself?  Because I'm turning 40 this year and it feels like I should do SOMETHING big before then.  You know, other than having two kids, walking away from my career and finding out I'll never eat a warm buttermilk biscuit again.  

The last item in that list being the most difficult.  

Running a half or a full marathon is likely a goal for most long-time runners.  At this point, I've been running, fairly consistently, for about twelve years.  I guess you could subtract those 80 weeks of pregnancy.  That brings the time down to about ten years.  Either way, it's a long time.  

Up until a couple of weeks ago, my longest run had been seven miles.  For most of those years, I've been limited by time.  I could have gotten up earlier when I was working but 4:30 am seemed early enough.  With the kids, I've been limited by the amount of time the kids can stay in the "kids' park."  I have used every second of that time most days but it includes at the bare minimum changing out of my sweaty clothes and at best, getting to take an actual shower.

Coordinating these long runs on Saturdays has been a challenge too.  There's very little interesting or exciting about running for hours on a treadmill.  But Chris does have to work on Saturdays.  The past two, he's been off so I was able to run nine outside last week and ten today.  But the next two, he's gone.  I'll have to take the kids to the drop off day care place for the eleven mile run.  

So again, why am I doing this?

Because I can.

It's really not more complicated than that.

Those six and a half miles last week?  I spent a good deal of them thinking about the people in my life who literally cannot run a half marathon.  Or even walk one.  People I love and am so grateful to have in my life.  

I'm sure you've seen the saying something along the lines of "I may be slow but I'm lapping everyone on the couch."  And that is so true.  I am INCREDIBLY slow.  Sloth-like.  But I'm moving.  That's a big deal.  

That girl who started running twelve years ago?  She was concerned with how her body looked.  She wanted to be cellulite free and have a seriously low body fat percentage.

This girl who's actually training to run a half marathon?  She is concerned with the health of her body.  She's realized cellulite free is not a goal she wants to work that hard for and has zero idea what her body fat percentage is now.  She's much more interested in keeping her muscles working and her bones strong and her heart healthy.  Because those two kids?  They've got a lot of life to live and she needs to be healthy and active to experience those lives with them fully.  

Later this year, I'll have my cholesterol tested, do a full physical, find out how my body is handling the whole growing older thing.  Simply because I want to make sure I'm staying on top of my health.  

Not to look good.  I've reached the point where no one really cares what I look like.  Other than Chris and praise The Lord (so serious), he still sees me as beautiful.  And he tells me that on a regular basis.  The kids even tell me that sometimes.  It's precious.  

But to be healthy.  Keep the heart pumping, my muscles active and bones strong.  

I find myself being grateful for those twelve years of growth.  Grateful the girl who was pursuing an unattainable goal has been transformed and released.  Grateful to have a beautiful little girl to teach about loving and caring for the temple God put each of us in.  Grateful to still be running and moving with basically the same amount of effort now as I was then.  Grateful exercise and caring for this temporary body is an enjoyable event and not a habit I have to strive to create.  

Grateful God continues to allow me to run.  At all.  There have been plenty of scary moments when I thought my health was in serious jeopardy but today, other than an annoying cold, I'm healthy and ready to conquer those blasted ten miles.

Thank you, Lord, for a healthy body, Muscinex and podcasts.  Run with me, Lord!  Let's do it!