All decked out and ready to run! I did NOT run with the birthday present. Thank you Janice.
This post is almost 2 weeks late, but I’m backdating it so when I read this in 10 years, it’ll be as though I posted this on my birthday. Yesterday, July 21st, I biked 90 miles with my friend Jessica. We kept it fairly flat (a few short climbs) and we had spectacular weather. We had a great ride and were very proud of our accomplishment. Honestly, I’m more proud of Jessica’s accomplishment as she did this to keep me company!
I kept on track with my hydration (rode with a Camelbak to make sure I had enough water), ate 300+ calories per hour and really enjoyed the ride.
That evening I drove an hour to dine with three dear high school friends. I know I was crazy to do that, but it’s just so much fun to see them that I didn’t want to bail. We had sushi and I ordered extra plain white rice so I could get as many recovery carbs as possible. Thankfully my friends didn’t notice me scarfing it down between maki rolls!
Whenever I have an hour-plus drive in the evening, I try to coordinate a catch-up with friends who live on the West Coast. It’s usually around 10:00 p.m. and they are just starting or finishing dinner. It always keeps me from falling asleep at the wheel. Considering all of the training I’ve been doing, a car accident would be such a shame. Wink, wink.
My friend Joy was available to chat. As we were talking, I was lamenting that the next day was my birthday and I “HAD” to run for about 3 hours! She didn’t skip a beat. She said, “You GET to run 3 hours!”
I paused and really heard what she said. The simple word really shifted my focus. She was right. I was choosing to do this. I was able to do this. How amazing that I “GET to do this!
The next morning, with renewed enthusiasm (and one year older!) I got up, filled my Camelbak with water, stuffed the pockets with Honey Stinger gels, lathered up with sunscreen and donned my compression socks. I was ready to run!
At the age of 18, in my freshman year of college, I started running. The year was 1984. Thirty years later, at the age of 48, I still GET to do one of my favorite activities…run!
How amazing is that?