Thursday, February 25, 2010

Running from crazy

I run. I'm not sure I consider myself a "runner," but I run. And, I'm pretty sure anyone other than the novice runner would classify the category of a jog.

Never the less, over the last couple of years, I have learned to love something that I once hated. Always, athletic I knew the joy received from a good workout and the exhilaration of accomplishing goals set for myself, but I never found any happiness in running. It was merely a conditioning exercise used to enhance my other athletic performances.

And when I decided to embark on the adventure of running a few years ago, it was exactly that. A means to an end. An endurance exercise to help me reach a goal. A distractor of sorts.

But, now. Now, it is something entirely different.

I run for many different reasons:

to stay heart healthy,
to counter the calorie consumption in my favorite pasta dishes and chocolate,
to chat with the Lord,
to chat with myself,
to let the Lord chat with me,
to listen to good music like New Edition's Candy Girl,
to dance...you lookin' kinda cute in that polka dot bikini giiiiiirl,
to get out my anger and frustration,
to mourn,
to be thankful,
to feel (because sometimes I just get in a rut and cannot feel things),
to get away from crazy,
because I am crazy!


My love-hate relationship has turned a corner. How do I know? Because...

1. I look forward to an almost daily run.
2. My morning routine involves determining exactly when I am going to fit that run into my schedule.
3. My evening routine includes updating a mileage and training schedule.
4. I've committed to running a distance longer than a 5K.
5. As much as I abhor the treadmill, I have learned to tolerate it when it's cold or rainy. Which has been a LOT lately.
6. I am now doing an extra load of laundry mid-week to accomodate my shortage of sports bras. Sad, but true.

As addressed in numero cinco above,  I have committed to running this innaugural event held in my hometown on May 1st.



I'm a sucker for sentimentality. Is that a word? It was the hometown thing that clenched the deal for me here, but the focus of the non-profit hosting the event is raising funds and awareness for children's health and fitness. There is nothing that pierces my soul more than sickly and unhealthy children. It was a winning combination from the start!

Have you ever seen this program? Oh the possibilities of teaching young girls the importance of healthy living and self respect! My heart melts every time I come across this organization. No offense to you boys out there. You're very much appreciated too, just in a different sort of way.
I stumbled across it on the web about a year ago and it has come up in no less that 2,456,789 searches that I have done since then. You think it could be a subtle hint? I'm praying about it.

After heading down several rabbit trails, I better escape this blog world and get back to reality.

Happy Runnning my friends or whatever your activity of choice is (even if that is just chasing after kids all day long),

5 comments:

Jennifer.Bellah said...

Fun post Amy! I am proud of you and Justin for sticking with the training for the half! It's going to be awesome. Also, I loved your "why I run" list. I prefer "Cool It Now" instead of "Candy Girl" :)

Anonymous said...

I am about to start running again and I'm so excited! It's def time to get this body back in shape so I can look cute in a polkadot bikini! :)

Amy said...

Jennifer- Ooooo..Cool It Now. I'm purchasing it and adding it to the playlist now. Good one! And truthfully, I think Justin wasn't on board with this thing, I may have bailed last week.

Liz- get after if girl! It will take you no time at all to be ready for that polka dot bikinni giiiiirl. :0

Christi said...

I am so proud of you....just wish I had your energy! :-)

Amy said...

Christi- you do- It just gets channeled in the way of 3 kiddos!