I’m on my second cold of the winter. The last one took 3 weeks to move on its merry way, leaving me with only 5 or 6 days of respite before the next one moved on in. Lovely. I could tell it was coming. I went out on my lunch break and everything was fine. I walked back to the office and my throat was scratchy and sore. Misery ensues.
I’m not a resolutions girl. I kind of hate the idea of saving all our changes for one designated time of the year. If something isn’t working in your life, why not address it right away? Why put it off? Still, a new year is a time for reflection, and it seems that, despite my disdain, I tend to accidentally jump on the bandwagon. I just don’t make any hard and fast rules and go with it. Then if it doesn’t stick, I don’t have to beat myself up over it later. Self preservation.
So, yeah, head cold. Misery. Smoothies. But I can’t seem to ever make them myself. My blender is too underpowered to do much more than make a mess of things, leaving chunks of kale and other things that make them far from smooth. Gag. But I’ve really grown to love Bolthouse Farms‘ offerings, and have been supplementing my lackluster diet with them lately to ensure I’m getting at least some fruits and veggies in my diet. The Green Goodness‘s color was a little off-putting at first, but it tastes pretty darn good. I just pour into a fancy glass, add a snazzy straw, and look the other way. I’m also a big fan of the Multi-V Goodness. I wonder how it would taste with vodka…?
Then I stepped it up a notch. Because I’ve been paying for my gym membership and haven’t gone since April. (I swear, that’s what Foursquare told me!) Because most of my friends are far more physically active than I am. And because they were talking about this 100 Days of Miles thing for 2014.
100 Days of Miles… It’s supposed to be that you run 100 miles in 2014, spread out over 100 days throughout the year. I ran my mouth off on New Year’s Eve and announced that even a gimp-footed girl like myself could do this. I mean really, it’s only 1 mile at a time, 3 times a week. I used to run 3 times that! Piece of cake.
Except that I’m not really supposed to run. One of my frequent sources of frustration post-discectomy was that every time I asked my orthopedic surgeon if I could run again, his response was evasive. With good reason–I have the honor of having the most disc removed out of all surgeries performed by that man–but annoying, nonetheless. Running represented far more than physical activity to me. I came to it at a time in my life when it felt like all the walls were crumbling down on me. It saved me. It taught me that I could do so much more than I thought I ever could do. It gave me confidence. It gave me strength. It made me proud of myself. And it kept me sane. All that was taken away with it.
So no, I’m not running 100 miles in 2014. But I figured I can at least walk them. That’s extremely manageable. And so I have begun this new journey…again. Combined with attempting to join my friend in her new round of daily exercise. I’m on Day 4 and have racked up 8.73 miles so far. Today was the worst–I absolutely did not want to go to the gym at all. I wanted to lie on the couch in a DayQuil haze, watching old episodes of Girls preparing for the new season starting tonight. By 3 PM, I had to draw the line. There would be no more episodes until I earned them. No more Hannah or Marnie or Jessa or Shoshanna until I had worked up a good sweat and worked off some of those Doritos I ate in a moment of weakness. So I did it. I dragged my butt out the door, down the street, and into the gym. I got myself up on that elliptical and powered away. I even added 5 minutes on to my program. And I’m happy I did.
Tomorrow? I’ll try again. It’s easy to avoid. I work a desk job. I blog at night. And the Charlie horses, nerve pain, and backaches that continue nearly 3 years post-surgery make it easy to come up with excuses. But I hate that rusty Tin Man feeling I get when I don’t incorporate some level of activity in my life. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other and see where the path takes me. That’s all I can ask for.
I love your sneakers and laces! Very Lilly Pulitzer! and the colors alone would cheer me up.
So proud that in spite of not really wanting to, you did lift yourself up and get yourself to the gym.
And HUGE kudos for doing it with a cold!
I try not to make resolutions – because then I feel guilty and anxious when I break them, but I have resolved to cook and clean a little bit more. The blogosphere, whether reading or writing, has caused me to drop the ball in those two areas.
My husband is actually the chief cook and bottlewasher in the family, but he does deserve weekend breaks, and I want to step up to the plate more.
We need to do whatever can make us smile, right? 🙂 I’m all about not making myself wrought with guilt. That doesn’t accomplish anything.
I’m really proud of you for getting out there and getting after it! After all instead of saying “Oh I can’t run so I’ll do nada”, you walked. That is really something to own; knowing that you found a way to get moving when your go-to wasn’t an option. Great job! I always turn to focus about how I’ll feel AFTER my workout to motivate me to get going. I almost never regret a workout, but I often will regret missing one!
It’s definitely not easy, and very frustrating that I can’t do what I want to do, but I keep trying. You are a real inspiration!
Kudos to you for getting back to the gym! If you don’t move it, you lose it.
If you don’t move it, you don’t lose it either. 😉 Ha!
This is an awesome step to take, good for you! I’m not a resolution fan either because of the same reason – I know I’ll be frustrated with myself when it’s not met, but this sounds like you’re making really realistic goals for YOU and you can do it!
We must be kind to ourselves, even when we’re a little tough. 😉 Thank you!