When I turned 30 I did a triathlon. It was a milestone birthday and it deserved a milestone activity. The fact that participating in a triathlon was on my "bucket list" was significant since I was having a mini-third life crisis. I potentially had another 70 years to go because my family has a habit of living to 100. However I had been living life like I would not make it to 30.
Some of that was good and some of that was bad. Lots of traveling (20+ countries, the 48 contiguous states), interesting jobs (scuba diver, Peace Corps, bartender, lab research assistant, teacher) along with too many nights at the bar and too much pizza (if there is such a thing). I was healthy but it could be better. I decided to start taking better care of myself. So the triathlon was the first step.
Things were back and forth for a few years healthy wise. A stressful job caused a brief period of backsliding but I ultimately walked away from that job and moved to be nearer to friends and family. That resulted in several years of great health and emotional well being. In fact I settled down and started a family.
Sadly, that seems to have started me down a path of not taking care of myself. My partner is fantastic, and my child exceptionally easy (I am told) compared to the average child. I spend too much of my time caring for the family and not myself. Ultimately this will mean that I am not here to care for my family at all. So I need to find that healthy balance of me and us.
In my soul searching and contemplation of my balancing journey ahead, I realized that my bucket list has changed to include my new life with a family. I had planned on hiking the Appalachian trail to celebrate 40, but my child will not be ready to share that experience with me at that time. And I do want to share that experience with my family. I do not want to do this thing and be an absentee parent for 3-6 months.
So I mentally sorted through the things on my list and the word marathon popped up. Followed quickly by "Oh Hell no", "I hate Running now", and NEVER! Yet for more than a week I kept coming back to it. And last week I decided that I want to work toward a 1/2 marathon. I honestly don't know if my knees will tolerate an entire marathon. But maybe I will change my mind further down the line.
After some searching around I found some local races, running groups, training plans, and diet plans to follow. I will be honest though that I am not good at this kind of strict regimen. My late dog was my only training partner for the previously mentioned tri. I did invest in a personal trainer for a few weeks right before the race to push me harder than I was willing to push myself. Most likely I will pick and choose to find what works for me. I created an account on a site that helps me track my exercise and caloric intake. Hopefully this will get me moving a bit more and keep me honest in the process.
I want to log my successes and failures here to help me remember the journey and to share that journey with my family and anyone else who wants to live a little healthier one step at a time. I plan to blog about food, running gardening and any other unexpected things that help me on my way. Because the journey is 1/2 the experience.
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