Dear James, Daniel and Emily
There are times when these posts feel like a repetitive downer. Like I am doing nothing but repeating things like 'I am trying to get better about watching what I eat' or 'didn't run as much as I would like'. Yeah a lot of that does feel like excuse making. And some of it feels like I am just beating myself up.
Really the whole reason I keep this up, keep running when I can, keep trying to stay focused on eating better, keep trying to drop some weight; is because I want to be happy. And I know that there is a connection between health, fitness and happiness. I have friends who have pretty much always been fit, who are now fighting battles over things like injuries, and that is a good reminder that it doesn't end with getting lean and fit, it is an ongoing process.
Where this is leading is this, my kids are growing, and getting more active. Saturday we went to Jimmy's wrestling club banquet, which led to my spending almost 2 hours in the swimming pool, not active swimming, but still moving around, and getting in some real swimming her and there. Sunday we had an impromptu family picnic and kickball game at the park, which led to my running all over the place trying to catch up to the ball etc. Now I didn't run either morning (for a variety of reasons.) But I was still somewhat sore from those exercises. Which is basically okay, those are not activities I normally engage in, I rarely swim (although I intend to do more of that this summer with the kids), and while I run I rarely engage in sudden all out sprints like the kickball game. My real life goal is to be there whenever the kids ask about joining in those activities (and I don't have other commitments.)
So, if you ask what my real purpose is in all this running and trying to be food conscious it is so I can be out there with the kids. Hiking, biking, swimming, playing games. Because if there was any single motivating moment prior to my losing weight and beginning to run that sticks in my head it was one time when Jimmy wanted me to play basketball with him and I tried but my back kept spasming. I do all of this to avoid going back to being that guy, who cannot run and play with the kids as much as he wants.
Another prime example, I had not planned to run in the St. Patrick's Day 5K this year since I wasn't running in the Grand Prix series. But when Jimmy asked about it this weekend and said he really wanted to run it, how could I say no? In fact we even have a pact: I will stick with his early jack rabbit pace if he tries to keep it going the entire race and stays with me at the end when he normally runs out of gas. That is the guy I am and work to remain: willing to jump when my son wants me to join him for a run, game etc. Because more than anything else that is my definition of #Fitwinning.
No comments:
Post a Comment