My laptop has been screaming at me for over a year now because it's memory is beyond full. Kinda the way my brain feels every day.
She (yes, my laptop is definitely a she because only a woman could juggle all the crap I store inside this beautiful compact gem) As I was saying...She couldn't take it anymore and started to work at any ungodly slow pace.
Sound familiar?
So I finally listened to her and have been cleaning out my photo bin, which has a ridiculous # of pictures, mostly duplicates and beyond an obscene amount of "what the heck am I going to do with all of these" pics.
Along this journey of purging and getting rid of things I’m also discovering pictures I didn’t even know I had & of course, taking a trip down memory lane.
This one is from my running days.
Now I use the term “running days” loosely because I’m not a runner. Let me say that again in capital letters I AM NOT A RUNNER.
I’m going to take you back even further, 10 years before this picture, to a moment I remember being at the Nike Outlet store, out east on Long Island.
That day I fell madly in love with a pair of pink sneakers, I just HAD to have. But the only problem was, they were “running sneakers”.
What’s the problem, you ask? I hated running. In fact, when it came to having to take the Presidential Physical Fitness test in high school gym class, I cried PMS any day we had to run. I was “that” girl sitting on the sidelines, b.s.ing my way through cramps to avoid running at all costs.
Crazy when you think of my eventual career choice 😝
Anyway, at the time of this “I must have these sneakers” find, I would equate my life to the starving artist of the fitness world.
I wasn’t making enough money to justify buying the sneakers so I made a deal with myself. “If I start running, I could buy the sneakers.” And so my running journey began.
As I’ve made it clear, running is not my thing and when I first began it was a catastrophe. During that time I was teaching 20 classes per week and adding running into the mix meant overuse injuries BIG TIME.
I ran enough to pay off my promise but then running only came into my life sporadically. That was, until I met my husband. Who, just months before I met him, had run the New York Marathon.
Now he’s what I call a runner.
I guess you could say, I got back into running for love. 😍
We ran some races together. Fun ones (nothing hard core) like the Muddy Buddy, relay races and ones with obstacle courses.
And then I got the brilliant idea of running the Philadelphia Marathon with him. Not the whole 26.2 miles but the Philly race is unique because they have a 1/2 marathon running the same course, during the longer race.
So I thought “We could blissfully do it together.”
How cute, right?
Wrong!
I got to mile eight with 5 to go and I began to cry uncontrollably, as I looked up ahead thinking “There is NO WAY I can get up that hill.”
As you can see from the picture I made it to the finish line. But I told myself that day, I was NEVER going to run again.
And you know why?
Not because I didn’t want to take care of my body, not because it was the hardest race I’d ever run, not because I was giving up on myself, not because I didn’t think I could do it if I really wanted to, but because...I didn’t love it.
And I had already discovered so many other ways to move that I absolutely loved.
So the takeaway:
Sometimes you got to try things to find out what you really want to do.
I have no regrets, running & training during those days. My husband remembers them and it helps keep him motivated to keep going even still today. I think back and happily remember all the days we lived in NYC, where I enjoyed people watching & exercising at the same time while exploring Central Park.
For both of us, it kept us moving.
Moving in a direction toward knowing who we are, feeling healthy and confidently knowing we are in control of every step we take.
There is always time in life to explore and have fun, you've just got to be willing to step out of your comfort zone and get to know yourself, as you were always meant to be.
Take time to explore, have FUN and Be You!
Love,
Janine
What's Happening With JBird Fitness:
Featured Workouts of the Week
Transform: Arms and Transform: Yoga Abs
Since the Transform Workout Series has 5 workout videos and there are only 4 Sunday's in February, I wanted to make sure we highlighted all of the videos. So this week we are doubling the FUN with an Upper Body routine as well as a yoga practice focusing on core strength.
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Class Schedule:
Barre Fusion
Mondays 10:00am-10:55am
Wednesdays 11:00am-11:55am
Saturdays 8:45am-9:30am
CoreFlex
Saturdays 9:40am-10:20am
At The Bucks County YMCA - Doylestown