I wrote this draft of a blog post almost two years ago! I logged on today because I have something I want to write but now I feel like first I need to publish this draft from 12/17/2016. I love that I called it "Knowledge Droppings." Ha, I crack myself up. So, here's almost 2 years younger me, dropping some knowledge about running...
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It has been a while, I know. Here's the thing: last year a friend and I were chatting about my blog and it went something like this...
Him: "I love your writing style..."
Me: "Thanks, though I feel there's a but..."
Him: "Yeah, it's just that you write about being injured a lot. It's pretty much about you being injured."
Me: "Oh. Hmm. But did you read the ones about me not being injured?"
Then I thought about it. And I realized I never wrote a blog post celebrating my mile race that I had trained so hard for. Why didn't I write about it? Truthfully I was proud and disappointed at the same time. I worked hard, and I was proud that I worked hard. But I thought I'd see a different time on the clock. I just couldn't shake the feeling that I could do better. I wanted to do better.
And then I went through a series of injuries, and well, I didn't want to write about that. In the time between my last blog post, I turned 40. I decided that turning 40 meant, for what it's worth, that I earned the right to tell people to "suck it" when applicable. Here are some other bits of wisdom I've realized upon turning 40:
1) Women are as strong as hell.
2) It's really not all over when you turn 40, there are personal records within reach...
3) A lot of what I loved in my 20's, I'm loving all over again with renewed enthusiasm in my 40's. Like hiking mountains. And margaritas.
4) Running is a privilege and is not something I have to do. It's something I want to do.
5) Celebrate every little victory. Don't let the "yeah, but..." take over. Own it. Own the crap out of it.
So, I'm retroactively owning my 2015 mile time of 5:55 as a victory. If my past self gives me a "yeah, but..." then I'm going to tell her to suck it.
We are two sisters living on separate sides of the country. One of the things that connects us, beside our love of hot beverages, is fitness. We love to run and strength train, and share the benefits of exercise with others. From the sisters who created Illume Fitness, we bring you Illuminated Runners: musings on running, cross fit, strength training, family, travel, life, and some serious dorkiness in there, too. "The spirit illuminates everything."
