One benefit to running.....

I have now been running since July of last year and there have been many benefits to adding running to my daily routine. Today I am going to only talk about one of those benefits; its ability to teach you how to handle discomfort more gracefully. 

On any given run one comes across killer hills, sudden leg cramps, even slight discomforts that may come, yet, within just a few blocks all is back to normal again, this may happen several times in a run and at the end of each discomfort everything always feels just fine....a few blocks later. Similarly, in my daily life, I have noticed that when I come across annoying, uncomfortable and mood-altering situations in I now react to them much differently than I did before running entered my life. I know that with time, anger, moodiness, contempt will all pass and I'll be fine. All that's required is full, unquestionable acceptance of the negative mood (not fighting it) and patience. 

Last week I woke up moody, I went through the whole morning with this added heavy cloud hanging over me. Typically, needing to rid myself of the discomfort of this bad mood, I would have either started a fight with my loved ones, or would have turned every situation to some negative result where I would have to later dole out apologies of all sorts. This time though was different, I chose instead to simply allow the dark mood to live in me as long as it needed to be there, that I would not fight it. I treated the negative feeling like a ball of bad energy that would soon fade to nothing and leave my body. Sure enough by the evening I was fine, the cloud had lifted, the mood had left my body as trusted it soon would. I felt so incredibly proud of myself for I came out of one of these moods unscathed. In the past I would have surely done some damage along the way in my attempts to rid myself of the discomfort of the bad mood. Not this time. This time, I had not gotten into any fights with anyone, I did not snap at anyone, I did not even negatively react to the many normally annoying situations that popped up on any given day. 

I see running as the Universe's gift to me this year; I simply cannot imagine my life without it. The benefits that running have brought to my life in just 6 months are so numerous and so amazingly life-changing that I cannot help to want to try and convince everyone of them....

New Running Goals and some tips for long-term weight loss....

                   I have been again inspired by amazing people to change my life for the better. This time I have challenged myself to run 1,000 miles in one year and I am so excited about this new challenge and I know I can do it. This one challenge is inspired by a FB buddy, Heather Anderson (you know you rock). To complete the challenge I would have to run a little less than 20 miles a week for 52 weeks..... 

                  I have learned that I do much better with small and incremental changes to my daily routine and to not adopt new changes until I can adapt to the initial changes completely first. Over one and half years ago I started juicing daily and I now do it daily without a blink of an eyes. I wake up 1/2 hour early to make my drinks for the day and take them everywhere I go with me. This routine has become so part of my life that I could not think of having one day without my vegetable/fruit drink. This summer I began running in July and I now cannot think of a week going by in which I don't run at least 14 miles/week. 

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                  This change in approach to bringing change in one's life is so easy and so manageable that I would absolutely recommend it to anyone trying to bring some positive and permanent changes to their lives. Yes, the changes to your body are slower than perhaps a crash diet might be, yet, the changes are longer lasting. Because I was able to take my time to implement each new initiative I was able to make sure that each small change was fully implemented BEFORE I brought in a new addition to my routine. 

                  When people first hear about me running, the first thing a non-runner will say to me is, "I can't run at all.", or claim, "running is not for me." Running was not for me either when I weighed 200 lbs. Not at all!! But, after juicing for a year and losing all that extra weight, running became lots more possible, suddenly I saw myself doing it in my imagination. I did not just start running while grossly overweight. That would have surely caused an injury and surely I would not have been able to continue this for long at all. We all grew up with these TV shows where grossly overweight people are being militaristically trained to do excessive amounts of exercise. But I truly believe that if you are going to run, the extra weight needs to come off first in order to make it safe for your feet and your knees and your heart....and the fastest, safest and tastiest way to do this is through juicing. A juice fast is not abusive to your body, cleans you out. It's an ultra-healthy way to lose weight compared to all other unsafe methods out there. 

                      This might not be the way most people would choose to go about becoming ultra-healthy, but it's done wonders to my life, my energy and my outlook of the world. I am glad I listened to my inner voice.....would love to hear how you changed your life around for the better. 

Running, and why I love it so much.....

   I have been trying to figure out why it is that I love running so much. In my attempts to unravel this small personal mystery I have been watching all these movies about running and following people online who run, read articles, magazines...on and on. In one of the movies, I don't remember which, one runner hit the nail on the head. She mentioned how in today's world, there are very few true feelings of triumphs we get to experience on a daily basis and she added that to her, running a long run and actually completing it brings out that feeling of triumph each time. After hearing this, it all made sense and I was then able to clearly understand why I love running.

          To me, running is a metaphor for life, yet, one that's encapsulated in a tiny microscopic hour's run. Life in a bottle is you may. No doubt the run somewhat begins as a struggle. At almost 40, my knees complain as I begin my runs, my ankles take a few blocks to adjust and not feel so achy. Yet, the feeling of triumph experienced after the run has ended far surpasses any struggle experienced during the run that it makes it all worth it 1000%. This feeling has been so incredibly powerful that I don't see myself ever not running again. This thing, this habit, this tool is now mine and I am keeping it as part of my life as long as I live. In fact, the other day, I had gone two days without running, things got busy and life took hold of all free time. I did not worry for I knew it was not gone. Soon, I began having this incredible urge to run that came from deep inside and would not let me off the hook. The feeling could only be likened to a nagging craving for something you can almost taste it. This craving won't go away unless fulfilled. It's become a bit of an addiction I'd dare say, for it only takes for me to even see another runner to again feel the need to go out there myself and feel the pavement beneath my feet. I have never been happier and more balanced than these few months of (almost) daily running and most of it has to do with the benefits running has brought forth in my life. I feel strong, healthy, awake, alive.....who would want to go back to anything else?

Update on my daily running routine

                   I have managed to carve a half-hour daily running/jogging work-out routine for a month now. I am in disbelief that I am able to find the time to accomplish this daily, and without fail. For years I have been making excuses after excuses to avoid having to really work out. Yet, here I am at a point in my life where I know in my bones that this is not going to roll back to some form of lazy complacency. All it took was a clear decision not to hear the excuses, not even for a minute to entertain them in my head. Despite my day's tiredness each night, despite my daily inner resistance I went out that door and did it and I could not be more excited.  A few months back this would have seemed like a huge undertaking, yet, after a few days it was a breeze walking out that door and hitting the pavement. The amazing feeling one gets from sweating, from feeling strong and fearless is worth every bit of effort. After just several days, the routine no longer feels like a struggle. It begins to feel more like a lifeline, a pure necessity to maintaining total well being. 

             Although the routine has become quite simple to accommodate into my days nowadays, I did have quite a bit of setting up work that needed to be established at the beginning. I got new sneakers, I got a heart rate monitor, I set up all my running clothes, sneakers and socks in one place in my closet so I can quickly access them and head out the door.  Last but not least, I had to adjust and time when I ate at night in order to be able to run on an empty stomach once my two kiddies went to bed. Last, I even created fun mixes and uploaded them along with inspiring books onto my iPod Touch to give my workout that extra fun kick. 

Women and feeling strong, why we need it....

                   

                  I use to run 6 miles a day as a teen, and in college I also ran, though not as much. Forward many years later, I stopped working out all together as years progressed. But, inspired by a friend, I have begun to run daily again. Not much mind you, just 1/2 hour daily running, raising my heart rate to over 140 beats per minute, 6-7 days a week. As a result of this new change in my life,  I feel the strongest I have ever felt in a long time. In fact, looking back, the last time I felt this strong was before I had my first child; that is about 8 years ago. 

                 In reflecting on what it was exactly that changed 8 years ago that 'weakened' me, I can immediately say it was the c-section births of my son, then my daughter 3 years later. For both births I was shooting for natural births with a midwife, doula and all. No matter how much people comforted me about this, something in me was telling me I had somehow failed, failed as a woman; the feeling and confidence I had in my own body was zapped out, shut off completely. As silent and quietly personal as these toxic messages which resonated within me were, the toll of such negative views of my own body and my own strength and abilities began to shift my self-image. Until one day I believed that I could not achieve much physically, and as all self-fulfilling prophesies work, I did not achieve much for years. 

                     I am back 8 years later and feeling stronger than ever.  I am again feeling in control of my own body after having literally given up on the idea of seeing myself in that capacity. I so intensely value what running  does for my well being, my self-image, my self-esteem that I am not worried about 'slipping back' to not exercising, or going back to viewing myself as unable to achieve much physically. This thing I now have, whatever it is, is mine baby, and it's here to stay, I know it in my bones; the benefits are too valuable. 

                    In further reflecting on running and its impact on my life, the impact of this current addition to my life reaches far beyond the obvious physical benefits. Like some magical domino affect, daily running is systematically affecting everything from my spirituality to my personal relationships, from my mood, to my patience level. Allow me to illustrate. Running has helped correct my posture for example. Now, you might think that's small and almost insignificant, but in fixing my posture, I now feel more at ease inside my own body, which affects the way I interact with others, which affects the way others see and interact with me, which makes for a more relaxed relationship, which makes for a more peaceful world, and the ripple affects go on, and on and on. 

                    Ones feelings about one's own abilities play an enormous role in how we related to other humans. The level of connectedness we feel with each other as human beings is inextricably connected with how we feel about ourselves, how we feel inside our own skins, what image we hold of ourselves. If we believe that we live in abundance and enjoy a life of emotional well-being, we are more likely to feel connected to people in positive ways and to other aspects of our lives in a way that reflects that level of inner peace and calmness. 

                     Your 'thing' might now be running, but I believe everyone has that special something that helps put all of life in perspective, it's our job to find it, cultivate it, grow it. Our bodies are great barometers of internal peace, if you don't feel right in your own skin it's time to start looking for that thing that will make it all fall into place....it's out there.