#slowrunner

December 2023

It’s December and time again to reflect on my year in fitness. My running/walking journey was permeated by a mistake I made at the very beginning of the year in January 2023. Let me explain: 

I like and am highly motivated by fitness challenges. Whether that means I’m lazy on my own or just easily swayed by shiny objects, I don’t know; but I will make sure I complete a challenge if it means I get a reward at the end. As silly as it may sound, I know I’m not the only one given the popularity of finisher medals for live/virtual races and personal fitness trackers with monthly digital bling. 

So…In January I signed my husband and I up for a “2023 in 2023” virtual challenge. In my mind, that meant a great big medal for completing 20.23 miles in 2023. Easy peasy, right? WRONG! It was actually 2,023 miles in 2023. Commas and decimal points are important, kiddos!

The good news is that we signed up as a team, so the 2,023 was a combined effort that has kept us documenting our miles every day of every month of this year. We received the medal early in the year and it included milestones along the way for encouragement. Regularly we take a realistic look at our progress to determine if we are on course to finish by December 31st or if we need to take it up a notch. As of the almost-end of November, we have a total of 1,935 miles, leaving us with 88 miles to finish. We plan to do at least 3 5k’s in December, including Five Star’s Reindeer Run on 12/16 and White Elephant 5k on 12/24. Side note: In addition to Christmas Eve, December 24th is also my birthday. I’m really looking forward to my Christmas Eve Birthday 5k!

So that’s what I’ve been working on this year. My hard count of (physical) bling for 2023 is 27. I’m really looking forward to adding the big 2023 number 28 medal to the display. Wish me luck and you best believe I will be reading the fine print of any 2024 fitness challenges very carefully next year!!!

Happiest of Holidays and Happy Running!

Kerry

November 2023

The holidays are officially here. It starts with Halloween and continues through New Year’s Eve. All the celebrating and candy and pies and turkey and dressing and potatoes and egg nog and punch and champagne! OH MY!

I have no advice on how to indulge responsibly during the holidays, because I don’t do a very good job of it myself. However, I can tell you how I try to counter punch the indulgence; I do a calisthenics & stretching workout several days a week and I do 5k’s. Five Star is offering nine race opportunities in November and December, including three options for their Thanksgiving Turkey Trot: Early Bird on Saturday 11/18 in Kennesaw, Get Basted on Sunday 11/19 in Cumming and Thanksgiving Day 11/23 in Johns Creek. I will be at the Get Basted Turkey Trot in Cumming. If you're there, please say Hi!

Spending time with loved ones, enjoying family traditions and indulging in our favorite foods is what makes the holidays special. Remember during this time to take care of yourself also. Keep up your fitness. Continue to walk, run, workout, dance, yoga, swim…whatever your favorite form of exercise is, make time for it.  You will feel better during the holidays and especially after.

Happy Thanksgiving & Happy Running!

Kerry

(I posted some fav pics from 2022’s Get Basted Turkey Trot below:)

Live Christmas music along the course. Such Fun!

Photobombing a couple of fun turkeys!

October 2023

Fall is here! The beautiful color changes make this a perfect time to be outside. The cooler temperatures make walking and running much more pleasant anytime of the day, instead of just first thing in the morning. I’m looking forward to participating in upcoming races. In truth, between the oppressive heat we had in August and schedule conflicts, I haven’t done a 5k since Labor Day. To help me get back in running mode, I scoured the interweb for some running and walking inspirational quotes; some insightful, some funny. Hope you enjoy them and find them beneficial also!

If you run, you are a runner. It doesn’t matter how fast or how far. It doesn’t matter if today is your first day or if you’ve been running for twenty years. There is no test to pass, no license to earn, no membership card to get. You just run.  -John Bingham

Every morning in Africa a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must move faster than the lion or it will not survive. Every morning a lion wakes up and it knows it must move faster than the slowest gazelle or it will starve. It doesn’t matter if you are the lion or the gazelle, when the sun comes up, you better be moving. -Maurice Greene

Believe that you can run farther or faster. Believe that you’re young enough, old enough, strong enough, and so on to accomplish everything you want to do. Don’t let worn-out beliefs stop you from moving beyond yourself. -John Bingham

If you want to become the best runner you can be, start now. Don’t spend the rest of your life wondering if you can do it. -Priscilla Welch

 An early-morning walk is a blessing for the whole day. – Henry David Thoreau

All truly great thoughts are conceived while walking. – Friedrich Nietzsche

The secret of getting ahead is getting started. – Mark Twain

Run. Because zombies will eat the untrained ones first. - From the Zombie Apocalypse Survival Guide

Happy Running!

One of my favorite parts of running in the early morning is watching the sun rise. It's so cliché. But after spending a few years wondering how to get out of bed each morning, I often find myself drawn to beams of sunlight hitting the treetops. The contrast between the shadows and the light. How the sun eventually finds a way to touch nearly all of it. I stand a little taller...rise to meet it.

Even when my run starts in mostly darkness, the sun will be warming my sweat-dampened skin by the end. Heating up the joints and muscles and tendons and all of these inner-pieces of me that I cursed at during times of chronic pain and frustration and misery. All of these pieces are coming alive again, because I am letting them know I am going to be okay.

I don't take any of this for granted, this sunlight warming my bones or the air filling my lungs or the pavement connecting me to the earth with each step-step-step. I feel myself growing stronger again every single day. I feel the soles of my feet lighting on fire. I feel the fire rising through me and eventually igniting the rest of me so that even when my legs start to feel wobbly, my mantra becomes, "My legs are tired, but the rest of me is stronger." The fire will carry me the rest of the way.

I love watching the sun rise.