The 5k Saturday will be my last hurrah with regular running. I realized a while back that I don’t run because I enjoy it as I do with weightlifting; I just do it because other people can’t/won’t/don’t. There are so many other types of exercise I would prefer to do instead of running, and I don’t really want to spend the the rest of my life doggedly engaging in what I find to be an extremely unpleasant and mentally tedious physical activity just to thumb my nose at the world.
Running doesn’t clear my head or provide stress relief. I never reach a Zen-like state of peace or a euphoric runner’s high. I don’t enjoy the scenery nor do I experience a sense of oneness with Nature when I run. I’ve tried running on the beach, on wooded trails, around the neighborhood, on tree-lined German hillsides, and a dozen different treadmills–it makes no difference. It just causes my nose to dribble and makes me feel temporarily thinner for 30 minutes following the workout due to dehydration.
Not enough motivation for me.
My new, true mantra on fitness is that I am only doing this for me, and life is too short to waste on something I dislike so intensely when there are so many other equally good options out there. I don’t want to look back one day and say to myself, “Dang…I wish I’d spent all those hundreds of hours on the treadmill and roads on something I actually WANTED to do, like white water rafting, rock climbing, or martial arts.”
I saw Jet Li’s Fearless this weekend and was really struck by his character Huo Yuanjia’s attitude as a child and young man and his gradual change of heart as he got older. His youth was spent always trying to be the best and proving something to the world. I know I have some of that in my personality, too, otherwise I wouldn’t be a type A perfectionist, but like Huo Yuanjia in his final years, I am trying to chill out a little more, enjoy the here and now instead of always looking toward the future, and focus less on establishing my fitness badass credentials than helping others find the fitness badass within themselves.
I’m still going to kick major butt for the next 5 weeks though.
😉
But in a totally non-competitive, laid-back way.
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TODAY’S EATS:
1: 3 egg whites, 40 g oats, 40 g raisins, 3 c. water
2: 1 banana, 1 scoop protein, 2 c. water
3: 4 oz. chicken breast, 1 c. mixed veggies, 2 T. salsa, 1 apple, 3 c. water
4: 1 rice cake, 1/2 T. ANPB, 1 scoop protein, 2 c. water
5: 4 oz. chicken breast, 3 c. lettuce/onion salad, 2 T. Kraft Free Italian dressing, 1 apple, 3 c. water
6: 3 egg whites, 1 scoop protein, 2 c. water
Supplements: Multivitamin, Calcium 600+D, l-glutamine, Instone Pre-Workout Intensity
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WORKOUT
8 AM Upper body/Chest workout
8 PM HIIT treadmill run
9 PM Yoga for Athletes DVD
