Bowl of Awesome

In college my roommate and I were quirky and we would always eat out of serving bowls.  Not the bowl you would use to serve people (I'm not gross;-) but we would USE serving bowls as bowls/plates.  Over the years the spouse and I registered for matching dishes etc but I still sometimes used large bowls as my plate.  Saw this set of 4 oblong serving bowls called 'Sides' and bought them...with every intention of never using them as serving bowls but to use them as my everyday plate/bowl.  LOVE them.  Might go get 4 more. Bringing the quirky back.

I Love to run, swim and bike every day.  Every day.  I wake up and I want to run bike or swim... usually I want to do all three that day.  I get irritated and grouchy if I know it's a day that I might be able to only do one activity.  A good day is doing two and a RAD day is doing all three.  A perfect day for me would be: 

Morning walk at dawn (hasn't happened regularly since kiddo but that's ok, I know it will again at some point)

A Run

A Ride

A Swim

Evening Walk

A weekend day would include a few hours hike on top of all that.  I was not born as an active person, I actually managed to be quite sedentary my entire 0-30 yrs with the HUGE exception of Jr Jazzercise which was the highlight of my entire childhood.  High school I did a few sports teams but I was terrified of team sports/pressure, so I sucked at it and was anxious about it, horrible combo.  In college I exercised because I felt like I had to, everyone was doing it but I didn't really love it and I would often tell my boyfriend I was going to the gym and I would go and read magazines in the lobby.  Adventure Outings did begin my passion for rafting, hiking, backpacking~what a great organization, hot college leaders and the outdoors...win/win.  I started running at the end of my 20's and loved the 5k & 10k races I did with a friend but still...something was missing. 

After I hit my dark days & lows as a new mama, nothing really excited me.  Husband and I had ran together early on in our relationship but running after having a baby was not high on my list of priorities, a daily shower wasn't on my list of priorities, so how could running be?  I did run and sometimes swim after having kiddo but all of it was because 'I had to, or I should."  

The past two years have really centered me & filled me with an awesome sense of calm in relation to run swim bike.  I love doing them all.  Each for their own benefit.  Running is loud thumping music where I feel like a dancer or rock star or cross country running star, I feel awesome, lean & fluid when I run, even during bad runs it's all good.  Cycling is for soul chatting with friends or pushing myself solo, I love being a cyclist, getting back on the bike was SO far out of my comfort zone it was laughable at first.  Now I use it to define myself.  Swimming is my meditation, it is slow, methodical and relaxing, a true familiar love.  I am not a triathlete, yes I have done all three together but that type of energy does not do it for me.  I like to run swim bike but not as an event and that's Ok.  

A huge perk to loving fitness as a lifestyle is that I have not been down on my body for about 2 yrs.  I used to be like all the women I know, judging my worth by the size of my ass or the jiggle of my thighs.  Just doesn't happen anymore.  Of course I look in the mirror and think about how I wish my hair was not springing up with gray and how I would prefer that the age freckles and wrinkles wouldn't start for another 20 yrs, aside from that...zero self-doubt.  I love my body and I am proud of her.  The size of rmy ass or my thighs has zilch to do with the time I spend in the saddle or pounding the pavement.  If I can't fit in a size 6, it's not because I am sitting on my ass...I am moving my body.  Do I wish I was 22yrs old and had not one ounce of cellulite & high perky breasts?  OMG yes! Do I also wish I was an olympic runner who did ultras in Africa & Alaska, OMG yes!  Alas, neither is going to happen (much more likely to run ultras in Alaska though over anything in the previous paragraph).  I am not going to spend my time wishing for the past or hoping away my present on skinny jeans and a good fleeting silhouette.  I love my body in workout gear and I love my body in my every day clothes...Being active has brought more to me emotionally & mentally than it ever could physically.

I get irked by people who have an opinion of what is best for others "Oh running is boring, I only bike.  Wow cycling is so dangerous, as a parent I would never do that to my family.  Swimming is a chore, I hate it, why do people like swimming Boring!'  To each her own.  I have friends who zumba, karate, paddle board, yoga, water aerobics, rock climb, sprint cycle, triathlons..and I would never judge what I think the most fun or most cool workout is, whatever people do to move their bodies & soul and whatever fills them with a sense of awe & calm...wow. Rock on in whatever you do peeps.

I am so incredibly thrilled that I have three (five if you include walking and hiking, six if you include canoe/kayak) activities that I lust after, that I crave, that I plan my day and my life around.  I love it.  I think back to my sedentary pre-run swim bike lifestyle and I just feel kinda bummed for myself.  I wouldn't change anything since the experiences I had led me here to where I am today but I can say with complete honesty that I would be very sad indeed if I was not running swimming and biking into my twilight years and beyond.  I am not sorry that fitness wasn't a huge part of my past but it IS my present and I will make it my future.  That thought thrills me daily.  

2013 Goals List (more to come)

Kaiser Half~February 6

Presidio 10 miler~April 21

Cinderella Ride Century~April 6

Mermaid Duathlon Alameda~June 9 

Mermaid Sirena 18 miler~May 11
IronGirl Tahoe Tri~Fall
IronGirl Seattle & Del Mar Tri~TBA

A Marathon...

A few Full Centuries...

A 3 day cycling destination trek with the ladies...

Looking into fitness careers or volunteer~races, events, health, parks, activities....