Better to Laugh

Today is the last day of winter, on the calendar, anyway. The cold weather may not be entirely gone, but today is a beautiful, sunny day with temperatures in the 50s. I maintained a schedule of running outside the entire winter, but rain almost stopped me yesterday.

Even though it was overcast, the rain had stopped, so I got my gear on and started to head out. About 100 yards from the house, it started to sleet. Actually, since it was 48 degrees, it was probably more like very small hail bouncing off of the ground. Seriously?! I kept going and shortly it started to rain fairly hard. A break in the clouds was coming, so I just shook the water off of my hair and kept going. If it kept raining, I would do a short run and try for a longer run on Sunday. After a few minutes, the rain let up, so I kept pounding away. Boy, am I glad I did! At about mile 6 the sun came out and the birds were singing. Beautiful! True Indiana weather, if you wait a few minutes it will change. It turned out to be a great 7.25 mile run. Hopefully I can maintain my outdoor running schedule during the Indiana spring weather. I don’t plan on running through any tornadoes.

I am really starting to turn a corner with nutrition. I’ve turned several corners; surprisingly, I haven’t gotten lost, and it seems I am staying more often on the right course. In the latest development, I now base more of my food choices on how it will affect my running. In the past, I made choices based solely on how long I would have to run so that I could eat junk and still fit into my pants. Now, I look at food and think more about protein, potassium, sodium, fiber, good carbs, etc. and less about texture, flavor, and comfort. Not that nutritious foods don’t have those yummy qualities. Tonight, I ate two phenomenally sweet and juicy mandarin oranges, and they were as easy to open as candy bar! I may never win my age division in races, but eating to fuel my run and recovery makes me a lifetime champion in health!

I am finding that some foods that I devoured in the past do not hold the same attraction for me anymore. I made a gooey butter cake (cake mix, stick of butter, cream cheese, pound of powdered sugar, eggs) for our small group Bible study, and I did not eat any the next day. I brought the leftovers to work and was perfectly happy to watch others eat it. In the past, I would have taken the first piece and let my coworkers enjoy the rest. I thought about eating a donut this afternoon, but I remembered how yucky I felt the last time I ate one and passed. Feeling extremely gross after a binge on Lay’s Original Potato Chips, I do not care to see another chip for a long while. Chocolate? Now that is another story. I still love me some smooth chocolate. At least some of my food choices are getting better.

Even ninjas have to run safely on cold, grey, overcast days. My elder son’s comment to my husband as I ran past the house:  ”You married her.”