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Encyclopedia of Finding My Way Back

Today in writing class, we told our story in the form of an encyclopedia. Thus, my blog entry tonight.

CIRCUMSTANCES
Tragic death of a friend. Surgery of a loved one. Conflict. Vacation. Young adults. All excuses. Yet at the time, all good reasons to stop paying attention to my body. Or so I thought.

CROSS COUNTRY
It starts in less than a week. I am the coach. A coach that doesn't run? That's how I did it last year. This year, I want to run with the kids.

DISGUST
Ugh! For the past five weeks a war has been raging in my head. You need to get up off your butt and go for a run. Nah, stay on the couch. It is too hot. You are bound to pass out on your run. Back and forth the argument went. Cheering on the one side, yet letting the other side win. Letting myself down each time I refused to get up.

ENDORPHINS
I was hooked on them just a few months ago. I couldn't get my fix often enough. The high that comes after a good run. And then the crash. No running for five weeks. The sluggish feeling of withdrawal surged throughout my body. And then a taste of the high once again. A runner once more.

JUST DO IT!
Tonight I did. I got up off the couch, put on my running clothes, cranked up the tunes, and started running. Right away the rush came back. For the first mile, I asked myself what took me so long to get back up and moving. After not running for five weeks, my original goal was two miles. I was in the zone, I went another two. It doesn't matter that walking was part of the last two. It felt good!

SUPPORT
I need it. I need to to get running. I need it to eat healthy. I need it to take care of me.

TWENTY POUNDS
I think. I don't have the courage to stand on the scale. However, I know my belly is hanging out over my pants and I am into the 'fat clothes' part of my closet. It is basic math. Add eight weeks of daily ice cream, sweets, and chips; five weeks of no running; and a few 'down' weeks and you get somewhere around twenty extra pounds engulfing my body. The same twenty pounds I lost just three months before. As much as I didn't want them back, I invited them in every time I opened the door of my mouth letting in each snack that came my way.

WEALTH, IN SEARCH OF
Not in money. In body and soul. My journey continues. The healthy life-style has never been an easy endeavor for me. It will have its ups and downs. It will have an occasional ice cream cone. It will have days when I don't want to get off the couch. Most of all, it will have running. Endorphins flowing through my body. I am currently in the market for my next half-marathon. Hopefully, I will have the opportunity to run this one with my husband.


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