Up until November, I had been running consistently since March when I first fell in love with it. As the holiday came on, my time became more full, and my afternoons just didn't allow me to take a break to run. Not only was my sweet appetite increasing, but my activity was decreasing. Bad combo. I felt icky. Disgusted with myself. I knew I was eating an unhealthy amount of sugar, but I just couldn't say no. They beckoned to me, at work, home, parties, church. The list went on.
As many people know, no one can break addictive behaviors without at least wanting to. It wasn't enough to think that the extra sugar and lack of exercise was bad for me. I had to actually want to change things. Do you know what it took? Coming down with the typical after Christmas, sweet-attack cold. I had been fighting one since Thanksgiving, but my immune system finally gave in. Sick as I was, I knew it had to stop.
I knew myself well. Trying on my own to say no wasn't going to cut it. All it would take was the sight of a sweet and my watering mouth and the resolution would be out the window. So I decided to make it a matter of prayer. God is certainly capable of being strong for me, so I left it in His hands. No, that didn't mean the cravings disappeared and that it was a simple matter. But depending on Him to overcome instead of me, the pressure was off. I knew I could do it because the battle was already won, and I didn't have to do the fighting.
At the beginning stages of this change, I found myself relieved from all of the holiday stresses. I had time to run again. And run I did, against my initial aversion to the cooler weather. Second day out I tried out a route I hadn't run since I hurt by foot back in the summer. It was a glorious run, even in the light rain. My love of running was back.
As I continued to run most days and cut back on excessive sugars, I began to feel better. I even started eating better. I know, I know. Having a degree in Nutrition should mean that I was doing this already. What can I say. I'm human. Not perfect. And a human with a sweet tooth at that. But I have to say that God has blessed me with a newfound love for running, and I am grateful for that. I have always enjoyed exercise in all of its various forms, but previously, not running. This past year finally broke my dislike of running, and I am thrilled to have a new sport.
Now that I've rambled on about all that, did I mention I had a pig story to tell?
Last Friday I set out on a beautiful, cool day to run around the block (somewheres around 4 1/2 miles). One of my heals had rubbed a blister the day before, so I started off with a bandaid and a happy heart. A mille in, the bandaid had been adjusted once, and was beginning to fall off. Setting aside caution, I pushed forward, stepping gingerly to avoid excess pain. I chose to go the direction that allow me to go down the big hill instead of up, as I was not feeling incredibly energetic that day. Three quarters of the way around the loop, I spied a large creature standing in the middle of the road. I wasn't quite sure what it was at first, but as I approached, its shape identified it as a pig. A LARGE pig.
It wandered back and forth across the road. A car passed me, driving slowly. The pig walked right up to the moving car, sniffing it, and almost brought it to a stop. Having heard a few negative pig stories, I was cautious as I moved forward. When I was still about 20 feet away, the beast finally spotted me, snorted, kicked up its hind legs, and ran off in the opposite direction, proving that though fat, the pig was fast. Even though it ran only a few feet, I was quite sure I didn't want to meet it up close. As I had no reason to believe it would get out of my way, I unhappily retreated the way I had come. By the time I finally got home, I was exhausted and had a large blister. But I had a great story! And I burned 722 calories to boot! Almost 6 miles under my belt. Not bad for an otherwise uneventful afternoon.
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