No destination, just the rest of my life!

So one of the things I have become amused by now that I have hit my goal weight is how many people think it is a license to just undo all I have done. 

When are you going to cut loose and just eat a pizza?

Don’t you want to just devour a cake?

You are thin enough, go ahead and have ___________!

So, if I had said I was moving to London and got everything packed and organized and bought a new flat and settled in and had a party to show off the new place and meet new neighbors, at the end of the night would people ask when I was moving back to the US? Would they drop off empty boxes and rolls of tape thinking surely I’m heading home the next day? 

Not likely.

But when my journey has been one of change and self improvement and, most importantly, self awareness…people think I’m just going to undo it all because I reached the goal.

I ran my first half marathon May 18 of this year in Greensboro. It was magical. Wonderful. Thrilling. Exhausting. Limit Pushing. Fabulous. I finished with a time of 3:00:54 and while I really wanted a 2:59:59 or better…I can live with 55 extra seconds in my first half. 

Still sweaty and glowing and thrilled I was met by a family member who after congratulating me said “Well, now you can give up this running and go back to normal life.”  Emotional gut punch.

Running IS my normal life. 

I don’t know how I ever made it 46 years on this planet without it.

Running is the community of friends I have made in the 2 years I have been in my new town. Running club meetings and races are things I look forward to the way I used to look forward to my birthday as a child!  

Running is the true constant I have. I can travel anywhere in the world for work and hit the road. I have discovered fabulous new places to explore during the day by running by them when dawns early light has not quite risen. I look for races in towns I know I’ll be in for the Saturday or Sunday before the work week begins and sometimes will stay an extra day for a race on a Saturday morning after the work week is done. I look up where the local running stores are and find out if they carry my beloved Quest bars or if I need to bring a hefty supply with me. 

Running is the 24 hour a day therapist I have on call, just lace up and go.

Running is the weight management tool I love best.

Running is the freedom to not be on the phone, doing laundry, schlepping kids or pets, tied to social media or anything else that normally pulls at me. It is me. Alone. On the road. Sometimes I run with friends, but the majority of my miles are solo if not in a race. My thoughts or blank mind…my choice…my run!

And so I continue on this journey, which I expect to last as long as I am on this side of the grass. I guess I don’t have a destination, no place at which to arrive and simply ‘be’, and that is okay. I can keep running on this unending journey to good health and fitness. 

And if I can keep running, then nothing else matters today.