A Tiny Spark Will Do It

After a great run last week, I needed something to get my butt off the couch this Labor Day Weekend... voila! The Gomers announced a Virtual 5k Gomer Run for Labor Day [spark]. I signed up, decided to do it, and told one friend (Bryan) that I was going to do it--even though it was raining. Monday morning came and the rain was pouring, but Bryan faithfully looked at the radar for me and said "if you're going to run, you gotta go now. You have 20 minutes before it gets a lot worse." Well, even though 20 minutes wasn't long enough, I went. I spent 39:02 minutes running (walking some) in the rain, and it was glorious. Rain squished between my toes, ran into my eyes, made me take off and stow my glasses away, filled my ears, and shorted out one of my earbuds. I made it though (thankfully no lightening was to be seen), and I can't believe I can whip out a 5k just like that. Wow. Funny thing is, "running a 5k" is never something I would've even put on a bucket list a few years ago. I would've said maybe "run a mile," but never would I have thought that I could run 3.1.


Yesterday it was still raining, and I took it easy. Went out to the farm at work, walked maybe 20 minutes in the rain out there, and decided (inevitably?) to go to the Chinese buffet for lunch. It's just what we do when it's raining. I didn't eat so much that I was absolutely miserable all afternoon, but did eat enough to feel quite sleepy. Oh well, one meal, right?


Dinner came and I wisely decided on a Wendy's 1/2 salad and baked potato. I was feeling frisky though, and decided also to have a child size Frosty for dessert. One of those "I can do whatever I want!" kindof decisions. It was delicious. At home, I ended up having 3 Willy Wonka chocolates before shutting down the kitchen for the night. Shew! Barely made it out of that day without a full-on debacle. 


Today comes and I was supposed to run this morning. Didn't. Just laid there, not even really considering it. Realized later that my clothes which I thought were in the dryer were in the washer, as if that's an excuse for not even getting up to check. Oh well. Started to feel a little low about myself. 


Got to work, started crunching on a way-too-hard pear, and read my email. Coolest thing happened... Yum Yucky had sent out a motivational reminder to participants in her "Finish What You Started Challenge." It was a nice, long, thoughtful message [spark] that said exactly what I needed to hear. She said

"even if you slept in late, missed your workout, chewed on doughnutsfor breakfast, guzzled down a 30-ounce soda with that tasty highcarb lunch, and then couch-azzed the night away"

...that I could still make progress, and that "the key here is not perfection - you and I are not capable of perfection." God knows I can't hear that enough. I am not capable of perfection. I should write that 100 times on a piece of notebook paper. 


So, thanks Josie. In part because of you, I have just staved off a very hungry morning with a big, healthy lunch (rather than caving and going to Subway for the new $5 footlong I heard an ad for on the radio), and will use those calories to carry me on 'till 3:30 o'clock, whereupon I will scoot my butt over to the gym and do some serious work (while watching Star Wars on the VHS). It's going to be awesome. 


I hope you all get your [spark] today.