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Monday, April 27, 2009

I love running, and sometimes I love NOT running

Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me, I FELT like not running, so I had a "sleep-in" spree! 

Okay, not the best rendition to that song, but I wanted it to rhyme. 

A while ago, I promised a friend I would run the More Half-Marathon with her and her new girlfriend. It sounded so great at the time, sitting at my computer having a cup of tea and a cookie. It was so far in the future. Surely April 26th was a long way off. 

On April 23rd, my birthday, I realized that my weekend was not to be the super-relaxing downtown sleep in and brunch extravaganza it was meant to be because I would have to wake up by 6 a.m. to drink some coffee, eat some cereal, digest, get uptown for the starting horn(anyone remember the gun that used to begin the races? Good riddance..).

By chance, I got a call that day from my friend gail, that she would be unable to run with me because her girlfriend was a little nervous, etc.. and yada yada yada, I was off the hook! 

Best birthday present to myself ever. Slept in till I could sleep no more (even with the eye patch from Jet Blue), brunched at Cafe Gitane(coffee not so bad), schlepped around, sat in Central Park, ran an easy 5 miles at 7pm, enjoying a gorgeous sunset and a silhouette of Lady Liberty.

The moral to my story is this. We make a lot of promises to ourselves and to others, and as good little rule followers, we don't want to fail at anything, cut any corners, miss any opportunities. However, sometimes we must all take care of ourselves, know our limits, give ourselves a break. 

Skipping that race was a great birthday present to myself. What will you skip to give yourself some space to breathe? Don't feel bad. Call in a personal day at work sometime, skip the gym once in a blue moon, cancel that coffee with cousin It and take a nap.

Cheers.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

starting horn(anyone remember the gun that used to begin the races? Good riddance..)
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Yes I do. The gun was eliminated at the start of NYRR races after the death of John Lennon. There is a NYRR video (forgot the name) but this is where I read where they discontinued the gun.

As for the MORE Marathon which was cancelled (very wise decision) they made the 1/2 a fun run and said at the start if women did not feel comfortable doing the 1/2, just do 7M. Weather was brutal so early in the season.

-Lorraine