National Run Day

Yesterday was National Run Day. The blogs and FB pages were all a buzzin about their purpose to run. That's a good question I try to not ask myself simply because I don't have an answer. I run because ____________. I started to run in 2011 because I moved to a new city and didn't know anyone. I increased my running during my first road race because I felt trapped in a throng of people. I increased my running even more when I met the ladies of BGR-Sacramento who are the bomb motivators.

Now two years later, I'm back in Houston and I'm still running. Well once my strained hamstring heals I will be, but I can't tell you why I run now. It's become a chore. It's ok, however, since I'm injured, I find I'd rather walk (although my alter ego tries to say - go ahead and trot. That only makes my leg hurt so I stop trotting and go back to speed walking). 

Does this mean I've come to crossroad with running? Who knows? Do I even need a reason to run? Not really. I run simply because I can and frankly that's ok.

I spent National Run Day with a few co-workers speed walking a park near the medical center. It was HOT, humid, but a lot of fun.

How did you spend National Run Day?  Do you run for any particular reason?

Juicing...It gives you clarity

Ummm. I must be the only person on the planet who didn't reap the benefits of juicing. You know, the increased energy, clarity, decreased desire for sugar, blah blah blah..

I've tried a juice fast on 2 occasions only to find myself hangry and uber lightheaded during my workouts. So guess what? I'm going to eat food.

I think a freshly pressed juice is great for a snack, but for me, I'm too active (burning 700-1000 calories per workout) to just drink juice all day, every day for 7 days or more.

Have you juiced? Do you want to juice? Why are you planning to juice? Those are the questions!

I Want That And I Want It Now

Howdy All. Is anyone still out there waiting for me to update this languishing blog?

It's been ages since I've posted, I know. No excuses other than I haven't really had much to say.  But I do have something to ponder.

Grab your tea and sit for a spell. If you have a minute, can we talk a moment about cravings?  Cravings, not habits.

To me, a habit is something that you do regularly like exercise, brush you teeth, shower, coffee and something sweet around 3pm.

That was my habit from January through March-April every working day. I hit that 3pm slump and wanted coffee with a pastry. That was a habit I had to break because it was adding unnecessary calories into my diet. I broke the habit by substituting tea and yogurt at 3pm instead (not an easy swap, but a necessary one) and now I usually skip right over the snack break or make sure to have something healthy on hand.

The debate today is about cravings. I WANT CHIPS. And it will come at odd times, normally late evening or weekends when I'm home doing absolutely nothing. I know the easy answer to that is - don't have chips in the house. Well, The Fella lives with me so we have chips and at times cookies. I can go for stretches and the chips won't call my name at 1am, but then there are times like now where I wake up and want chips for breakfast. We could try the out of sight, out of mind technique, but I'm running out of pantry space.

I am thinking of pulling the popcorn out of the cabinet so it sits in plain view like the chips and let that be my substitute. However, a good friend of mine thinks that subbing only continues to feed the craving. I have determined this is truly a specific craving for chips, not a salty, crunchy craving so I'm a little torn as to what to do about the issue.

If you have any thoughts, feel free to share in the comments below.

Photo from: NASA.gov