Bold Moves

I just signed up for my last half-marathon for 2012, on Dec 29th.  I tossed around the thought of running one more race before I finally hit the ‘register’ button on the website.   At first, I thought of several reasons why this would not be a good idea.  First, who knows how cold it will be by Dec 29th?  With our weird weather lately, it could be a balmy 45 degrees or 17 degrees!  When it gets cold enough for your own breath to form frost on your eye brows, I generally head for the treadmill.  Then there’s how much I hate when my hands and face pass the numb phase and actually hurt due to the cold.  My Hubby, a native of Michigan, used to love debating the  merits of cold versus hot with me.  He’d always say that you can put on more clothes when you’re cold but when you’re hot there’s not much you can do about it.  My response was and remains the same; at least when I’m hot I can still feel all of my body parts and they still work! 

As I continued to debate with myself I had to admit that I thought of more reasons to DO the race than to NOT do the race.  Here they are, in no special order.   

1.  No matter what the weather turns out to be, it will be a great story to tell later!  If it’s balmy then maybe it will set you up for a new PR.  If it’s colder than the North Pole, then you’ll have a great tale to tell. (Like the frost on the eye brows comment — that really happened!)

2.  Everyone gains weight over the holidays.  Well, maybe not Jillian Michaels, but most everyone else does.   Entering a race gives you a reason not to over indulge in the yummies, thus minimizing the weight gain and rescuing you from any New Year’s fitness resolutions you won’t keep anyway! (wink)

3.  You can never have enough race medals, bibs or Tech Shirts…..

4.  You can leave your Garmin at home and run the race for fun!  What a concept — running for fun!  No worries about setting a new PR or running a certain pace or using this as a tune up event.  Just have fun; enjoy the event! 

5. Make it a family event and do a walk/run 5k or choose a race that will have multiple distances.  Sign up for a  race for charity and you’re helping others — what can be better than that? 

6.  It’s better than watching TV!

7.  If you run a long enough race, you can earn that second slice of pie you know you want.  The beyond delicious pie your Grandma made, that is still in the kitchen, calling your name every time you walk by….

8.  It will give you some swagger heading into the New Year!

9.  Sign up for one more race before the end of the year because….you’re a Runner and that’s what Runners do.  

10.  Make this your Bold Move and start a new journey, take that first step, and run/walk your FIRST race or distance.  You’ll be glad you did!