With Kerrie at lunch time on a cold day. My energy level was high and muscles felt great.
I met Kerrie @ Mom vs. Marathon for a chilly run near our offices. The birds were out in full force, Ducks spooked us, a large Hawk impressed us and the Blue Heron made us smile. I felt AMAZING!! Muscles were working, no pain and my head cold is nearly gone. Miles pass so quickly with Kerrie and we have no shortage of conversation, it is nice having a running buddy who works just 1.3 miles down the road :) Run #1 was a SUCCESS 30 more to go..
Running minimum of 1 mile per day this month made me think about HABITS.
A settled or regular tendency or practice, esp. one that is hard to give up.
What is the saying? It takes 21 days to make a habit, good or bad :) I know there is more research on this, from personal experience I think it takes a couple months for something to be habit for me. Habit, routine, whatever you want to call it, your health should be something that you think about every day.
Developing healthy habits is important to your overall life and happiness. Whether it is taking the stairs to your meeting on the 3rd floor, skipping the whip cream on your mocha, or walking to the mail box instead of driving, you can make small changes in your life creating healthy habits.
For a good amount of time running and healthy eating became Habits for me, it was what I did without even thinking. Unfortunately it is much harder to maintain healthy habits and soon BAD Habits crept in. I started staying up later, sneaking fatty snacks between meals and finding excuses to skip my daily run because "I don't have a race to train for." An injury here, a sickness there, work trip, life events, etc...all combined to create a new person, someone that I don't want to be!! The trouble with BAD Habits are they just feel so darn good... It is so nice to be LAZY, watch TV and eat mindlessly. It is so nice to shop at lunch and grab Starbucks on the way back to the office. It is so nice to sleep in on the weekends... These actions on occasion are necessary and good, but soon for me these actions became normal or habit....and I have felt GUILTY writing a Running Blog with very little running and BAD habits lingering and becoming my way of life..
One step at a time. The first step for me is admitting that my current Habits are not healthy for ME. The next step was deciding what actions I need to take to create better Habits.
I will take action to make those Habits a reality, easier said than done. Will I ever be able to get rid of all my BAD Habits?? No way!! But I can chose to be mindful of those negative aspects of myself and work toward ways to spin toward more positive paths. My very favorite quote about Habits comes from Aristotle..
to give up than bad ones.
Love it! Thanks for sharing those quotes. I'm working on changing some habits, too, so this was very nice to read.
I sooo wish I had a running buddy! I've tried to encourage friends to run with me but they don't share the desire to become runners. Guess I'll have to keep looking.
I did one mile yesterday and plan on doing three today. I'm excited to complete this challenge.
You always find the best quotes and inspirational messages.
I hear you, it is sooo easy to fall into a bad routine/habit. I try to remind myself how GOOD I feel once I am on track again and that usually helps.
That's such an awesome challenge!! I wish I could join, but I've given myself "time off" until January. I'll be with you guys in running spirit though!
I couldn't agree more with habits. I've heard anything from a week to 27 days to form a habit. Either way, it takes time! Good luck forming those good habits!!
I am always telling myself, we are what we repeatedly do. I am a firm believer in habits. It is what you do everyday that matters much more than what you do once in a while.
What a great challenge! Good luck, you can do it!