This summer was CHOCK FULL. Full of baking and barking and beach days, full of hikes and hammocks and beer and board games and beautiful dinners spent with family. Full of half-moving, and then FULL MOVING. Full of wedding prep and then my sister’s big day was here! It was wonderful and magical and crazy fast and I wouldn’t change a thing. 
Except… somewhere in all the full-ness, my running got short-changed. I went from a consistent 4-5 days/week runner to maybe a 1 day/week runner.

Sometimes there was good reason- camping trip! Hiking!

But there were not-so good excuses too… I’m going to get into yoga! But not the break-a-sweat, work really hard kind of yoga Trevor does. I’m just going to chill out in child’s pose for 20 minutes and call it good. 

I (usually) run because I come to love it. The first couple weeks getting back into it is awful and I curse the pavement with every stride- but after that hurdle, I love it. I love the alone time I get to think through a problem or just zone out to music. I love getting to know my neighborhood better through movement.

I love the endorphins, and I love how better attuned my body feels after working out. One of my favorite sayings is, “Change begets change.” Healthy habits in one area of your life creates healthy change in others. I’ve been working on cleaning up my eating, and it’s prompted a desire to move my body again. 

So last night, I ran. It was a humble run. It was a “where is my sports bra again?” and “how stupid do I look swinging my arms like this?” kind of run. It was a “I’m just gonna take a little break after a mile and a quarter” kind of run.

But I stumbled through 3 miles, and I was really grateful after I finished. 

I was grateful I started again. I was grateful I was able to explore the gorgeous woods behind my house and see things from a different perspective. I was grateful my body was able to run at all. It is humbling to start over- especially if it is your 100th “starting over” point. But it is always worth it.