Sometimes Life is the Best Motivator

Do you ever feel like the world has to be in complete balance? For instance, every good thing that happens has to have a counter "bad" to go with it? I have always believed it. Most of the time, I wish it wasn't like that. Maybe it's only that way for me...I don't know. It seems like every time things are going OK in our (my family's) lives, something comes up and knocks us back down. We've been traveling close to the edge of imbalance for a little while now and I have been waiting for the scales to tip in the other direction. I think it must be easier for men to cope with or they hide it REALLY well, because my husband doesn't ever exhibit the same stress level as I get when things are looking down.

I'm not going into details, but I have been under a lot of stress lately, both at home and at work. I hate looking down at a spiraling cascade and wondering where the bottom is and if there is a way back up and hoping it's an express route. Anyway, the stress in my life is not really what this post is about. The only "good" thing that has come out of this stress is that I was feeling so down earlier today that I decided I needed to exert myself. So, I put on my running gear and shoes, went downstairs to the basement, put in a Guns N Roses CD and hopped on the treadmill for an exerting 1 mile run. I ran hard and I ran fast. It was only a 12 minute mile, but that is actually better than what I have been racing at lately and it is certainly good considering that I have not really had any exercise in a month.

When the mile was over, I could have kept going. Why didn't I? Well, despite the fact that I taped up my right foot, I am trying really hard not to damage it to the extent that it was. Also, I may or may not be running a 5K in 2 weeks and I don't want to jump right into multi-mile training after so much time off. So, I listened to that little voice in my head that said, "stop," and I stopped. I am hoping that the end result of that one run will motivate me to continue at least getting on the treadmill a few times a week and then back to a regular workout regimen.