No more excuses

This week I have started doing something I have wanted to do for a long time. I've started walking to more places during the day. We are anticipating a move to the metroplex, and on one of our house hunting trips, I was impressed by the foresight and planning our future hometown has. This town has about 30 parks, a huge beautiful library, a giant community recreation center, baseball/soccer fields, and a skate park all connected by a walking path. And get this, the sidewalks in the rest of the city are plumb and square! What the, whoa! I told myself that when we get moved, it will be so nice to be able to walk to the store for my daily groceries or walk to a park or to a library. Especially once I can find a nice stroller. Preferable a fancy expensive one. Then I realized that there really is nothing stopping me from doing it now. You know, in my current location. The sidewalks, if present, are not exactly perfect, but they're somewhat functional. My stroller is not fancy- it is a simple umbrella stroller from when the boys were little. We got rid of our good one when Caitlyn was little because we were done having children. But the wheels turn, and obviously, it's not going to fall apart on me any time soon. So we started walking. Each morning, Caleigh and I walk to my workout center so I can weigh, then walk over to Wally World for our dinner shopping, then walk home. We take our time, often stopping to admire flowers or pick up feathers. We spend anywhere from 90 minutes to two hours "out and about" running errands. It's nice.

I also started "seriously" running this week. I run about an 11:30 mile. It's not great, and I have to slow down here and there, but it feels good to have that time under 12 minutes. My goal is to run in the town's turkey trot 5k at Thanksgiving and have a time under 31 minutes. That's a pace of right at 10 minutes per mile, which should be doable. I also hope to be in good enough shape that I don't have to slow down, just keep on truckin'. We'll see about that one. That mostly depends on how well my cardio training goes.

After the kids go to sleep, I've started running around our block a couple of times. I can see how people get addicted to running, especially on the road. When you get done, the endorphins are pumping, the sweat's dripping, and your body feels so strong, like "heck yeah, I just did this!" It's one of those sports where your success or failure is all on you- either you trained enough and applied yourself enough to get the time you wanted or you didn't. There is nobody there to screw it up for you. I don't think I'll ever really consider myself a "runner". My interests lie more in lifting and strength training. But running definitely has its place in my weight loss arsenal, and I'll need to run to get and maintain the body I want.

I'm trying to get rid of my excuses in other aspects of my life as well. Want a happy marriage? No more excuses, be happy, supportive, and loving- NOW. Want a clean house? Well then, get up and clean it. Or teach your kids to clean it. Or some combination of both. Want a kickass career? Make the phone calls, do the research, and network like crazy. The Good Lord will bless you with what you want and promises to open the windows of heaven to you, but if you don't even want it enough to make a rudimentary effort to accomplish your goals, why should s/he?

What are your excuses? What do you really want to do, but there always seems to be an excuse in your way?