Fly, You Fools

One of my goals for 2009 was to get in better shape. Part of that was to be able to run 3 miles by the end of February.

The end of February has come and gone and I haven’t run three miles, but I am consistently running two miles three times a week, and I’m extremely happy about it. For now, I’m going to stay there, since it takes about the amount of time I want to spend running and also more than that starts to get boring. Maybe one of these days I’ll try out three, but for right now, two consecutive miles feels like a big success to me.

A few things have made a difference for me, I think.

First off, I’m taking my iron pills virtually every day. I have one bottle at work and one at home, so it’s easy for me to take them (weekends are the hardest for me to remember). This alone has changed everything. I no longer feel my lungs trying to burst open in my chest and I can’t remember the last time I had a fainting spell.

I’m also getting a consistent seven hours of sleep a night and going to bed at a close to normal time on the weekends as well. I hate it when we stay up until two a.m. on Friday or Saturday nights. Yuck.

I’m also eating better than I have in years. I have a banana/blueberry/oat muffin every morning for breakfast and sometimes a fruit and yogurt smoothie to go along with it. Eating breakfast every single day is a big change for me (I haven’t eaten breakfast most days since I was a sophomore in high school).

We also went off fast food this year, which means it is absolutely crucial that we have lunches packed for our ten or more hour days on campus and at work. I’ve made a big effort to cut down the carbs in our lunches and increase the protein-rich items without making it difficult to assemble. Right now it is generally a yogurt, string or Laughing Cow cheese, apples, carrots, pretzels, hummus, peanut butter sandwich, and a granola bar. Quick and delicious.

I feel stronger and better than I have in ages. I can run. This feels as miraculous to me as flying.