Insanity

To summarize the past month and a half, it's been...winter. All of the stereotypical adjectives one would use to describe this season apply to what this year's winter has been. It's been unbelievably and consistently cold, both in Michigan, as well as in most of the country. Luckily the sun has been out a little more in the past two weeks or so, but otherwise it's been gray on top of all that, so 2014 thus far has certainly been a challenge for many. 

Right around the holidays, Ryan and I started talking about the idea of trying out an extreme at-home workout program, like Insanity. I think we both had our reasons for being interested in doing it, but we didn't discuss them fully. Instead, just after New Year's, we decided to give the first workout a try. We didn't discuss committing to the full 9 weeks, or what our plan of action was. We just wanted to try it out. 

So we did. The first workout we did was while we were snowed in at my parents' in New York, and after flying back to Michigan, we were snowed in/frozen in again...for four days. More or less stuck inside, each day we certainly had the time to workout, so we just did. 

Fast forward 6 weeks. January's work calendar looked a bit like a Picasso painting. Normally, I would have been completely thrown off by the lack of routine and schedule with so many days off from work due to the snow and cold. Having the days off made it a little easier at times to get into a good flow and routine with Insanity, which can be a bit much to do after a long day of work. And while I didn't anticipate many positives of the program in advance of doing it, I'm so appreciative of them now. 

On days when the high was a negative number, it felt really good to workout in the comfort of my living room and it sounds great, but it felt good to be hot and sweaty when it was so cold outside. I don't mind running in "cold" temperatures, but prior to this winter, I defined that as temperatures in the 30's, with a sprinkling of 20's to make me feel extreme. I didn't run at all during this program since it's six days of a week, and I have no idea how I would have. There are days when the sun is out and the cold can feel like refreshing...but most of these days weren't that. Regardless of the type of workout, I know it would have been very challenging to continue to incorporate any regular physical activity into my schedule during these cold weeks without Ryan by my side. It's been so helpful doing it with him, and has really kept me accountable. 

The closer to the end we get, the harder it's becoming for me, but I'm proud of how far we have come and impressed that we somehow got to this point. Here's to finishing it out! 

Hope Express Reflections

As I type this, the 2014 Hope Express team is making their way from Hershey to Penn State....by foot. I wrote a similar post around this same time last year, about how being so far from an event that is so close to me leaves me with so many emotions. As I obsessively follow the team's travels via social media, I'm transported back to my own experiences from 2011 and 2012. While there are so many moments in life that I love and hold close to me, I always refer back to the "magic" and those feelings from those two nights. I think for me, it's the selflessness that comes along with an event such as this. Similar to THON, people who were virtually strangers prior to the event are suddently doing literally ANYTHING for one another. I'm lucky to have friends and family who I've known for years who I know would bend over backwards for me, and I for them, but seeing people come together for a common purpose, people who otherwise may never had, is such a pure example of the human spirit. In our daily lives, we can lose track of that and reliving my experiences with THON and Hope Express bring me back to that. It sometimes feels like finding your way again, even when you didn't even realize you were lost. 

I haven't run in close to two months now, and this definitely makes me feel a strong pull to. want to do so. The time away has been intentional, but thankfully not due to injury or anything forced. Nevertheless, it's diffferent feeling these emotions on a run than it is sitting here typing. Even the best emotions can be overwhelming and in the past few years, I've found that regardless of the feeling, running helps me to slow down and take it all in.

While I don't think it'll ever get easier to be this far from Hope Express, I'm easily reminded that it doesn't need to always be this way. My hope is that some years I'll return to the mix, while for others, I will remain there in spirit, cheering from afar. Regardless of where I am though, it's a comfort to know that during that 24 hour stretch each year, my heart will be on those roads, crushing those mountains, fighting this fight. We say that when cancer is no more, we'll run(/dance) for joy, but until then...everything we do is for a cure.