Mid May Review

So I was suppose to do my first half marathon of the season on May 1 (Sunday). Due to the fact that I ran wayyyy to much the week of the race and I stayed out until almost midnight the night before the race, there was no way it was happening. I justified it to myself by saying that it was forecasted to be really windy that day and me and contacts do not do wind well. Even though I do not run these races with the intention on making a personal record, I was a little disappointed in myself for not going through with it.

So to redeem myself, the next day I signed up for the Chicago 13.1 scheduled for June 4th. I'm hoping that the weather is nice and warm (at least low 60's in the morning). And I've learned that I simply cannot be running 8-10 miles the week of the race. There is a reason why the training plans have you taper off the weeks leading up to a race.

May 6th was my 37th birthday. 37. Wow I honestly don't know where the time went. I do not feel like I'm 37 and I don't think that I look that old (not that 37 is old but come on, I'm closer to 40 than 30!) It is hard for me to digest that. I am in probably the best shape of my life (although I still could lose 20 lbs) but I never ran a half marathon until the age of 36.

The hardest part to accept is that I can see how my face has aged over the last 10 years. I compared a picture of me and my BF from when we met (8 years ago) to a recent one and you can see the lines at the sides of my eyes and my mouth. I do wish that I took better care of my skin when I was in my 20's and not abused the sun as much as I had. I pray that I don't pay for that later in the form of skin cancer.

In looking back over the last 20 years, here's what I wish I would have done differently:
1) Never gotten out of shape. I'm glad I don't have kids because I would obsess about their weight. Once you gain those fat cells they will NEVER go away and you will battle the bulge for the rest of your life.
2) Never abused the sun
3) Never got married at 26 or to the guy I ended up marrying (and thus divorcing after 3 years)
4) Lived downtown or out of state for a period of time just to see what that life would have been like. I don't know if I would have enjoyed it but at least I could have experienced it.
5) Dated more guys. I am a long termer. All my relationships lasted at min 3 years. First boyfriend/first love - 3 years starting at the tender age of 18. Next guy was my ex husband, total rebound which lasted 6 years. Then I had a whole 3 months out on my own where I probably had the wildest time of my life with a guy that was all wrong for me but who was super hot and occupied all my free time on a daily basis for the entire summer. Then I met my current boyfriend and have been with him ever since! He really is a keeper. Guys my age are either divorced with kids or if they've never been married, they are probably self absorbed (like me!) BF realizes he's super lucky to find a girl who is not worried about her biological clock and who is not the smothering type. Something must be working if we've made it this long.

Overall, I have no regrets over the last 37 years. I pray that I have at least 37 more if not more than that. I hope to live a long healthy life from here on out! I'm extremely blessed and I will never forget to thank God for that every day.