Holiday Slow-Down
I went for a run today. As I went through my pre-run stretching routine, I mentally patted myself on the back for squeezing in a workout during my vacation. And in freezing-cold temperatures in Massachusetts, no less!
Sadly, my holiday diet of seasonal beer and peppermint stick ice cream pretty much set me up for failure. My body just wouldn’t cooperate. So as I felt the cramp growing in my stomach, I decided to make the most of it. If I couldn’t get my heart rate pumping as hard as I’d like, I could at least enjoy the fresh air and the quiet time.
I always look forward to being at home with my family, but it is also inevitably overwhelming. Sleeping in a different bed, without any independent transportation, no alone time…Needless to say, no matter how much a person loves family time, family time can also feel like a prison after a while. So I began to see my run/walk as an opportunity to do some writing in my head; to gaze longingly at the New England houses in my old neighborhood; to reflect on the visits with friends; to admire the snow and holiday decorations; to check in with how I’m feeling about…well, everything.
There were no great epiphanies, and I didn’t feel a figurative light bulb grow bright over my head. But I listened to my body enough to slow down. I realized that the workout wasn’t as important as the experience. Maybe I wasn’t meant to go for a run after all. Burning calories wasn’t as important as claiming some “me†time. Something that I didn’t even know that I needed until I got it.