It’s a Big Week

There are lots of cool things happening this week. My father-in-law is having a birthday (Happy Birthday, Sandy!). My cousin Tana is graduating from high school (Congrats, T!). We are celebrating my mom’s birthday, though it was actually last week, and Tabby is starting her climbing class (charmingly called “Geckos”).

But the big world has a couple of neat events going on this week too. Today and tomorrow you can see an almost once-in-a-lifetime event, the Transit of Venus. This means that Earth’s and Venus’ orbits will overlap and for about 6 hours and you will be able to see Venus as a dark spot on the sun. Folks in CO will be able to see it starting around 4 PM today (using one of these safe methods or via a live webcast). Though it happened just 8 yrs ago, it will not happen again for another 117 years and while I’m planning to be around, I figure I better check it out this go around just in case.

So that’s today. Then there’s tomorrow. Tomorrow is National Running Day! Can I get a YAY??? It’s a day to celebrate the sport of running and encourage others to give it a try. Their campaign got me thinking about why it is that I run. It’s many reasons for me:

1. for physical fitness – you’d be hardpressed to find a more effective calorie burning workout out there
2. because I like to eat – and I don’t want to be tied to super strict eating just to maintain my healthy weight!
3. because it’s fun – I truly enjoy my miles with buddies or solo on the treadmill
4. because it’s therapeutic – running erases all the stress that accumulates over the course of a day.
5. to enjoy the outdoors – I can’t tell you all the beautiful views I’ve seen during my runs.

but it all boils down to one thing: I run to feel great! All of those reasons come together and makes me feel awesome! I never regret a run, even a “crappy” run. I am always glad I put in the effort. If you haven’t ever given running a fair shake before (think laps around the track in gym class – that’s no way to build enthusiasm for running, IMHO), I really encourage you to give it a try. Couch to 5K is a great place to start.

To celebrate National Running Day, I will be going for as long a run as I am able to fit in tomorrow morning before work. I would rather be doing a nice run date with Matt or a group run with my girlfriends or checking out a new trail, but Wednesdays are tricky and a solo treadmill run will have to do. It’s still a run!