One of the greatest obstacles to developing a running habit is my travel schedule.  I made a last minute decision to drive 12+ hours last week to visit Erin and Hannah in New Orleans.  I even packed my running gear. 

Did I run?  Nope.

Oy.  I've gotta step this running thing up if I'm actually going to survive a half marathon.  That's 10.5 more miles than I can run now.  If anyone reads this, what has helped you stay disciplined?  How do you squeeze in runs when you're in an unfamiliar place?

I'm energized to start up again.  I went out today and plan on heading out tomorrow. 

Miles: 1.85
Time: 25 minutes
Cats spotted: Only one.  With a giant black splotch covering its nose.

Insights:  Being outside, jogging, is good for me.  I enjoy it when I'm out. 

Extra insights:  All that driving and listening to esoteric lectures that Brandon shared with me really drilled in the interconnectedness of all our struggles.  All of my work -- five different clients at this point -- all the inequity and injustice they are fighting all ties to the same root causes.  Political power and money controlled by a select few.  Manufactured consent -- our lives our designed to reinforce this power structure.  We need band aids but we also need to reclaim our lives as our own, our governments as ours, and our humanity as shared. 

In high school I joined the cross country team because I really wanted to do some kind of sport but was intimidated by the years of training and experience that the others required.  Cross country was different -- I had never run formally before my first practice, and I almost died when the coach sent all of us newbies out on an 'easy' 3 mile run. 

Four months later I could run a 3.1 mile race in under a half hour -- certainly no grand time achievement, but a vast improvement over my first day, so quickly out of breath from starting out way to fast.  By the end of the season I also met my first boyfriend.  So I had fond memories of running in high school.

Fast forward almost 15 years.  Running never became a "habit," though I've had a few sustained periods of increased physical activity.  Since I sit all day, I'm starting to feel a little too stiff for my liking. 

One of my Aril Consulting clients, the Vermont Workers' Center, is teaming up again with their close ally Migrant Justice and holding Exercise Your Rights, a crowdfunding campaign to raise money for the two organizations.  I am on the planning team and like last year will try to raise $1,000 from now til July. 

I'm going to run two races.  The first will be a 5k for Exercise your Rights.  But I want to keep up the momentum, because once I ran my race last August and drank that milkshake I'd been waiting for, I didn't run again.  This year I plan on running a half marathon in mid-September.  13.1 miles.  My goal -- to finish the race and more importantly, to make running a habit.   I love my caloric vices too much to give those up. 

Keep an eye on this blog for my progress and to cheer me on!