running...for my life

I run.  I've run for many years.  In high school my coaches assumed, based on my physique(can you say long chicken legs?) that I was a distance runner.  Of course, I'm slow and have no muscle mass to be able to run fast.  But, I do like to run...some.  I generally run 2 miles 4 days a week. No pushing myself to do more or try harder.  My younger sister,Emily, recently became a running beast!  Last May she began running, lost 40 pounds, and recently ran a 1/2 marathon--insane!

This past Saturday I ran a really fun 5K with friends from work.  In case you can't tell...I'm the glowing white legs with the safety cone orange tshirt.  We have a runner's group at work and our Tshirts say "Cardiac ICU...We run for our lives"

I'm more and more motivated to push myself harder physically.  Guys, I'm going to be so darn blunt here...for your good, of course.  I've been a nurse for 17 years.  The last 10 of it has been in a cardiac unit.  Americans are killing themselves!  No sense in trying to be politically correct to spare feelings.  I'm trying to spare lives.  My patients are morbidly obese, don't exercise, eat total crap, have high blood pressure and diabetes. They expect popping a pill to fix all their ailments.  Guess what?  If  you eat fat, greasy food...you'll be a fat, greasy dude!  I have 29 year old patients with heart attacks who get stents.  Yesterday, I sent a 32 year old man to open heart surgery to have a bypass.  Diabetes will cause blindness, kidney failure, loss of limbs and much more.  Smoking is BAD people.  I also teach the Congestive Heart Failure class for patients and their families.  Canned vegetables are not really veggies...they are smushy veggies bathed in a salt mixture.  30 oz Big Gulps full of soda are exorbitant in sugar and sodium.

I have the key to good health and it is SO cheap!  Want to know???

Drink WATER
Get up off your BUTT
Eat real vegetables.

My kids get spinach and grated carrots hidden in their turkey meatloaf.  Not eating broccoli because they don't like it is not a viable excuse.  You will eat it because I said so and I'm the boss!

And now, some free running tips, from my personal observations at 5Ks over the past many years:
Tiny spandex "shorts" are not attractive on anybody!!  When you run and your butt cheek hangs out the bottom of those "spanx" or whatever they are called...eeewwww

Pick up your feet.  When I'm running in a race, it totally grates on my nerves to hear someone shuffling along.  To run properly, you must pick up your feet and place them heel then rock to toe

Costumes look ridiculous.  Basic running wear people.  Let's keep it simple please.

Chugging a bottle of water while you run will backfire...trust me.

Nobody else wants to listen to your "motivational music."

Nothing cuter and more inspiring that adorable octogenarians running along and beating you...I'm half their age!  OH, that I'd be that spry in my winter years :)


Okay, I'm signing up for the Jailbreak DFW(5K with 20 obstacles) in September.  Anyone want to join me??