Road to Recovery – Popcorn and Horses

Do not eat Buffalo Wing and Ranch popcorn from Popcorn Haven mixed with Hot White Cheddar popcorn just before going on a 1.25 mile run. Trust me on this. It tasted great going down but a short time later…..well…you get the idea.

I am 25 days in to my personal challenge of running at least 1 mile a day for 30 days. I have accumulated approximately 33 miles thus far. When I started my 30-day run challenge there was ice on the ground. I have run through ice, snow, rain, wind, bitter cold, and sunshiny 70-something. I have run early in the morning but mostly late at night, sometimes just before midnight. I have run alone and with my Standard Poodle by my side. I have run while at home and while on the road away on work trips. I have run when I didn’t feel good, when I was beyond exhausted, and when my neck ached so badly I wanted to lay my head down on a pillow and cry. Through it all I have run. And I’m so glad I have. Only 5 more days to go.

Really, though, I’m seriously considering adding another 30 days to my challenge. I mean, I’ve come this far, why stop now?  How long does it take to form a habit? That’s how far I need to go with this. Make it a habit.

There’s really something to the “small bite” philosophy. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. My husband reiterates this to me from time to time when I’m attempting to accomplish some insanely huge business achievement before getting mired in the bigness of it all.  He’s right. How do you run 30 miles? One mile at a time. It’s not terribly difficult.

I want to give a shout out here to Zoya Thomas, a groomer in CA that I don’t believe I’ve ever actually met. But thanks to social media making the world a really, really small place, Zoya has inspired me to do this “30 Miles, 30 Days” challenge. So to her I say, “Thank you!”

On another note, my eating habits have been terrible since we were at APF earlier this month. Mostly because I’ve either been traveling or too busy to go to the store to buy the right food and then actually prepare it. I’ve had bigger lattes and eaten restaurant food way too much. The naturopath is going to fuss at me about this when I go back in a few weeks for my next check up.

But…the herbs for the sinus/allergy thing are doing wonders. Yay! And I have to admit that even the neck and shoulder pain is less excruciating. The fact that I can sit at my kitchen table and write this post is proof of this. I’ve been vertigo free for the longest period of time that I can recall in the past 4+ years. I’m going to chalk this up to the herbs and other goodies my naturopath has been loading me up with. Another yay!

Sleep/RLS issues… well, it has been concluded that my brain needs synthetic dopamine in fairly high doses to be able to shut down and not give my limbs the wrong messages at night. Unfortunately herbs and other natural remedies cannot even begin to have an effect on my dopamine levels despite numerous creative attempts to make this happen. It is what it is. I am thankful there are dopaminergic meds to alleviate this problem so I can actually sleep. Through this latest trial time I have been reminded all to well of the sleepless years I had long before RLS was something anyone knew anything about. Sleep is a wonderful thing! Treasure it, you who are blessed with easy sleep. Treasure every second of it. For some of us, sleep is an elusive life necessity, found only with the use of expensive drugs with side-affects.

I spent today on the back of my beloved Paso Fino, Whit. I had the pleasure of being accompanied by Alicia Ellis, one of the current students at the National Cat Groomers School. We rode 4 hours in saddle at the Biltmore Estate. It was sunny and 70 degrees. It was peaceful. A lovely day at the end of a particularly trying week. There are many things I am thankful for as I look back upon this past week and am reminded that our lives are but a vapor. Savor each moment. Live each day to the fullest. Take time to smell the flowers or ride your horse or have a nice conversation or breath in the beauty that surrounds us no matter where we are. Be thankful for the little things and the big things. And don’t put off for tomorrow that thing you’ve been dreaming of forever. There comes a day when we don’t have tomorrow anymore.