Why Now?

I have been thinking lately about my health and my ability to do physical things. I think I may be in the best shape I have ever been. It is a nice feeling, it's invigorating. I am running and I enjoy it, I look forward to it. I am following a 10k training program right now that has me running 3 times a week and doing cross/strength training another 3 times per week. I have started using hand weights and I find that oddly enjoyable as well. If you had told me 17 years ago that I would not only be able to do these things, but that I would like it, I am pretty sure I would have smiled at you and in my head tried to figure out how to get away from you because you were CRAZY!

17 years ago I was a Junior in High School, I hadn't done any thing physical in PE for over 2 years, because my freshman year I discovered that if you were the Manager of a sports team it counted as a PE credit and you never had to run! I thought I was a genius and anyway running made me sick. I would hyperventilate, I had even thrown up at the feet of the track coach after finishing a 1/2 mile run. I also tended to sprain my ankles easily. Physical Education was not for me.

As the years went on I did start to walk. I am a very good walker. I can walk fast. Walking is good exercise. Eventually I did start to run and to my surprise I did like it, but I ran at my own pace and for the first few years that pace was kind of slow, about 4.3 miles per hour. I was passed by someone who was walking during a 5k once. I didn't mind. I knew I was doing my best and I enjoyed it.

Baby B did something amazing for me. He changed me. If it hadn't been for baby B I might never have gotten gestational diabetes and it is the diabetes scare that gave me the kind of push I needed to get it in gear and really get healthy. After baby B I can run faster and farther than ever, I don't know how he did it but I am pretty sure it is all because of him. I am currently running at a pace between 10:30 and 10:45 per mile, (I figure that is around 5.5-5.7 miles per hour?) and I have run over 6 miles and felt great. It feels like a miracle to me. I don't understand how it happened, why I feel like I have made such an amazing leap, it really must just be Baby B.

So I have been thinking about all these things and wondering, why now? Why could I not do these things when I was young? You are supposed to be in the best shape when you are young right? So why do I feel like I am in the best shape now. Why is it so easy now? I do not believe that life is just a series of coincidences, I don't believe that life is just one big chain reaction. I know that my life has its own definite plan, I am interested in discovering why this is part of my plan.

I am quite happy with it, I am not complaining. I feel very blessed that I have the ability to run, that I was given the opportunity to have a nutritionist during my pregnancy and that I have been able to change the way I (and my family) eat and that I am seeing some very good results from my efforts. I have just been thinking, wondering. I am interested in knowing how this will all work out. Maybe in the end I will just be healthy. Maybe I will be healthy and I will be able to help other people find a similar joy that I have found. For now, I just feel blessed.