Giving Up to Receive

It's odd to train for a marathon. Your entire life changes. Your life slowly but surely begins to revolve around training. Running. Hydrating. Giving things up. First it's the candy. Then it's the extra dessert. Then it's the fast food. Then it's sleep. Then it's hanging out with non-running friends. Then it's sodas. Then it's alcohol. Then it's living in a painfree state. And the list goes on.

No! You can't have that! But you can have...

As of July 1 I have given up many of the above: fastfood (Dunkin Donuts excluded), candy, dessert every day (DunkDonuts excluded), sodas, alcohol. I will continue to give up things as the 120 days from now until the Marine Corps Marathon becomes my reality.

Although, am I really giving things up? Yes. The short answer is yes. Don't delude yourself. I'm giving a crapton of stuff up. And I want to be clear about that. HOWEVER. . . there is a flip side to this deprivation and it is in the receiving.

I am receiving a healthier way of living. Oh, how nice that sounds. Blahblahblah, sounds like Jillian, my former Spin Coach Liz or my former running buddy Trino when I say that. But it's true. I'm the oldest male in my family that's not on a plethora of health-related pills like high blood pressure, cholesterol, heart rate, gout meds, etc, etc, etc. I went to the doctor a couple months ago and she said my heart rate registered "abnormally low" on the EKG...because my heart is a well-tuned muscle that doesn't have to work as heard.

hmm, what am I gaining again? Right: My life!

When I am in training, yea, I give stuff up but what I gain in return is so much more. I gain the immeasurable benefits of spending hours a week in reflection and pushing my limits. I gain more water consumption (ick!) to stay hydrated. I get back in tune with listening to my body's aches, pains, needs and wants. I gain a healthier outlook on life, in particular my own. I always attract a few new running buddies along the way. I stretch out more. I gain another accomplishment that is dependent solely on my commitment to the end goal. The stuff I give up, truly, is just crap (literally and figuratively) weighing me down. What I gain allows me to move forward, nee, PROPEL MYSELF FORWARD in life so much easier, safer, healthier and possibly longer.


So Sunday, as I was contemplating why the heck I was training for my 3rd marathon, why am I giving so much up..i realized, it's so that I can gain so much more. Or at least that's my 26.2 cents worth.