This is only the beginning...

January 2 I went bowling with my three sisters, brother, and friends. As you can see I threw the ball perfectly into the gutter avoiding destruction.

This picture captured an error causing the ball to simply make its way down the gutter and back up to me. And while the ball made its way back I went on my knees shouting “Nooooo!” 

I got up, laughed, walked over to the ball, picked it up, and I had another chance to start over.

January had only started and I had already set myself up for a challenge. In December I signed up for a 10 mile race taking place in May 2012. As a short distance runner ONLY it took a lot of convincing to sign up. Do you want to know what finally made me decide to go for it? 

I am in the beginning of a lot of things right now. The “seeds” I have planted are taking time to grow and it will be some time before they grow into fruit bearing trees. I can not get frustrated or impatient as long as I stay focused. I have come to a wonderful place of acceptance, yet I can not deny that once in a while I have one of those days. I get impatient and I worry. Is everyone right, should I have a back up plan? Is following my dream unrealistic? And so I decided to add a challenge into the mix, this 10 mile race. I can not NOT train if I want to do the race. I HAVE to train and January was the beginning.

My first step was with Sara Ivanhoe and her awesome Yoga Workout DVD. I worked out for free and this is what I did: 15 days of Yoga, 4 Easy Jogs, and 3 Turbo Jam Cardio workouts. As you can see I focused on yoga. Personally, working out is fun and I enjoy it. 

I want to be an example for you by showing you how you can be busy but still have time to give your body what it needs through exercise. I used to be scared of yoga because of my lack of flexibility. I am much more flexible but still belong at beginner level. That’s ok! I keep doing it.

This is only the beginning of many wonderful things to come. Keep dreaming! I do. Keep doing the work. I do!

Oh and... about that bowling. I may have thrown a gutter ball once or a twice, but I also had a few strikes. I had a few spares. This particular day I was one of the best players. I had a lucky day :)  You know what, each time was a new opportunity to make up for the last mistake. It didn’t matter whether or not I had a strike or gutter ball the last time. All that mattered was how I focused when it was my turn again. 

Training for the 10 mile will be like that. The runs are short distances right now but next month they will get longer. I still can’t believe I will be running 10 miles. Right now there is no way I can do it, but each day that goes by will add up just like each turn in bowling. Just like the final score of bowling surprised me so will May 26 when I finally do run 10 miles. Welcome to my journey!