Balanced and Hoppy… I Mean Happy

I spit a hard game about a Party Time + Run Time methodology as my “healthy balance” in life.  I think that’s been established.

But I’m not 19 21 anymore.  It hurts trying to hang with my past party self, yet I stupidly keep thinking I can go rage in my old can-crushing, liquor-shooting ways.

Reality check : I wouldn’t go to the weight room and try to max rep what I did in my college softball conditioning days, would I?  F no, I wouldn’t be able to walk or dress myself for weeks.  I throw around my little 8 lb dumbells, do a few girl push ups and call it a strength sesh.  Enough to keep my arms from flapping when I drive with the windows down, which is all I feel compelled to need.

Why am I telling you this?  Is this some sort of booze-guilt confessional?  Did my liver make me write this, like when your mom would make you write an “I’m sorry” letter to your teacher when you lied about your dog running away and that’s why you missed that word on your spelling test, because you were so sad he was gone?

(that happened)

((the lie and missed word, not the dog actually running away))

Well partly because I don’t want to start getting recruitment calls from Alcoholics Anonymous.

But mostly, I want y’all to know that while I’m serious about bettering my running, I’m still advocating beer as a food group healthy balance.  Going on benders every weekend won’t make my goals any easier to achieve, but a party here and there won’t completely derail my hard work.

Once Upon a (L)ime is about “the life between the miles”.  Running isn’t EVERYTHING, but it is an important to me.  As are many other things – like my family and friends and laughing and frozen yogurt – and sometimes those things pair well with alcohol, and I’m not mad about it.

Actually, all those things pair very well with alcohol.

I’m not saying life would end without an adult beverage every now and then, or that my social life circles solely around hoppy watering holes, but eliminating it isn’t really something I’m interested in experimenting with.  If beer (or cake, or trash tv, or picking your nose) adds positive points to your quality of life, then find a sensible way to enjoy it and be a happy nose picking part of society.

Yes my training took a quick backseat during Jambo, and yes it hurt getting back into it, but here I am – Tempo’ing, treadmill hills’ing, and yoga’ing.  Some extra water, vitamins, and sleep and things are completely back to normal.

So don’t expect a sudden drop in post-run IPA pics or tweets about “it’s wine for dinner again!” when CIM training starts in a few weeks (Aug 12).  I found my balanced happy place, and it works.

Sarah OUaL