Have A Little Faith in We

Sorry guys for the delay! I wrote this on Friday, but due to some internet issues while traveling…. and then a recovery day at home yesterday its a bit late!

One of my favorite things about being a blog follower is how the experience goes from just following along to eventually feeling like you are taking advice from a friend. As a result of my love for blogs, I have purchased clothes, tried hair styles, decorated mantles, read books, organized my office, discovered health tricks, and become inspired in countless ways! Reading about a solution that an everyday person, just like me, finds enriching to their lives has been really helpful – so here on HALF I thought I would get in on the info sharing action and include a weekly favorites post!  Each week I will share one of my favorites things! The topic areas will range from favorite clothes to organizing solutions to health tricks. Really anything that I feel we just can’t live without – or would really not want to – at the Bessette home and maybe you can find something you love too!

Well I am sitting at the airport on my way back home after my 2017 Annual Conference. This is always a big under taking that commences in one huge week of onsite work. Although hectic and you feel suddenly like your whole life gets put on hold while your in work mode both leading up to and on the trip – I absolutely love it. This week really is one of my favorite parts of my job and once it wraps up, I am tired – but also pretty darn excited to get back my life. Think of all that was accomplished to get to that meeting – that means I have so much time to get back when I am home. This year one of the things I am really looking forward to getting back to is running!

About 8 years ago I decided to give running a try. It seemed like such a easy form of exercise – throw on your shoes and go – and I was fascinated by the idea of training for a race. Atheltics has not really been a strong suit of mine – I like being active, I enjoyed basketball as a middle schooler and then cheerleading for half of high school, but besides that working out was just something I did, not that I loved – making the concept of running one that I admired, but figured “that’s just not me”. The fall of 2009 Danny’s cousin encouraged me to train for a half marathon and just go for it. If I really had been interested, whats the harm in just trying, plus the race she was thinking of was for Cystic Fibrosis. How could I say no? At that time she passed along a book by Jeff Galloway, and I decided to follow his plan. It was around September when I really kicked it off and by December I was hooked. I will never forget the day I was in a particularly grumpy mood about something and I said the words to Dan “I think its cause I haven’t had a chance to go on a run in a few days”. That afternoon I laced up my shoes, hit the pavement and the bad mood was flipped. Surprisingly, it seemed I had become a runner.

Over the years I have picked up and put it back down a variety of times. Each fall it seems I get motivated to start up again since I LOVE the feel of a run with a cool crisp breeze, surrounded by the beautiful fall foliage. But since about 2011 I just have not picked it up consistently. Life is getting ready to open up a bit for me and although its not fall, I am going to be starting back up again this coming week. Running helps me with the following: stress, anxiety, mood, OCD, weight management, muscle building, and overall feeling of strengthening. When I have had a few weeks of good runs and find myself feeling my muscles as I do the everyday tasks of life, it releases this great sense of appreciation for my body and pride for my efforts. Plus I am not just doing something for my health, but actively doing something for myself which can ward off those feelings of being trapped by life’s responsibilities.  The only hard part? Starting.

Each time I have returned to the method from that first time by, and just resigned myself to the fact that those first few runs are gonna be hard. But my brother introduced me to an awesome solution: the 5K running app! This little tool helps you work up to running, by integrating walking and running together to get your body acclimated back to running and provide a strong foundation to build on. Those first few runs are actually really pleasant and help you to get hooked to running a little easier. Plus it is designed for race training so you could really motivate yourself with the goal of a small race if you wanted.

If you have ever thought about running or are looking to get in shape, feel a little better, and train without having to figure a whole plan out on your own? I recommend running with the 5K app. Let’s go folks!

Thank you so much for reading and remember to make it a great day!

Jackie