One Good Habit to Bring into 2012

If anyone reading this blog remembers me from my inception through the first part of college (which means pretty much everyone who reads my blog) then you remember a skinny-mini girl who played soccer every chance she got and ran twice as often. For most of my life I was a tanned young thing who practically lived outside. The only time I wasn't on a soccer field, track, or in a park was when I was injured and when I was injured all I wanted to do was run, frankly I was a little fanatical.

Then came the latter half of college (read: drinking a little more than the first two years, eating lots of pizza, Ramen and Chinese take-out) and working in an office (read: 1.25 hour commute, sitting at a desk snacking, not getting home until it was dark). I was tired and unmotivated, and despite friends at work, a pleasant working environment and all of that something was missing. Those 4 years or so made me to become a shadow of my once active self. I felt depressed, out of sorts, I became paler, I got a little rounder and I just wasn't the me I wanted to be.

Fast-forward to February of 2010. I finally decided I needed to change this downward trend. I officially quit my office job in favor for the unknown. I had started living with my boyfriend. I decided to stop caring about what other people thought I should do and start doing what seemed right. Yes it was and is scary not having a job. But now I get to write whenever and whatever I feel like. In any case, my main point is, things were starting to look up.

That spring, I joined a women's-only fitness bootcamp, which met at 5:30 am every weekday. Bootcamp was tough, I had to do things like run half of a mile with a 5 pound bag of sand, roll a tractor tire across a field, lift cement blocks, and many other crazy feats I would sometimes rather forget. I got whipped into shape, made some friends and continued on my upward trend. On a particularly cold, wet morning, I went for a run. It was pouring, the sun was not yet up, it was just me and the road. Most people will at this point think I am crazy. Who the hell gets out of a perfectly good bed to run in the rain at 6:00 a.m.? Me. And when I realized this, a sudden a well of emotion overcame me- I was myself again. Running on the road, in the rain, that was me, who I had been, who I wanted to be, who I was again.

This year I ran two half-marathons and a 10k with my sister. For 2012 I'm planning on running at least three half-marathons, the Broad Street Run, and three 10k's.

So, to get back to the title of this post- the good habit I plan on bringing into 2012 is my commitment to fitness, and, more specifically, running. Not only is running a good habit, but it's also something I am passionate about. With running there is always a sense of satisfaction, of accomplishment, of relief. Tied to that accomplishment is the knowledge that you can always improve and the drive push yourself.

What good habit(s) will you bring into 2012? Do your good habits define you? Do you need to re-focus on who you want to be and what you want out of life?

P.S. I MUST share this:

(((first two pics from Pure Insanity, last pic from Tumbler, but I lost the link, sorry!)))