Nothing To Do With Apples

This post is not about apples. I've just been eating a lot of apples lately, I'm really tired, and I couldn't find a photo that fit. So, here are some Granny Smiths.

I am so tired. My body hasn't adjusted to this exercise yet. I'm trying, but regaining fitness a second time is almost as hard as getting there the first time. I vow to never let myself get distracted enough to lose sight of my goals again.

I was watching a former Biggest Loser winner on TV last week. He was participating in an Iron Man competition, but he was not in his former Biggest Loser-winning shape (he was a chubby boy). He finished, but missed the cut-off by mere minutes. At one point, he's in the running portion (the running portion is the distance of a marathon) and the sweep-up vehicle goes by. He's warned that he'll have to pick up the pace or be "swept" off the course. He digs in, crosses the finish line, his wife (also a former Biggest Loser contestant) runs over and hugs him, she's crying. He explains how he believes that it is important for everyone to at some point do something that they feel they cannot accomplish, to push the body beyond it's limits.

I could never complete an Iron Man. I could work toward a marathon and I've always wanted to do a Sprint triathlon, but the time it would take to train for something like an Iron Man is insane. I'm a single parent - I'm the only eyes on the case around here. My kids would run wild and be left to live on Cheetos and Diet Coke. Okay, not really, but I do tend to greet each new idea with an instant NO! I can't! I'm working on changing that. My idea is to live bigger, to move beyond my usual barriers. I'm a creative girl, I can figure out how to make it work. (See how I pep talk myself there??)

Giving birth is similar to an Iron Man in a way. There's this point where you are so exhausted, you are sure that if you could just stop and take a break for a bit that you'd be able to get your second wind, but it doesn't work that way. You labor when you labor, you push when it's time to push, because whether you are ready or not, that baby has got to come out. You are simply pushed beyond your limits by necessity. Maybe when I am feeling tired I should remind myself that I have completed something much harder before, in fact I did it three times.