Viva La Off-Season

Running has a lot of benefits people don't tell you about. Sure, you've heard about bone density, muscle endurance, increasing your oxygen intake, weight loss... the ability to eat tons of ice cream and still look stick thin (assuming you were stick thin to begin with, but I digress). But I think there's one you don't often hear about:

Running, and the health benefits it gives you, causes you to want to keep that up. Running makes you healthy, and, in turn, you want to do other things that make you healthy.

I am really proud of all the positive changes I have made. I have stopped drinking soda, and mostly only drink water or tea and the occasional beer, wine, or latte (notice I said "occasional" - so not daily like I used to before I started running). I pretty much stopped eating meat except for special occasions and instead seek out soy protein, dairy, more vegetables, and grains to keep my body healthy from the inside out. I go to bed before 11 most nights, I don't drink very much when I go out, and I usually only watch interesting things on TV and not just crap to fill my time. I even started taking better care of my skin! And, best of all, I am not spending my off-season sitting on my butt in front of the TV eating everything in sight - tennis, weight lifting, walking, cycling, swimming, yoga, pilates. Trying lots of new things and loving every minute of it. I am even looking into fun things to do on my upcoming cruise that involve getting out and having some fun - can you imagine me on a zip line in the jungle? :o)