A stunning victory...

After a 5-1 victory last night in my soccer game, I was back at the gym this morning bright and early. The spring semester starts today, which means no more lolly-gagging in the morning with my coffee and perhaps getting to the gym at, oh, say, 11 A.M. Nope. Today I was up and at 'em at 6am, out the door by 6:35, and on the treadmill at 7. I ran my *normal* intervals: 2 minutes running, 1.5 minutes walking, and, at the end, I was pooped, but I wasn't feeling ill or anything like that.

I include that last part of the sentence ("but I wasn't feeling ill...) for my mother's sake, who, as a good mother, reads this blog every day (or almost every day). I opened up my email earlier, and I saw her name and the subject line was "A mother's advice." I thought, "Uh-oh. I think she's read my blogs about struggling to get to the gym." And, I was right. Ever the lovely, caring mother that she is and always has been, she told me to 'take it easy.' Of course, she doesn't want me to hurt myself, and we both understand that, sadly, I'm not 16 anymore (although, I'm in better shape now than I was at 16!). Anyway, God love her. I expect emails like that from my mother (that's for you, Mom. Lest you think I'm trying to tell you to stop :) ). That's what Moms do, right? Remind us to take care of and to be good to ourselves. I love the fact that my mom reads this blog, and I love that she's already sent me an email suggesting a half marathon to run down south near her. The support is what keeps us going.

Last night's soccer victory was a victory in many ways. The first, of course, is the score. We won. It was a tough game, very physical, and we persevered. Go us! The second victory is my endurance level. I was expecting to be winded after the first 5 seconds, as was the case during the first winter indoor session in November-December. But, I am happy to write that I played A LOT last night (that is, I didn't need to call on my sub all that much), and, though I was tired, I wasn't dragging like I used to. I'm VERY happy about that. I love playing soccer, and last session was really telling. I knew every Sunday, as I slogged my way down the field, that I was out of shape and not doing myself any favors by not eating well, working too much and not exercising. Now, I feel MUCH better.

I have never wanted my weight or my physical health to dictate what I do or don't do. I have never wanted to say to myself, "Well, I can't do that because I'm too out of shape or too this or too that." I want to look at every activity in the world and know that I CAN do it even if I don't WANT to do it. If I want to skydive, then I want to strap on the chute and go for it. I don't want to be told that I'm too heavy or too this or too that. And, that's how I feel about soccer. I don't want to tell myself that I'm not in good enough shape to play. Now, I feel like I'm doing something good to keep myself playing and staying on the field. Last night was a HUGE shot in the arm.