Let's talk about camping for a second. I went camping this weekend in the middle of the state of Florida. I was all nervous that I'd be a shitty camper because I'd only been what I call "pseudo camping" once. Pseudo camping is this thing where you go canoeing 6 miles down a river to a pre-set up camp site (we set it up ahead of time) while drinking heavily, stopping at EVERY sandbar to make human pyramids and take photos of everyone jumping in the air at the same time. Then when you arrive at the "camp site" you go into a restaurant to clean up and eat dinner with all the other people who are also "camping." Then you retire to your site, drink significantly more and then pass out - some people pass out wrapped in Snuggies next to the fire while others actually make it into a tent. I should also point out that very few people owned the items necessary for this trip and most items were rented from REI. So yeah, I've pseudo-camped, but I hadn't camped before. I don't camp.
This weekend, I camped. I spent half a day in a canoe assisting (as little as possible, I'm a GIRL after all) in navigating a shallow creek. I took pictures of adult and baby gators we saw along the way. Also saw a snake. I cooked dinner on a little camping stove. I set up a tent. I helped build a campfire. I used a port-a-potty (come on now, I can't even pee in the ocean...I definitely can't pee in the woods!!!) I slept in a tent. I had instant coffee at breakfast. I hiked off-trails. I climbed trees. I cooked hot dogs over the campfire. I packed up a tent. I went camping. I enjoyed it. I'd thoroughly enjoy combining my experiences camping and "pseudo camping" sometime in the near future. If you're interested, let me know.
The other thing I don't do? Run. I ran in 7th grade when we had to run the mile once a semester. My personal best time was 9:56, by the way. So I was never a "good" runner. In high school when we would have fitness testing (this horrible thing the state of Illinois has where they grade us on our physical fitness levels) I would get a doctors note saying my knees were too unhealthy to run**. Instead, I rode a bike for 12 minutes. Obviously it was the easier route. FAST FORWARD to mid September 2013 when I decided I'd like to run a 5k before I'm 30 and, through discussions with my bff, Priscilla, chose to run the Color Vibe 5k in December. I decided I needed a training regimen to follow so I could run the entire 5k. I began on the first of October. I ran 1 minute increments with 1.5minute breaks. It was the hardest run ever. I followed the app on my phone to train 3 days a week with increasing intervals with increasing jogging sets. Today, just under 2 months later, I ran 3 miles. AND my pace beats my 7th grade mile run time, so eat that 12 year old me!"
The point of this blog - obviously other than me feeling the need to pat myself on the back publicly...twice... - is to encourage you (my reader) and myself to continue to push yourself to do the things that you "don't" do.
END.
**For the record, I do have bad knees. I was born with structurally incorrect knees that shows itself through the slow tearing and breaking of cartilage in my knee joints. I was given a long list of activities I "cannot" do due to this (and the pain from it). Running is 3rd or 4th on the list. I don't give a shit. Aleve works for the pain when I can't just ignore it and I'm more than okay with having titanium knees one day. I may as well use the shit out of the ones I have while I have 'em... At least that's my perspective on it.
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