Doing Life In Denver

Sea level is for sissy's!  ;-)

Yup that's right people who don't live a mile closer to the atmosphere, I'm calling you out!  Tonight I did another 5K, this officially makes 2 completed!  Although I'm still slow, mainly because I walk mostly...or fully, I know many people who wouldn't even attempt a 5K.  So I'm feeling pretty good about myself right now, something I couldn't say this morning.

This morning I woke up and wanted to nothing more than remain in bed till the sun set again.  All kinds of things have been happening with me.  My emotions are raw right now, and I figured if I didn't get out of bed, well  I could ignore the world and nothing else could happen.  Wishful thinking since I know the world doesn't work that way, but ya know sometimes we like to imagine.  Eventually I did get out of bed though, something that I have promised myself for years that I would always do.  Ignoring our problems doesn't make anything better.

It's funny, one of the first things I did when I got up was tweet, "Maybe I should have just stayed in bed today. :-("  I immediately got a response from a sorority sister, informing me that I couldn't, tonight was the Do Life Denver tour stop.  I've talked briefly about Ben and his Do Life movement before here, but to give you the short hand version Ben took control of his life and lost 120 pounds over the course of a year.  I had made a promise to my sorority sister Sara, since I was no longer in Louisville to attend that meet up, I had to attend this one and fill her in.  As much as I wanted to do nothing today, I knew I had to keep that promise.

So I ventured to a park I had never been to, to meet up with people I had never met before, and to participate in an impromptu 5K.  3.1 miles, a distance I hadn't done since last summer!  Not even on a treadmill or trail.  I was anxious to say the least, and fully expecting to not be able to do it.  I did though, all 3.1 miles, a mile above sea level!  Here's the really funny thing, I walk the whole thing, about a 22 minute mile pace give or take, and I was only about 5 minutes slower this time around than a year ago.  SERIOUSLY!!!!  I ran some of that 5K last year!!!  Maybe the few months that I've feared I lost ground, I didn't lose as much as I had thought!

After the run a lot of people went out to dinner (we ate the first ever Quiznos! Who knew they began in Denver?!?!) and I got the chance to talk to some amazing people.  Ben's dad "Pa" being one of them.  He's a teacher, and I ended up sitting at a table with other teachers...can you tell what we all talked about, lol.  It was great fun, I met great people, and I got re-inspired to keep doing what I'm doing.

You know what, I'm really glad I got out of bed today.  Yes, staying in bed would have been the easier thing to do, but the easiest thing isn't always what we need to be doing.  Tonight I was reminded of how good I feel when I really exercise, not just when I walk to the mailbox at my apartment.  When I began this journey my mindset was weight loss, and as I've said before that journey has taken many turns over the past year and a half.  But it's kind of funny, when I exercise I feel different, I see the world differently, and the weight loss is a bonus.

Thanks Ben, you are an inspiration to so many, including me.  You're just being you, and that's the most amazing thing about it.  Today being at the meet up that you put together got me out of bed, and I can't thank you enough for that.  =)