Choices

Today was a hard day of training. It was hard because I had to make a hard decision: do I run, or not?

When I went to the exercise room, there was a man already using the treadmill. He said he'd be 25 more minutes, when I asked him. Keep in mind, I'm in Fresno right now and it's a HOT Memorial Day. I may be a runner, but I'm not crazy enough yet to run outside at 2pm. So, I went home, and decided to eat some lunch because I was really hungry. It wasn't a huge meal. It's just, I can't run after I've eaten. I have to wait a whole hour, or I get sick. Ugh. So, an hour and a half later, I tried again. This time, there were TWO people in the exercise room - one on a treadmill.

Here it was: decision time. I could turn around, go home and call it quits for the day, or I could bite the bullet and exercise on the ellyptical until Mr. Running-Pants got off the machine. I decided to do the ellyptical. Fifteen minutes later, and seriously sweating because I'm not an ellyptical girl, the guy got off the treadmill and I finally had my chance. By this point, though, I was feeling a bit tired. So, here's what I did:

15 minutes on the ellyptical (670 calories burned - haha. I doubt the machine was accurate).
5 minute warm-up walk
3 minutes running
3 minutes walking
3 minutes running
5 minute cool-down walk

Total exercise time: 34 minutes
Total treadmill time: 19 minutes
Total distance ran/walked: 1.38 miles

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After I came home, I stretched (which is a BORING activity, if you ask me, but necessary). To help pass the time I read an article from a magazine. Overall, it was a pretty straightforward piece about talents and choices. One part stood out, though. The article said, "Our choices have the undeniable power of transforming our lives."

Of course, I knew this before I read the article. But, the statement got me thinking about what the results of that transformation are. I began to ask myself the following questions:

1. How are my choices tranforming my life?
2. Is that transformation for good, or is it for ill?
3. Beyond their affect upon me, how are my choices transforming the lives of others?
4. Are those transformations for good, or ill?
5. What can I do today to ensure that my choices always transform my life, and the lives of others, for good?

I know, perhaps a bit deep for a blog. Still, it really got me thinking. Suddenly, I was really glad I had exercised. I sat there and thought, "Well, if nothing else, I ran today - that's a good transformation. That's right, I ran today."

I almost wimped out when faced with a teeny challenge, but in the end I didn't. That choice today, and the many future choices to run in the face of any challenges, will continue to transform my life for the better. If I'm sure of nothing else, I'm sure of that.