I’ve come to truly love running. I honest to goodness do. The feeling you get after mile three on like a six mile run while inhaling the fresh air outside and exhaling anxiety has come to be a life-line for me. I LOVE IT.

So why, then, have I been so resistant lately to going to the gym or going for a run when I love it so much? Partially, I know it’s just because you always feel some level of resistance when you’re training your body for anything. But this has been different lately. I want to workout and maintain and improve my fitness, but I just don’t have time to spend 1.5-2 hours at the gym to get in both a good run and a good lifting session. I’m lucky if I have 45 minutes to spend at the gym right now, and I don’t like that I have to choose between a 5 mile run and lifting.

Plus, to be honest, I workout in large part for vanity reasons. I’m in the entertainment industry. Part of my job is to stay fit. And I’m just not believing that running non-stop every time I’m at the gym is the best way to stay fit.

Then I got on stupid Facebook and an old acquaintance of mine posted this article. 

And it makes a lot of sense. And it confirms things my extremely fit boyfriend have already been telling me. And it confirms what I’ve been feeling in my own experience and in my own body. Damn

Not to mention, it brings up that you can screw up your thyroid by over-doing it. I’ve got thyroid issues with all the women in both sides of my family, so I know genetically there’s some thyroid shit coming down the pipeline. And I want to do everything in my power to avoid a disaster. And running looks like it hurts more than it helps. Damn.

I’ve got a race next Sunday that will be extremely challenging. Not only because it’s a challenging course, but I really haven’t had the time to train for it like I should have. I will not set a PR on this one. I’ve accepted that. My goal is just to finish and to have been running the entire time. Not fast, not crazy, not hard- just keep running (just keep swimming).

And starting a little bit this week but going hardcore next week, my training will make a huge shift. I’m going to focus like crazy on lifting and doing some HIIT (High intensity interval training) work. And there will be no more distance running.

Well, maybe once a week a good 4 or 5 mile run. Just for the relaxation of it.

I’m hoping to see major changes in my body for the first time in a while. I’ll let you know how it goes.