That Moment...

Ya know that moment when you finally make up your mind about something? It often follows a back and forth game between the thoughts in your head. Your inner voices battling it out between what you WANT to do and what you SHOULD do. And then, suddenly, your mind is made up. And whether you made the "right" decision or you made the "easy" decision, you are simply glad to be done contemplating the issue. 

This is Kendra, and I'm going to take a minute to share a Sparkle.Pounce. moment from a few days ago with you.

For the last two January's, our triathlon club has organized a challenge called the Polar Bear Century Club. The goal is to run, walk, and/or crawl a total of 100 miles in the month of January. It's a great motivator to keep people moving during the cold and dreary Michigan winter, and it raises money for charity. It's a win, win!

Well, this January has been brutally cold, and therefore, particularly difficult to get those miles in. Luckily, I own a treadmill (and YES, treadmill miles count...really, why wouldn't they?!?!). But, I also decided that now was a good time to start weight lifting. So, my body has been exceptionally tired and not really wanting to run (aka shuffle?) every day.

Thursday night I was feeling especially exhausted after a weight lifting class and then an evening of regular mom duties (cooking dinner, packing lunches, cleaning, laundry...) and I really just did not want to run. I had done my calculations for how much I needed to run each day in order to meet my 100 mile goal and had given myself Fridays off. So, I debated back and forth and just decided that I would run Friday instead of Thursday. (I'm a teacher and I was really hoping for a "cold" day on Friday!) Ahhh...decision made. 

So, as usual when I make important life decisions, I sent a text to the other Sparkle. Pounce. girls who are doing the Polar Bear Challenge. Here is how the text read, "I'm not running today. If I don't end up having a snow/cold day tomorrow I'm really going to regret it. But I had weight lifting today and I just Really. Don't. Want. To."  Honestly, I was hoping for an affirmation from them. Maybe an "Atta Girl!" for going to weight lifting. Nope. Here is what I got in return:

"Kendra. Just go run for at least one mile."
"I thought I was going to meet an early death at Crossfit tonight and it was by sheer miracle that I made it to the treadmill."
"Unless you don't feel well ;)"

WHAT?!?! That is not what I was expecting! Now what? I already had the shower started and was ready to call it a lazy night. So much for making up my mind. UGH!!! 

So, after a couple of texts back that may or may not have included things like, "I don't like you...", I put my running clothes on, went downstairs, and got on the treadmill. 4.5 miles later I felt like I had conquered the world. (Ok, maybe not the world, but definitely the lazy voice in my head!) 

Sometimes you need a friend to ignite the sparkle. So, thanks Stephanie!

Sparkle. Pounce. Conquer.