Ego, Take Notice. 2013 is the Year of Intuition. Part One.

Back in October, I vowed to run a half marathon in February. For me, and perhaps you, coalescing fitness into a goal gives the entire prospect a little more steam. They are some of the best gifts we can give ourselves, fitness goals. We eat better, sleep better, and feel better with them in our lives. If we’re lucky, fitness canaries emerge in the form of bigger playlists and grocery bills. They both get longer (and more fulfilling) the more dedicated we become.

On New Year’s Day, a coffee shop in Cottonwood, Arizona’s rediscovered downtown drag became the site of a rare “Aha!” moment. A big one, in my world. My resolution this year is to listen to that inner voice, and not care how that appears on the outside. It’s a difficult resolution to track. The gut I’m talking about doesn’t lose weight, save money, or become more organized. Or does it do all of those things, just, differently?

The second true test this year of this “go with my gut” resolution happened this morning. (The first is Part Two of this post, going up later this week.) Last week, I signed up for a 5k race, which happened today. I told people about it and worked in a couple extra speed workouts to get my slow half-marathon legs familiar with a fast race. Yesterday was carbo-load and hydration day. Last night, I set out all my clothes, prepared warm outer layers to shed, wrote my name with permanent marker on my bag for the bag check, and went to bed early.

This morning, I got dressed, readied my bag, grabbed keys, opened the front door and got all the way to the car. Outside…

I didn’t go. Flat-out reversed course. Went back inside, dropped the bag, crawled back into bed and slept until 9am. Hardcore runners out there felt an unidentified disturbance in the universe, like one of their own had fallen. But, it’s not that I’m a wimp. That’s ego talking. I didn’t go because my goal is to bring my intuition along for a pleasant ride this year, and I decided this morning wasn’t part of the journey. Two weeks ago over the holiday break, I went on an invigorating, mind-clearing six-mile run in the foothills of Santa Fe, New Mexico, where the temperature was 18 degrees F and the ground was covered with snow and ice. Because it felt right. I am not a wimp.

Instead of running the road race this morning, after breakfast, I went to the warm gym, and just to piss the ego off, ran 6.2 miles (twice a 5k) on a cushy treadmill, with a great playlist.

So, Ego. You have been warned. This is the Year of Intuition.

There are big, exciting changes coming up this year, on this blog and in other parts of my life. Please join my newsletter for all the updates! Part Two of Ego, Take Notice posts later this week.

Winter run, Santa Fe, NM