Gone fishin'

As many of you know, I adored my Papaw.  The best part of each summer was when my parents would take me to Cleveland to spend a week or two with my grandparents.  Somehow Papaw always managed to have the entire time I was there off to spend with me and we had many grand adventures.  One of my favorite things to do was to get up early and go out to the lake that was hidden away on his farm.  You had to know it was there to find it.  We would walk the secret path out to the lake and I would admire all the early morning beauty.  Is there anything more lovely than dewy morning glories and ducks swimming on the glistening water?  Sometimes we would even fish but being a bit squeamish, I’d always want to let my fish go.

Today is the first official day of summer and it has already been a scorcher day after day.  So hot and miserable on most days that if you want to get a run in without turning into a puddle of goo you have to be out and at ‘em before Mr. Rooster even rolls over.  I’m not always super excited about being up by 4am in order to get a run in and still get cleaned up in time to be at work.  However, when I’m out that early I am able to enjoy watching my neighborhood wake up and greet the day.  Just like the times I spent with my Papaw.

Sometimes to achieve your goals you have to go through discomfort.  During the summers with my grandparents it was getting up super early to trek out to the lake with Papaw.  That discomfort today is the craptastic hot, muggy and torturous weather. 

This afternoon after work my running buddy and I are supposed to meet up and have our usual run/chat fest.  It is always good to get together with her and vent our frustrations, share our joys and laughter all while furthering our quest to be fit and healthy.  We will be out when the discomfort part comes in, not the dewy freshness of the morning.  We’ll just have to be smart about it. 

I know what my goals are; to get these last 20 or so pounds off and to successfully complete a half marathon.   I also realize there will be discomfort, sometimes GREAT discomfort along the way, but it will all be worth it.

So, the question is this.  Am I ready to fish or cut bait?  What about you?