Tired?

Ever felt this tired before? I found this picture online and it totally made me laugh. Too bad I really do feel that way sometimes. This past week I've decided to revisit my New Years Resolutions. I once had a friend who said they like to make them in the spring anyway because that is when the world is starting to become alive again. It just seems natural to start over and begin anew when the ground outside is beginning to thaw out and new growth starts to shoot up among the diminishing patches of snow.
For weeks I have been talking to my roommate about how I need to get back into my old running routine. Well things finally came to a head when I stepped on the scale last week. I turned to her and said this is the last week that I will weigh xxx lbs! This is the last week I will continue wearing my least favorite pair of jeans because nothing else fits! This is the last week I will let excuses keep me from getting the exercise that I need. So I began running again on Thursday. Sometimes it is better for me to start mid week when I am feeling motivated rather than waiting for my nonexistent 'Monday morning self discipline' to jump up and pull me out of bed at 6:00 a.m. Thankfully I moved to a new area that is adjacent to four miles of back road farm land. Running on a crisp cool back country road facing a field that seems to blot out the distant houses and meet up with old Mt Timp itself is very rewarding. However, I wasn't prepared for the pain that awaited me. I have attempted to be a runner for a long time and I am familiar with the sting of cold air on complacent lungs but up until last year I wasn't so well acquainted with the 'now-you're-getting-older-joint-pain' that accompanied it. I suppose that I have been ignoring all the signs that point to the fact that my body is now nearing that closely looming number '30' and I can't just jump up and run three miles like I used to. How do sixty year old women run marathons? How does that white haired man power up Timp every summer running the whole way, no less?
Once, when I was on a group date hiking the Y on a clear dark night we delivered ourselves heaving onto that big concrete slab. The other girl sucked in a few heavy sighs and spit out the words "Getting in shape is a brat!" If only I could remind myself that when it seems like an OK idea to slack off a little when I finally have worked back up to my optimal fitness level. That quote along with a few other friendly reminders are now are taped at eye level next to my bed. My freshman English teacher worded it a little differently when she said "things get harder before they get easier." For some reason that quote has really stuck with me. So as I pounded 4 miles of pavement this morning at the protest of every joint, muscle, and sinew from my waist down I kept repeating that phrase like a mantra: "Things get harder before they get easier, things get harder before they get easier...but the good news is that someday they do get easier..." and I'm 8 miles closer to that day than I was last week.