Investments

I like the kind of questions that make me stop me in my tracks. The kind that get down under my skin and really make me think, forcing me to repeatedly revisit it.

April has been nothing short of a whirlwind, with two fantastic weeks of back to back visitors. First we had the honor of hosting Andrew's brother and wife, who then went on from here to Greece. Two days after I headed back to the airport to scoop up three of Andrew's high school/middle school/elementary school (IDK these guys have been friends forever) buddies, who we had a blast running around Israel with.

Andrew's friend count of visitors: 5

Kait: 0

(not including family)

Where ma' girls at?

Since the dust settled this past Monday and the boys went on to their next connections - including Andrew who had a work trip - the apartment has been eerily quiet. Too quiet. So quiet that I made a point to hardly be in it at all, jumping from working in coffee shops to dog walking to visiting new babies to the gym, etc.

But it was the quietness and loneliness of this week that made me revisit the question that one of Andrew's friends asked me last week - What would I even be doing with my time in Israel if I didn't have an interest in fitness.

The question honestly left me without an answer, and my response at the time was to laugh and shrug, admitting that I had never even thought about that.

Think about it though. Think of the most prominent interest/passion that you have in your life, whatever you are most invested in and love, and then pretend you actually don't like it at all. Wipe it off the map. What do you think your fall back would be?

I'm still scrapping my brain. I would say my runner up is writing - but how do you make friends through writing? Attend slam poetry contests? Maybe a local writers workshop hosted in Hebrew?

Perhaps I would get heavily invested in dogs. I mean I already am - and genuinely, heavily miss being a dog mom every single day. I've always had in the back of my mind to volunteer at one of the local shelters - and have even looked up courses as to how you can become a dog trainer. Dogs are probably my second passion tied with writing.

I don't know why, but the question shook me and simultaneously made me step back and really appreciate what this passion has done for me - actually for both of us as a couple - in regards to the life that we have built here in TLV.

Outside of the fact that fitness-related activities take up a lot of my time and are slowly but surely intertwining with my career, it's also how we have made roughly half of our friendships in Tel Aviv. So to imagine removing that entire portion of my life actually makes me wince a little.

It's an odd thought to have, but I found it to be an equally productive brainstorming session. At any moment passions/loves/interests can quickly be extracted from our lives, and perhaps it's smart to know what you can fall back on when it comes to dedicating your time and energy.

Just felt the need to share, and let the general realm of health and fitness know that I'm appreciative of it. On that note - I'm off to swim. Have a great weekend!

Cheers - 

Kait

Complacency is a Four Letter Word

Let's talk complacency, shall we?

I meant what I said up there in the title. I strongly dislike, fear, even disdain the idea of complacency. I have zero patience for people who are blatantly complacent. Who sit around and complain about their current situation, yet do NOTHING to create change.

I never want to be one of those people. And I feel myself flirting with it. Remember this post?

Let me back track quickly for ya'll. <-- insert twangy accent there. Last week Andrew and I were on a run, and decided to have one of those deep-ish type conversations that couples have on occasion.

no, we were not holding hands while running. 

While arguing chatting, we stumbled upon the topic of complacency... a verb/noun/issue/thing that both of us mutual fear.

Alright Kait sweet story, where is this going?

((angry glare))

Hold. Your. Horses. And never use that tone with me again.

In the midst of this whole adjustment/new job/trying to find friends etc. etc. so on and so forth, I am beginning to feel myself falling complacent. Not cool.

“You all know," said the Guide, "that security is mortals' greatest enemy.” 

― C.S. Lewis

So my solution... is not only to set goals over the course of the next few months in a few different areas of my life... but to make big(ish) change in regards to my running life.

I met up with her (at Starbucks), loved what I saw heard, shook her hand and asked her to be my coach. Or at least that's how I remember it.  Miss Zippy knows her shiz - check her out.

Amanda's going to help me to become a smarter runner. So that I don't do things like embark on my 20 mile training runs without water. Yes, I really did that once. And in the process of her helping me train for New York in both an effective and strategic manner, I hope to become a healthier runner in the process. That will be one of my New York goals, as I begin that fateful morning in November on that bridge....

Source

Every week, every expectation will be laid out for me, and I will have things to work towards, and someone to report to. And that's something I need, and have really missed since college. Not to mention that Amanda is local, and I can actually run with her if the occasion seems fit. And hey, she happens to know a lot of other runners in the area. Even a developmental racing team in Columbia who are looking for runners....

Hmmmm....

You can think I'm crazy, that's fine. I see it as a smart move, and bettering myself in an area that I'm super passionate about. I don't spend money on clothes or high heeled shoes or highlites for my hair. I save in these areas so that I can run in races, buy overpriced running shoes, and continue to get better as an athlete. I've never had any kind of coaching/training in the realm of running (unless you count middle school track and field) and have been wanting to go this direction for awhile now.

There's my rant, there's my plan. And to wrap it up, don't let yourself become complacent. It's poisonous.

Cheers!