Just 10

I received a blue bracelet in the mail the other day. It says 'Just 10.' I'm wearing the conspicuous bright blue band today because I need some reminders. I need to remember that I don't have to eat every treat people bring into work. I need to remember that just ten minutes of working out every day can have a huge impact on my life. I need to remember that cutting one hundred calories a day can help me lose weight. My head has been in and out of whack lately and I need something, something that I can see all of the time to help me out right now.

The bracelet is intended to be part of Dr. Oz's Just 10 challenge. According to the challenge, "losing just 10 pounds can lower your blood pressure, reduce your risk for a stroke, ward off dementia, lower your risk for uterine and breast cancer, and lower your cholesterol up to 10%." Those are some nice statistics. Unfortunately for my brain, they're true. I want to think I can eat what I want and stop exercising and I'll keep losing weight. I want to believe that my weight is fine now, I've lost a decent amount, and I can stop all my hard work.

In short, I want to give up.

But that's the lazy me talking. In reality? I want to run 13.1 miles and smile when I finish. I want to race up the stairs at work and then be out of breath when I walk into the newsroom. I want to have clothes that smell like sweat and sneakers that are worn smooth. I want my nephew to yell "Wait up Aunt Jessie!" as we race down the block. I want to swing my niece in the air and be able to do it more than once. I want to race my other niece with her on her bike and be a close second. I want to live a long, healthy life.

I can do this by thinking just 10. I have lost momentum. I have to find another goal to hit. So my goal: To ready myself for the half marathon I dream of running by running a race every month, starting in January. I say January because it's the month of newness, it's a month when everyone wants to start at something and do something amazing and it gives me a couple months to train. I'm starting now, at the end of the month 10 in 2010. My goal? To run 10 races. January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October. I'm going to train now, so it will be a year of training, but two months to prepare. That's ample when I already run some now. My first races may be on my treadmill in my basement. I don't know if I'll be acclimated enough to the crazy winter weather to run outside, but I will be running a 5K, and I will post my timed results. By March I hope to run official 5Ks outside.

Yell out an Iowa 5K you think I should run! One for every month. May is spoken for, but everything else is up for grabs!