Hello again! No, I have not dropped off the blogging face of the earth...just been a wee bit busy so I am gushing over with things to tell you about. The first of many big events in my life over the past few weeks is that I treated myself to competing in my 2nd duathlon....yep, you heard that correctly, I treated myself. For those of you who may not find training 5 days per week for an endurance type of race treating yourself well...let me explain.

For me, competing in races throughout the year fulfills many of the things that I've talked about in this blog over the past few months. Helping others/taking care your health/focusing on "me time", etc. Training and entering a race ties it all up into one feel good package. During training you're more careful about your workouts, your diet, getting enough sleep, etc. I especially love the fact that I do these races with an incredible group of strong confident women. So early morning training runs followed by a stop at Starbucks makes it 50% training and 50% social which covers the "spending time w/other women". When you pay your race fee, normally some or all of it will go to a charity (I try hard to stay away from "for profit" races) so you're giving to an important charity which covers the "giving to others" part of it. I also get to look forward to the intense feeling of accomplishment after I've finished a race that was a challenge, or one I've never done before. Even when I feel I could have shaved another few minutes off my time, I still get to enjoy the sense of accomplishment.

If you're reading this and saying "Yeah but my version of a workout is speed typing on a keyboard", you STILL are a perfect candidate to enter a race. There are tons and tons of local opportunities to get out there and walk/run/bike/swim to the finish line at your own pace. check out www.active.com and look for local events in your area. If I still haven't convinced you that you CAN enter any race you'd like, then think about volunteering at a race that interests you just to scope it out, but be sure to follow up and enter it as a competitor next year! So go girls! Get out there and race for your cause, your passion. If the cause/charity you are passionate about doesn't have a race then go to them and start an annual 5K! You can do this-and trust me, your well being, health, and spirit will thank you at the finish line!