My Eager Feet: Five Things Friday

In trying to decide how to encourage myself to blog more regularly, I thought about the kinds of posts that I wanted to write (I know, what a crazy concept! Please give me credit if you use it.). I always liked the weekly link-up type of posts. None of the ones I know of fall on a day I feel like I could regularly post on, so I thought Five Things Friday would perfect.

I often have quick little things I want to share, but I never quite knew how. I certainly didn't want to write a two paragraph post and call it good, so FTF seemed like a perfect fit. I'll try to keep most of these running-related, but sometimes a little randomness might sneak in. (And if nothing happens all week, I figure I can just share five photos of Faramir.)

1. Michael proved he is the sweetest by surprising me with the sweetest blanket. Major nerd alert! (Me, not him.)

Is that totally awesome, or what? And for all the concerned readers out there, Faramir claimed his birthright and now loves to lay on this. My office is very cold to the point that lots of women sit wrapped in a blanket all day, and I'm almost tempted to bundle up this and see what people say. That's how you make friends and influence people, right?

2. We have officially picked all 50 marathons! Check out my 50 States page to get a sneak peek of where we'll be headed over the next several years. Let me know what you think of our choices - good or bad. I tried to do plenty of research, including reading blog posts, but I'm always open to a heads up if I've gone astray. Certainly, if someone could've saved me from the awful race we did in Indiana, I would've paid them good money.

3. Runner's World posted an article this week on a running group that helps teens combat their depression through exercise. I've carefully avoided bringing up my struggles with depression here, but I decided I should just bite the bullet. I wish I had had some group like this available to me in high school, because running has made a huge difference for me now. (I can only assume that it would have made an even bigger difference when I was already having to deal with the normal turbulence of high school, too.)

I think it's very important to note that running is not the same as seeing a therapist, but it has so many benefits. Not only does running give me the physical boost of endorphins, it gives me an area of my life where I can set and achieve goals completely at my own discretion. I'm very OCD/Type A, so having a schedule and crossing my workouts off gives me an immense sense of satisfaction. When I feel emotionally overwhelmed by other things, sticking to my training still lets me feel accomplished.

4. I was also intrigued this week by this article over on Zelle about thin-shaming. (Side note - I still don't understand the point of Zelle...didn't it essentially just group women-related articles together? Seems like there are plenty of other ways to do that without creating a giant controversy, but I digress.)

While I typically detest the words fat-shaming and thin-shaming, I'm not really sure what to use instead. In any case, I do find it frustrating how there's a huge movement against fat-shaming, but thin-shaming is totally acceptable. Just take "All About That Bass." That song is my jam, but it does bother me when the lyrics make fun of "skinny bitches." Like, honestly, my day does not revolve around being skinny just to make heavier people feel bad. Ain't nobody got time for that.

Curvy women should totally feel confident too, I just don't know what's wrong with being slender. My own grandmother even makes comments about how I'm too skinny, even though I'm at a perfectly healthy weight. And usually when I see a new doctor, they sort of edge around asking if I'm anorexic; sometimes I'm tempted to bring a log of how much food I eat! (Other side, I do find it concerning how even medical professionals seem afraid to ask. I see how easy it could be to hide an eating disorder.)

The article goes more into discussing eating disorders, which I don't have any experience with, but it really hit home that other people feel the same way about their thinner bodies. I work damn hard to stay in shape, and I don't appreciate other people suggesting it's a bad thing!

There'd be a war if this was reversed...so why is it okay the way it is?!

5. I want to wrap this post up with a question. When we ran the Stone Bridge Marathon in Illinois, Michael and I were about 45 minutes from where most of my extended family lives. (And not really that many miles, driving in Chicagoland just sucks balls.) They knew we were running the marathon, but they all got together to go see a movie instead. (Please note I had some expectations of reciprocation, because my family sometimes drove up to three hours to see cousins perform or compete when they were in Michigan.) I was obviously quite hurt by this, but Eager Feet Mom suggested that they just didn't realize families come to spectate races.

What's your experience with this? Did your non-running family (or friends) not realize coming to a race to provide support was a thing? I never knew anyone who ran a big race before I started running, so I can't speak from personal experience, but even before I ran, I knew a marathon was big deal and was so impressed by people who could run that far.

I'm looking for honest opinions here. Maybe I'm just totally off base with how people outside the running community view races.