This is what happens when I think

I haven't been to the gym in over two weeks. And that means I've had extra time on my hands.

That's not a good thing.

Because when I have extra time, I start to think. And thinking? It leads to plans and goals. And sometimes those goals and plans are hard. And require work. Lots of it.

But I've been thinking about what I want to do this year.

A few months ago, that plan included a half marathon here in the City on the Water in April. But after not running for more than 2 months and getting kind of sick, I decided that wasn't a feasible goal. There wasn't time for me to be ready. So I'm opting for a 5K that day instead. One that I'll run with one of my good friends.

But I might still have hope for that spring half marathon.

See last week I got this flyer in the mail for the Green Bay half marathon. OK, so the brochure had also had information about the weekend's marathon and 5K races too, but running 26.2 miles? That's just crazy. And it sparked my interest. Because the Green Bay race? It's May 18, more than a month after the half marathon I originally wanted to run. And you get to run through Lambeau Field, home of the Green Bay Packers. And how cool would that be? So I got to thinking. Even if I didn't start running again until the end of January, I'd still have time and with the race being in May, it might be warmer and I'd be able to do a good chunk of my longer training runs outside. It's tempting. And at this moment, I think I'm going to try it.

And of course there's the Fox Cities half marathon in September again. As my first half marathon, it's a race that's near to my heart. And I need to do it again.

But there's something else I've been thinking about as well. A triathlon. I think it would be fun. I mean, I like to run. And I like to bike. And although I don't swim much anymore, that's always fun too. And there's one that's kind of sparked my interest the past few years, but I've never gotten up enough courage to do it. It's one of the Danskin women's triathlons, aimed for women and apparently is a good option for first timers. The one I'm looking at is the Chicagoland one in July. While I haven't made a decision yet, I need to figure it out soon. Because if I do end up committing myself to doing it, I'm going to enroll myself in a triathlon class at the YMCA in order to help me prepare. The only downside to the YMCA commitment? It's a 5:30 a.m. class. Yes folks. 5:30 in the morning. That's early. Very early.

So that's what I've been thinking about.

The only thing I've really decided on for sure is that starting tomorrow, it's back to the YMCA for me and I'm putting one foot in front of the other to start running again. Because I miss it.

But since today's Sunday, I'm going to enjoy being completely lazy. Because that's what Sundays are for.