I love a good goal. And it seems to me that there are Goals, with a capital G and then there are regular, garden-variety, not too important, goals. Perhaps they line up with Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, and the higher level goals somehow manage to remain just out of reach until the lower goals are met. Some of our first goals after moving back to the States were directly tied to basic needs: shelter (we found a house to rent!), clothing (AmazonPrime made quick receipt of clothing from American Eagle), and food (I can talk forever about The Fresh Market, Pinehurst’s answer to Wegmans). Although we quickly tucked in a week-long trip to Disneyworld at the same time (which I would say temporarily jumped over some other important needs like friendships) November finally came and we were ready to address the personal goals of recreation and self-care. It was time to join a gym.

Finding a gym is hard work. (ha!) It seemed that all around us was golf, golf and more golf. And though I’ve heard it numerous times that golf provides an excellent workout, I’m not buying it. I’m fairly certain I’m a fair-weather gal and would spend far more time in the clubhouse splitting a club sandwich with Tim than I would ever spend walking the links in Pinehurst. I looked in the phonebook and came across two options: a Golds Gym and a CrossFit gym. I immediately wrote off the cross fit idea–I really don’t like to sweat and I didn’t want to do 100 burpees as a personal best. The Golds seemed to be the only option until my neighbor mentioned that she and her husband joined the FirstHealth gym just around the corner from our house. What?!? It was true; on the same campus as the local hospital is a top-rate fitness facility, complete with trainers, basketball court, track, numerous cardio machines and,what else?, a CrossFit room. FirstHealth Pinehurst

In November, the whole family signed on for the fun. Will is working on his running speed as well as agility and Lilly enjoys logging miles on the “sit back bike,” where she can casually spin the wheels and watch DisneyChannel to her heart’s content. Tim and I decided that joining the gym was going to lose its appeal if we didn’t have some kind of “next step goal” to aim for. So, we looked at springtime and found the Shamrock-N-Roll race as a good target. After spending 2 years traveling across the European continent, climbing thousands of broken stone stairs and sprinting to catch trains and planes, I was a bit shocked to learn that I wasn’t in tip-top fitness shape. The best place to start was the Couch to 5K Plan, a very easy jogging plan I found online. I love it for the sheer usability…no need to calculate how far/fast to run each day…the plan lays it all out for you. Will and Lilly joined us for the run and the March morning turned out sunny and crisp, great running weather. The race was held in Whispering Pines, following winding paths through, where else, a golf course. It was absolutely inspiring to run among the long-leaf pines and catch glimpses of rolling, perfectly-manicured green spaces. A few waves from golfers and some rock music rounded out the experience. Three of us managed to run the race… and dear little Lilly continued to insist to all who asked how it was going, “Running is dumb. I hate this. I’m not going to finish.” She did indeed cross that finish line just under 60 minutes and promptly ran over to the portable game trailer where she spent the next half hour playing Halo and Dance Party with other kids. Obviously, we should have made the connection between finishing well and enjoying the after party. Next Time!