Social media: 3 rules

Social media. Yes it's addictive. Yes it's highly entertaining. Here are my rules for keeping the endeavor sane:

Rule #1: FOMO is dumb. We all live different lives in different places with different stresses. We all have different families, friends, finances, goals, hair styles, belly button lint, whatever. We all have loads of fun/laughter/adventure sometimes, and other times we have to hunker down at work and barely come up for air. Feeling bad about missing out is downright silly, because we can't do it all ALL of the time.

Rule #2: (related to Rule #1) Social media should be a source of inspiration: Feeling jealous of amazing instagrammed food? Let that be an inspiration for your next girls night out, or perhaps your own at-home cooking adventure. Is someone on twitter literally on top of a mountain looking all bad-ass? Awesome! Think about your own (figurative) mountain you are conquering today. It may only be a mountain of laundry, and that's okay. Need some words of wisdom? Follow folks that post cool articles/good quotes/interesting observations. I find that Mario Fraioli is always posting stuff that fits the bill.

Rule #3: 90% positive/neutral, 10% negative. A vent tweet here or there is totally encouraged, but keep in mind that the negative energy you put out into the world is bound to influence others. 'nuff said.

The road to Richmond

Early-stage marathon training in a nutshell:

1) The foam roller has become my (statistically) significant other

2) Crushin' the peanut butter more than usual, which is truly terrifying/appalling

3) I hide by the coffee maker at work for a solid 20 minutes each morning in a ritual of caffeine worship

4) Every run has at least a 5 minute conversation about goal times/paces

5) Every run has an extensive conversation about recent bowel movements (not really different than non-marathon training)

6) Gel flavor testing feels like a part time job

7) Friends: "Wanna go out Saturday night?!"
     Me: "Totally! How does late November sound?"

My trusty coffee mug and picky bar sweat band--both training essentials