Shift

My page visits and post visits are down. By down I mean from 1 to non existent. All of it is on me as I have done no promotion of this blog or my efforts outside of my immediate family/friends. I am still trying to figure out what I truly want to accomplish and how to get there. Setting the goal of running/riding 2,000 miles was the easy part. Raising awareness is where I am struggling now.

This means I need to spend some time in the very near future on devising a plan to reach my goal of raising awareness. I didn't think writing a blog would be easy or mean I would reach the masses in just a few short days and posts but it is a start.

I have a habit of jumping into things without too much thought and this is one of them. Another one is the duathlon I signed up for in about a week. I figured it will help me build up mileage in both running and cycling at the same time!!

This weekend look for a meaning post on Tourette's and a mileage total!!

Weekly Update (a day late)

Here is the weekly update and the yearly total.

This week I have logged 8.3 miles running and 50.6 miles cycling.

Since January 1, 2014 I have logged:
Running -104.2
Cycling - 173.4
Total - 277.6/2,000

I am 13% of the way to my goal! 

More informative and thoughtful posts to come this week.  Please check back!!

The seed was planted

On a run in December of 2013 I got the idea to do something for me but not really for me.  In 2013 I completed Bike MS Ride the Vortex to raise awareness and funds for MS research.  I also attempted my first century ride in September of 2013 at Trails 4 Trials.  This was a ride to raise awareness and funds for Cancer research.  Now I am a runner and so these rides were a shift from my normal focus.  In continuing with the riding theme I signed up for the 2014 Tour de Cure Phoenix. This ride is for Diabetes.  So what is a runner doing riding...that is another story.

All the events I have been a part of to raise funds and awareness for a cause were for other people.  Bike MS for a family friend living with MS, Trails 4 Trials for my mom who has beaten cancer, and Tour de Cure for my aunt who has lost a limb to the disease.  All great causes for great people!!!

Back to the idea on the run in December.  So what could I do for myself while also helping others?  I could log 2,000 miles of combined running and cycling to raise awareness for Tourettes.  What no funds?  No, no funds...at least not yet.  I want to tic away the miles and hopefully help at least one person (even if that person is me).

Over the course of the next few months and hundreds of miles we will get to see what this seed grows into!!

What is the reason?

I use to get asked several questions about my tics.  These questions all boiled down to: "Why do you do that?" or "Can you stop do that?"  The answers sounded something like: "I don't know." and "No, I can't stop."  The ticing was something I just did.  I couldn't control them and there was no reason as to why I ticed (that I knew of prior to being diagnosed with Tourettes).

In the last post I stated I was going to post daily to build a habit.  I did not post yesterday and that is because I had no reason to post.  I did not want to post just to post.  Today I have a reason I want to use Sunday as the day I post my weekly mileage.  I have set out to log, or tic away, a combined total of 2,000 miles running and cycling.

This week I have logged 9.7 miles running and 10.1 miles cycling.

Since January 1, 2014 I have logged:
Running - 95.8
Cycling - 99.4
Total - 195.2/2,000

Almost 10% of the way to my goal!!

I use Strava to track all of my runs and rides.  You can follow me on my Strava Dashboard.

To answer the question in the title. The reason I tic is because I have Tourettes and the reason I post is because I have something to say.

Starting a habit.

Before I knew I had Tourettes I just thought I picked up habits easily.  It started with a cold and the sniffles. Those sniffles turned into my first tic.

Now I know it is not that simple. There is a lot more to it. So that is why I will be posting daily for the next week or so. The posts will be short and help me establish the habit of posting. I also hope that it will help me develop a writing style that fits my story.

What I hope to accomplish.

I am an avid runner and a beginning cyclist. I also have Tourette Syndrome. This is the first time in 32 years I have ever shared this fact.

The purpose of this blog is to raise awareness of this condition, that is so misunderstood. I hope to bring about this awareness by logging 2,000 miles running and cycling combined by December 31, 2014.

This is the first step in this journey and I look forward to where it will take me!