40 days and 40 nights...

of honest to goodness change. No, I'm not Catholic, but I believe in making changes for the better, so I've always been an avid participant of Lent.

Last year I gave up sex and cupcakes and I thought I made it through the entire 40 days until a guy "friend" of mine reminded me that we had cupcakes just moments after sex only a few weeks before Easter, so once again I failed. Challenges. Bring. It. On.

I'm not so good with New Year's Resolutions, but something about the 40 days and nights of Lent (probably because even Ashton Kutcher once did it), I think it semi manageable, even for someone like me.

So here goes what I'm giving up/or taking on this year for Lent:

1. As a sportswriter at The Blonde Side, I'm constantly surrounded by amazingly in shape women and athletes and their wives. I'm always Googling running methods or the psychology behind good solid running, so why not, on top of everything else, make a vow to run everyday for all 40 days. Rain or shine, I will run (even if on a treadmill, and yes, even the day after my next half marathon in March). I make a promise that I will run no less than 2 miles a day (to make it worth the sweat I'll inevitably put in), so that's AT LEAST 80 miles I'll run over the next 40 days. Starting at 8:30am with my friend Avery tomorrow. Bring It.

2. Lent is always a good excuse to give up a bad habit. Being a southern girl and living in Texas, sweet tea, or tea in general is my thing. For the next 40 days, no soda, no tea, no sweet tea. Hopefully this will also help with my aqua consumption. We shall see.

3. As a freelance writer, working for myself (which means my home is my office), I've gotten used to sleeping in. This is a weird one, because even for an insomniac, I've been known to sleep in. So my third and final thing for Lent this year is giving up sleeping in. I will not (no matter what time I go to sleep, or if i I go to sleep at all), sleep in past 9am on weekdays or later than 10am on weekends. This might sound lame to those of you 10hour a night sleepers, but for me, this will most definitely be a challenge.

.jl.