Who am I?

Who am I? A very profound question, indeed. I've been on this earth for about 30 years and thought I had figured myself out pretty well by now. But recently I've had my pre-conceived ideas about myself not only stirred, but shaken.

If you know me or have followed my blog over the years, it should come as no surprise when I tell you that I truly enjoy shopping (especially shoes), food and entertainment (an example, The Eurovision Song Contest).

Last year, I consciously added a new aspect to my life, healthy living. I started exercising regularly and I finally found a way to successfully manage my weight. As a part of my healthy living, I picked up running. I can't say enjoy it, but there is no denying, it is a very efficient way to build stamina as well as burn calories.

To sum it up, I'm an almost 30 year old who likes to shop, eat, be entertained, with a healthy BMI who exercise regularly.

I don't just like shopping, I love bargain shopping. So, hitting the outlet mall on Memorial Day was a no-brainer. After a good few hours of scavenging, I had found some amazing deals. I bought a new pair of running shoes, padded bike shorts, a reflective bike jacket, bike gloves and two workout tops.

I also found a pair of sandals I really liked, but decided that $40 was too much to spend. How many pairs of shoes does one person really need? However, when I got home later the same day, I signed up for a 10K race for $45 without blinking. Did I choose racing before shoes?

We live in a small city. But in our small city, there is a restaurant rated in the Michelin Guide. The restaurant, Chez TJ, has a star of it's own, but amongst the chefs who started their careers at Chez TJ, the alumni currently hold eight stars in the Michelin Guide. Ever since my husband and I moved here, we have debated whether we should go or not. Food is a great love of mine, perhaps my greatest love. But more than anything I love simple street-food so spending a minimum of $85 per person on one meal has never seemed reasonable, so we have never been.

Over the past month, my husband and I have planned out our running goals for the near future. We're attempting our first triathlon in a few weeks, he's running SF Marathon later this summer, I'm running San Jose Half Marathon later this fall and next spring we're running Gothenburg Half Marathon. We made sure to register for all the events, so that we can't back out. All in all, we spent over $600 on registrations fees in May.

For the same amount of money we could have gone to Chez TJ and treated five of our friends, or the two of us could have splurged on the Chef's Tasting Menue, with wine pairing and still have $200 so spare. Did I just choose racing before food?

I've been ignoring the signs, maybe because I didn't want to realize I was changing. But there was an incident that opened my eyes and force me to face the truth.

I'm a huge fan of the Eurovision Song Contest. If you don't believe me, you should read my previous blog posts. Sweden won this year's competition and as a reward, Sweden will host the event next year. The Eurovision Song Contest is always held in May and I'm planning to be in Sweden in May 2013, to run Gothenburg Half Marathon. But as it turns out, the Grand Finale of Eurovision Song Contest 2013, will be on the same day as the half marathon, most likely in a different city. If Sweden is lucky, we'll be able to host Eurovision Song Contest once a decade. Gothenburg Half Marathon is every year. However, I've worked really hard on my fitness and I'm hoping to be in the best shape of my life next summer.

I'm making it sound like a difficult decision, but in fact, I had already made up my mind. Gothenburg Half Marathon, I'll be seeing you in May 2013! Did I choose racing before the Eurovision Song Contest? Yes, I did!

So, when looking at the facts, am I actually not an almost 30 year old who likes to shop, eat and be entertained as much as I am an almost 30 year old, who likes to run races, cook healthy food, shop workout gear and occasionally be entertained.