I received a shirt from Allied Shirts to review, but all opinions are my own.

Y’all, the winter blahs have set in. It’s cold (SO COLD). It’s dry, it’s sometimes snowy, sometimes windy.

Who’s idea was it to run a half marathon in January?!

Oh yeah. MINE.

But it’ll be fine, because it’s in Disney World, so it’ll probably be 70 degrees and I’ll be sweating as soon as I start running. But right now? Right now is training.

My last half didn’t go so well, and I really, really want this one to go better. I’ve been training for three months already (virtually) with Team in Training, and have a month until the race.

My treadmill and I have become good, good, friends, y’all.

But. Sometimes, I really don’t want to hang out with the treadmill, especially for longer than an hour.

It doesn’t like coffee OR cocktails. What kind of friend is that?

My motivation comes from different places…Brad Pitt in Moneyball on the TV in front of me, an overly emotional Parenthood episode, a bowl of ice cream waiting for me after I’m done running, a huge honor from Mamavation that makes me want to keep trying to be healthy and inspire people by getting my running shoes on when I really don’t want to, an awesome shirt that I can design with a running mantra of my choosing*.

Because seriously, do I want to get out of my warm bed or comfy chair and run when it’s cold and gloomy outside? No. Not at all. I’d much rather read or watch TV or eat or drink hot tea. But do I know that I’ll regret not sticking to my plan when the whole Disney race is a struggle to finish or my pants no longer fit? YES. So I do it.

But, like I said, sometimes it takes a little push (or a big one). Sometimes it take humor, and sometimes inspiration, and sometimes just discipline.

Other sayings** for my shirt could have been:

Tell me this is worth it.

I love running. I hate running. I love running. I hate running….

Am I there yet?

Are my children still behind me?

#BAMR

I made my shirt on Alliedshirts.com, and the hardest part of the process was deciding on my design. (I’m a Libra, what can I say?) It was easy to change fonts, add text, find pictures. If I HAD a design, I could’ve just uploaded it. Which would make them perfect for a sports team, or running partners during a race, or any situation that calls for your very own personalized shirt. And I got my shirt fast, so I could start running away from the zombies right away. Zombies like cold weather, right?

What do you do when you need motivation? And what would YOUR custom shirt say?

*Thanks to Kendra for suggesting this saying on my Facebook page!

**And thanks to everyone else for helping me think of something to write on my shirt, with your awesome suggestions. If only I could make ten more…