So...I started running.
More specifically, back in January, I signed up for the
Music City half marathon. I'm not sure why. It must have been in a moment of temporary insanity. I was probably caught up in all of the post New Year's resolution hype. You know, when you feel compelled to jump on the band wagon of self improvement?
I immediately regretted my decision.
Had I been smarter, I would have picked a less hilly place to do my first half. Like Florida. Or my couch.
Nonetheless, I was registered and what's more, I posted it on facebook.
I was locked in.
So, I started training.
While I do go to the gym regularly, I've never been a runner. As I came to find out, there's a big difference between going to spinning classes and being a runner. I had some serious toughening up to do. (Although I will say that my spinning and body combat classes gave my cardiovascular conditioning a good head start).
Those first few runs were pretty painful. My feet hurt. My ego hurt. I was terribly inadequate. How was I ever going to run 13.1 miles if I couldn't comfortably run 3?
And hello? No one told me there would be blood blisters!
Begrudgingly, I kept at it. More out of fear than anything. The fear of failing miserably on race day has kept me somewhat on track with my training. I've definitely had to refocus my efforts a couple times, but it seems to be working out ok.
Yesterday, I hit ten miles. Comfortably.
I still don't love running, but I'm finding things that I like about it.
For one, I like the tangible progress. I'm getting better and I like the feeling of accomplishment.
I also like the treasure hunt. I enjoy looking for little bits of treasure on my runs. Without fail, I always see some kind of cool flower or bird. Now don't get me wrong, flowers and birds aren't huge running motivators. But they are nice little bonuses.
And so is something like this. I didn't notice it the first time I ran past it. Admittedly, it's hard to miss. But I did. I blame complete and utter exhaustion.
It's nestled in between some very exclusive subdivision. It makes those subdivisions look very out of place. You can read more about it
here.
Running is still hard for me. I'm starting to think that's the point. You know it's going to be hard, but you do it anyway. I can tell that my legs/feet/lungs are getting stronger. I can also tell that my brain is getting stronger. I'm finally making progress in the battle to turn off the internal dialogue that questions why I would ever run for sport. It's hard to come to terms with the fact that your brain is the weakest part of your body. But, it's toughening up too.
The race is a little over three weeks away and I'm actually looking forward to it. Kind of. I'll keep you posted.
In the meantime, if you have any tips or encouragement, I would love to hear from you. I'm also always looking for good songs to add to my playlist. What do you listen to that keeps you going?
