Today’s post is truly all about RUNNING!
So last night after I got home from work it was a beautiful 68 degrees outside (yes 68 degrees in March in Ohio- a true miracle) and I knew that it would be a wasted day if I didn’t put on my Asics and get out for a nice run.
Plus, my mom had sent me a text message earlier that day that said she had run 5 miles at the park… motivation at its finest.
So after I walked in the door, checked facebook (of course) and texted Tim to remind him to pick up the birthday card and wine for Gary, I laced up my tennies and headed out the door.
Now, at this point my running had been capped out at about 4 miles. I had only run over that a few times and I hadn’t made a consistent part of my routine. Honestly, finding the time to run for more than 45 minutes can be a real struggle sometimes and on top of that the weather in Ohio is not conducive to running for oh about a good 4 months out of the year.
Although I am not complaining because it has been an AWESOME winter.
In any case, I promised myself that during that run I would break my plateau and go over 4 miles. I didn’t really care how much over 4 miles it was… 4.3 or 5 but I knew I just wanted to break it to see what it felt like.
To my utter amazement was something that caused me pure joy… after I hit that 4 mile mark I actually felt BETTER. There was something about achieving that goal that mentally made my mind so proud of my body. Without saying it out loud it was like my head looked at my heart, muscles, and lungs and said “Great job all of you, you are awesome!”
The last few runs I was really starting to feel like my 2 mile marker was my ready to go mark. The first 2 miles my breathing is heavy, my lugs want to quit, and my legs just quiver but after those 2 miles (and in the past for only 2 more miles) my body usually felt pretty good. My legs feel lighter, my lungs are less upset, and my head clears and all of those to-do lists and wedding planning that needs to be done disappears.
It is during those moments of clarity that I take a moment to be grateful for all that I have… including a strong body and a committed mind.
Here are my results… time isn’t something to write home about necessarily but it was pretty steady. I am hoping to get my time somewhere between 9-10min/mile by the time the half marathon rolls around in September but I’ think I’ll just try to get to the mileage first and then work on speeding things up!
I think I could have run a little longer than this but we had dinner plans to celebrate Gary’s Birthday!!
There was something about feeling so free yesterday- being able to run outside and go to so many locations on foot. It gave me hope that if I had to walk a very long ways to save my life that I could do it. I even explored a few new roads I have never been on so that was a nice adventure to go on.
Although at one point I was all turned around in this neighborhood I am unfamiliar with so I was pretty much lost. Lucky for me my girl scout instincts kicked off and I ended up just just following a few cars out of the neighborhood. Their greasy night out to dinner turned out to be my savior.
I even saw a fellow soccer teammate walking his dog- so apparently we don’t live very far from each other.
Have you ever noticed that what you consider to me FAR is only a couple of miles though? As I am running and my Run Keeper app is going strong I kept thinking I honestly would have thought that I ran 10 miles considering all of the places I had been but nope only ran 5.26. It’s just so weird to think about.
And then even weirder to think about how quickly I can put miles on my leased car.
hmm.. things to ponder.
Well hope you had a nice week and if you live in the Ohio area or the surrounding states I hope you enjoyed the nice warm weather and that you were able to get outside and play a little!
I am looking forward to another great run this weekend!
