Did I mention I love running?

I’m going to sound like a broken record, but I truly absolutely and with all my heart love running!  After learning that we weren’t going to do Tough Mudder until next year, I realized I needed a goal to work towards, otherwise I could just see my workouts dying a slow death until I’m mummified on the couch, muscle melting away as I stuff ice cream and pizza into my mouth, perhaps simultaneously.  (Haha, I think my brain needs to spew some prose onto paper!)

I think I mentioned in a past post that I was going to run more, but I’m not sure I had a solid plan at that point.  I went online and did a little research and found a half marathon training schedule that I started two weeks ago.   I ended up running more in that first week than I’ve ever run before in my life – not all in one run, but added up I did 13 miles.  By the end of the week, I think I hated running… I was exhausted and the thought of just one more mile made me want to hurl.  However, that didn’t stop me and I started last week like a pro, intending to keep at it, even if it killed me.  It didn’t kill me, but my mind and body decided they needed a rest and without my consent, they decided to force a rest on me last week.  After running on Tuesday, I proceeded to take the rest of the week off to heal and rejuvenate, both from writing and running.  I think it did me a ton of good, once I let it be and just allowed it.

This week, I decided to start the whole process over again.  (Mainly because I am dreading running more than 4 miles at one time and the second week has a 5 mile run.)

I can’t say I was feeling fantastic yesterday and thoughts of giving up on the whole thing seriously ran around my brain… Do I love running this much?  What am I doing this for anyway?  Who cares if I take a week off? A month!  Hell, I’ll just take the rest of the year off!  It’s not like I’m doing anything this year anyway, so what’s the point?  Especially considering I don’t run for any type of “losing weight” thing.  I fell in love with running, not because it had health benefits, but because of how it made me feel.  (Which is weird considering the rants that happen inside my head while I’m running, most of which can seriously be construed as “I hate running!”)  It’s really those few blissful moments during a run when you feel like you could run forever.  I hate calling it runners high, but most people do.  It’s just a moment or two where you feel like you have the world in the palm of your hand and you can do anything and everything.  I also love the feeling of accomplishment when I finish three miles even after telling myself over and over again that I’m going to stop after the next hill or the next turn.

I started my run yesterday feeling pretty good and loving the clouds, the 60 degree temperature and the wind blowing in my face.  By the second mile, the wind was kicking my ass, the sun was beating down on me after the clouds had blown away and I was seriously considering stopping.  But I didn’t.  I finished 3 miles with an 11:38 per mile pace and I was exhilarated!  I did it, even after a week off!  And I plan to do it all over again tonight.  Because I love it.  It’s so hard to explain, but I’m sure all you runners out there who read my blog will understand what I mean.

I’m so happy I took up exercise in May and did it to a point that it became a habit.  I’m not sure I can even explain the difference in how I feel about slogging through four runs in one week, but there is a difference now than in past years.  A schedule helps a lot.  When I am not working a schedule, I am haphazard and all over the place.  I don’t even think I realized how habitual of a person I really am until I started the exercise program.  (Note to self: Apply this to writing, it could help a lot!)

So, here is my running schedule in case any of you are interested.  I found it here when I Googled ‘half marathon training’.

I’m also posting it in multiple places so it’s that thing I do rather than that thing I just talk about and give it a halfhearted attempt.  Before you know it, I’ll be into those weeks 10, 11 and 12 and running 13 miles in one run, rather than 13 miles in one week.  Wish me luck!  I’m going to need it!

How about you?  What are you up to this week?