... wow.
I don't know why I decided to write a journal entry on this of all subjects, but I feel it's note worthy and that I should document it.
I've been running every other night for the last... oh three or four weeks (minus a ten day period where I was at camp/Otterbien). I've mostly been running a mile (except for that first week where I was working my way up) and then cooling down by walking a quarter of a mile. I decided I was actually going to get into shape (partially because I was unhappy with the fluff I have put on in the last few years and partially to try and prevent the weight gain usually associated with a year abroad), and I chose running because it was the easiest and most convenient form and I could continue it once I go overseas. But I hate running. When I did soccer and all that stuff I could stand it but I really didn't like running over a mile, and let me tell you every night by the time I got done with the running part of my 1.25 miles I was about ready to give up on ever running again. I never understood why some people loved to go running (except for the feeling of actually accomplishing something you get afterwards, which even I got).
But tonight was different. Easier. I got to the end of the mile and just kept on going. My breathing hadn't become more labored since around .75 miles and I kept going.
Tonight I ran 1.66 miles straight through. And was smiling for the last quarter of a mile. That's more than I have ever run and walked in a single night. I probably could have done 1.75 miles of running but the song ended at 1.66 which was when I told myself I could stop and do the walking. My total distance was 1.85 miles. By the end of fifth of a mile of walking my breathing was back to normal and my heartrate was getting there. And I actually enjoyed running, really enjoyed it, for probably the first time in my life.
I'm hoping that before I leave I'll be able to do two miles straight through. And I'll keep it up through the next year. And now the task doesn't seem as daunting or as doomed to fail.
It's like my body decided that I actually was serious about getting and shape and flicked a switch and made it all easier. And I love it. Maybe I do secretly have the soul of a runner and just never knew it.
Well that was my overly long entry. If you actually read that I'm incredibly surprised.
I've been running every other night for the last... oh three or four weeks (minus a ten day period where I was at camp/Otterbien). I've mostly been running a mile (except for that first week where I was working my way up) and then cooling down by walking a quarter of a mile. I decided I was actually going to get into shape (partially because I was unhappy with the fluff I have put on in the last few years and partially to try and prevent the weight gain usually associated with a year abroad), and I chose running because it was the easiest and most convenient form and I could continue it once I go overseas. But I hate running. When I did soccer and all that stuff I could stand it but I really didn't like running over a mile, and let me tell you every night by the time I got done with the running part of my 1.25 miles I was about ready to give up on ever running again. I never understood why some people loved to go running (except for the feeling of actually accomplishing something you get afterwards, which even I got).
But tonight was different. Easier. I got to the end of the mile and just kept on going. My breathing hadn't become more labored since around .75 miles and I kept going.
Tonight I ran 1.66 miles straight through. And was smiling for the last quarter of a mile. That's more than I have ever run and walked in a single night. I probably could have done 1.75 miles of running but the song ended at 1.66 which was when I told myself I could stop and do the walking. My total distance was 1.85 miles. By the end of fifth of a mile of walking my breathing was back to normal and my heartrate was getting there. And I actually enjoyed running, really enjoyed it, for probably the first time in my life.
I'm hoping that before I leave I'll be able to do two miles straight through. And I'll keep it up through the next year. And now the task doesn't seem as daunting or as doomed to fail.
It's like my body decided that I actually was serious about getting and shape and flicked a switch and made it all easier. And I love it. Maybe I do secretly have the soul of a runner and just never knew it.
Well that was my overly long entry. If you actually read that I'm incredibly surprised.