In a week I will be leaving for an extended out-of-town stay. As I don’t own a laptop, I’ve decided to try writing a blog post on my iPhone. So here goes.
Last month I posted about my love-hate relationship with running. A few days after that post, I went for a run with my husband. It was a nice day and we decided to run laps on the short circuit behind our house. We ran for roughly 30 minutes straight, and after we finished, he casually asked how I’d enjoyed it. I said I hadn’t – at all. I couldn’t figure out how the more I ran, the harder it seemed. Shouldn’t it get easier?? He responded matter-of-factly. “Oh, that’s because you run too fast.”
Huh.
Have you ever had a sudden revelation? Like a frying pan to the face – ka-Ching! After 7 weeks of training, I’d been oblivious to the most obvious aspect of running: Speed. Because my couch to 5K app was based solely on time – telling me when to start and stop running, timed intervals only – I never knew how far or how fast I was going. Somehow, I must have believed that by running faster, I could finish faster! Like I’d get to the finish line and be done! But in reality, I was just killing myself for longer and longer periods of time. Running x minutes, Not x miles. Duh.
The next run, I slowed down – a LOT. Instead of warp speed, I cruised. That one adjustment changed everything. Instead of loathing every minute, I was loving it and losing myself in the run. I found myself zoning out. Listening to songs. Even singing along! Thanks to my husband’s astute observation, I was finally experiencing the joy of running, for running’s sake. It was bliss. And thankfully, still is.
The Dynamic Dirt Challenge – the race I was training for – was a BLAST! 2 weeks later, we went on to repeat last year’s School’s Out 5K. And now we’ve decided to celebrate our wedding anniversary with a challenge: a late September 10K. With lots of cake. of course.
So the moral of the story is.. Don’t give up. Slow down and enjoy the ride. And, typing a blog post on an iPhone with a single index finger is extremely tedious. But doable. The end.
So glad you enjoyed the race! Keep up the good work.
Thanks Jackie!
At least your finger got a workout! Husband and Cute Daughter did a 5K a couple of years ago. Since then, Husband had to give up running ’cause he SAYS he messed up his ankle. I, myself, NEVER exercise on purpose.
Son had just gone thro cancer treatment and we have been fund-raising for the Beatson Cancer Charity. A few weeks ago he and his wife, and I ahd my wife got sponsorship forca 10K walk round the lovely west end of Glasgow. 1700 of us set of and the four of us finished in a respectable time and got our medals. So pleased that Son did better than us, but also that two Old Codgers at 70 could still get pleasurefrom this physical exercise….and we raised about £500 between us….