Posting While Sweating....

That's what I'm doing...sweating!! Made it out for a shorty this morning. There's a 5K this Saturday and I REALLY want to run it. Problem is, my pride is insisting I come in under 30 minutes but my brain keeps reminding me it might be closer to a 33 minute finish. Eh, could be worse I suppose. Take my first race for instance... No really...take it! Ha!! Just kidding...it's mine and I love it.

My first race was a 4 miler called The Scholarship Run. I had been running for 6 weeks and my coach thought it was time for a race. What I didn't know then was this race was the door to the competitive athlete inside me. Only I wasn't thinking that whilst runnin' it. Noooooo...the thoughts I was thinkin' were closer to..."OMG...what the heck am I doing here??" and..."How can I call a taxi to get me to the finish line??"

But then something funny happened when I saw the finish line up ahead. I felt a chill, I was sweating profusely, my heart was racing....yes! I was dehydrated. HAha...just kidding....I felt the first fluttering of the thrill of the finish line. Then I got 2nd place in my age group. I LOVE that medal still. But most important was the sense of accomplishment that day. I'll never get sick of it.

I write about that race because it popped into my head during my 30 minute, 2.5 mile run this morning. I was starting to feel a little disappointed because I can feel how much I've lost from having to take so much time off. I am very impatient by nature so even though I KNOW I need to build it all back up, I WANT TO PICK RIGHT UP WHERE I LEFT OFF 2 MONTHS AGO. But I was feeling just as I did during that Scholarship Run 2 years ago. Tired, achy and my cardio felt awful. I was thinking it was going to take me forever to get it all back (if it can be done). But here's the thing: I ran and FINISHED an entire marathon after only running for 4 months. I did that. Me. From zero to 26.2 in 4 months. Can you feel my pride??? Can ya now?? How bout now??? Righttttttt NOW??

Anyway...I reminded myself this one important fact: I am a runner. Even if I've had to take time off. Even with having to drop some exercise classes. Even though I feel like I'm starting ALL OVER. I AM A RUNNER. Sometimes we runners have some hills to get over. I've read about it, talked about it, listened to other runners talk about it and have had to get over a few of them myself. It can be done. We, as runners, have a little something called thick skulls (JK) We have persistence. Goals. Calf muscles!!!!!!!! So I am trying to be ok with starting all over. I also understand there will be more times when I'll have to take time off again. Ok. I can do it.

Some people call them mountains.
We call them speed bumps, don't we????