Fake it 'til you make it
I ran four times this week. I committed to four workouts, one of which had to be a run, so I did well this week. (I hit a fitness class as well, so I actually did more than I committed to - a rarity in all parts of my life these days). I have branched out since I first started running - probably because my life has branched out. I ran four different routes, in three different parts of town:
- Run 1 was my old "flat route", running for about 4K. I found this route when I was upping distance, and exhausted by the hills in my neighbourhood. I ran part of my old 8K route. Sigh.
- Run 2 was at the track, with my friend K. Sadly, I ran 8 laps in the same time she ran 9. (She does have really long legs, though. And "special" size feet. I'm sure that's why she's faster.) That's a measly 3.2K.
- Run 3 was a lunchtime run on the lovely Halifax waterfront. Tons of runners out and about, nice sunny day; I like running on the boardwalk with the ocean views (although the smells, I could do with out). I could have run a bit further, but it was my first run with this particular starting point, and I messed up my route planning a bit (ie I didn't have one), and ended up a bit on the short side. Don't know the distance, but I ran for 24:48.
- Run 4 was one of my normal routes, through my neighbourhood, including the hills. It's about a 4K route.
Here's what three of the four runs had in common:
- They were on flat ground
- They sucked
- They were hard
- My legs weighed a thousand pounds each
- I ran very slowly
- They were hard
- I was glad when they were over
- I hurt after
Did I mention they were hard? Like, every step required will power - I had to fight the urge to walk, which I never do. I cannot believe a short run like that can make me hurt again. And when it's not fun for at least a couple minutes of a run, you gotta wonder why you would ever do it again. But, being the trooper I am, I headed out for the fourth run, which.... didn't suck as badly. Want to know the secret? I started composing this blog post when I set out - thinking about how I would write that my last run of the week was an improvement. You know, fake it 'till you make it. Part way through my run, I started recomposing the post to how running really sucks, and I don't think I'm going to do it ever again. But somewhere in there, a tiny tiny good feeling crept in. I'll admit, it was during a downhill portion of the run. But, it was enough to think that I might just run again.
