I haven't posted in forever. Over a year to be specific. Something else I haven't done in over a year is run. I used to love running. I'm not kidding I did love it. I'm also not some weird fitness guru. I'm a regular person who likes running. With a little effort all you regular people could probably love it too.
I figured I would always be the fat girl on the cross country team. That's right I ran all the work outs for 3 years and was not 110 pounds. I was way more than that. You could usually pick me out of the crowd. But I loved it. I loved the team. I loved the other runners, because in the back of the pack we were nice to each other. We needed each other to keep going. The general camaraderie was unexplainable. Here we are tearing the muscles of our body with each step just to build them back up again. And we ran with smiles. But then I went to college and ran a few times mostly to get to know the area. I gained some weight, felt worse about my life and for some strange reason didn't correlate them!!! I went years without regularly running, it sucked! Didn't realize that at the time though.
Last week I was doing my usual complaining about where my life is and a friend asked me what was stopping me from running. Shoes, shorts, sports bra, confidence, cool weather. He swatted away every excuse and told me I was the only thing stopping me. That hit me--hard.
So Saturday August 5, 2017 I put on my old running shoes, leggings, work out shirt and sports bra and stepped out the door. Mind you it was in the 90s and a freaking smoke warning in Spokane county!! But I ran. Not fast and I certainly stopped a few times. But I did a full 2.4 miles. It was amazing. I am so grateful that the river was halfway so I could cool off my arms and stretch a bit. And I finally understand why people water the street--its for runners. We don't want to be terrible humans and trespass your lawn to get to the glorious water, so thanks for letting it hit the street.
My body hurt.....a lot; headache and sore muscles galore. But I did it. And I smiled at every person I saw and some gave me thumbs up or smiles. Those helpful encouragements really made a difference.
I am happy to announce that I ran again today. Same route, 2.4 miles, same heat and smoke; however I didn't stop until I got to the river. I ran (and when I say ran I mean anything between a walk and a sprint) 1.4 miles without stopping. I am proud of myself (and it's okay to say that). I also sprinted the last few meters. My mother who was in the living room saw one look at my beet red face asked if I was okay. (I'm not giving you guys a picture but think intense sunburn, that's how my face gets with any exercise.)
I am sore right now and my lungs have a little bit of a runners cough, but I feel great. Sort of like my soul is singing. I'm two days closer to creating a habit. I encourage everyone else to take a moment and do that thing. You don't have anything stopping you but yourself!! :)
