Running has always been weird for me. I feel like I flail, or look like Phoebe from that episode of “Friends” where she runs in the park. My legs don’t seem to leave the ground very quickly or smoothly. I kind of lumber around. Which could be because I am carrying around my fabulous fifty pound Fat Pack.
So. I do not run like the wind. I do not run like a breeze, even. But I do run. And I sometimes manage to do so at a pace faster than walking.
Today, I ran six miles, which is a huge mental hurdle for me. Now, if I just throw in a mile swim and a twenty-six mile bike, then I’ve got St. Anthony’s covered.
The run was tiring and slow, but with a gun to my head…I am certain I could have completed another six miles. The mind-body connection in running (not to be confused with the ABC…ha) is really becoming apparent and important to me. Me successfully completing a run really boils down to my mindset when I lace up my shoes.
A fellow blogger wrote about the idea of why did running become so complicated? And I understand his point. Kids just run. They don’t look at their mini-Garmins or analyze their footstrike. For me, however, I wasn’t really a running kid. I read books and did nerd things. Yes, I played sports, but I never mastered the run down the basketball court like I should have. So running is a little complicated for me for the sheer fact I wasn’t one of those free-spirited kids. I was like Manny on “Modern Family,” the oldest eleven year old in the world. Not much running going on there.
But every run feels more natural, stronger. So if every day, I am moving forward and giving all I’ve got, then that’s the good stuff.
Like the wind, on a perfect day.
It's like you are in my head sometimes. I try to think light breezy fast thoughts when I'm running, but I still feel slow and ploddy most of the time. Ran 5 miles this morning so I suffered with you. Well, probably about 3 hours after you anyway.
We are wind people, Sara… we are!!! we are!!
5 miles. You go girl.