Hang Your Finishers' Medal With PRIDE

The things you can learn on 6 miles. Still in love with running :)

I typed this and posted it on my myspace (www.myspace.com/lisaerin82) Read and enjoy :)

Four years and about 4 months ago, I discovered a passion. Well that's a lie. Then it was a level of disgust. A necessity. I conveyed to Ryan my desire, need, for a treadmill; Ryan convinced me of his approval of the acquisition. We got a treadmill. I hated the stupid thing. It was the enemy. It was hard. It hurt. Alot. My feet hurt, my legs hurt (my knee didn't! This was pre-dislocation of it); my chest hurt; my heart felt like it was rising in my chest, pounding hard, just to satiate the desperation for oxygen. I ached. Everywhere. Everything that could ache did and muscles I didn't know about introduced themselves to me in a nagging way. Yet I got off the treadmill after a mile in less than 12 minutes GLOWING. GRINNING from ear to ear. It hurt and I conquered it and I LOVED IT! I ran more. I turned the treadmill into use for sprinting, short runs, or down-pour day uses. I dislocated my knee and Ryan had to reprimand me just for entertaining the idea of getting back on the treadmill too soon. Three weeks was enough. Back to working out, weights, running. It hurt. Still. It wasn't comfortable. As the stress from wedding planning mounted, the intensity and frequency increased (was it possible? ..found a way for it to be.) The idea of twenty-six POINT TWO (hehe) was introduced to me. I ran my first 'distance run' 6.1 miles from Dewey Beach's Gold Leaf Best Western Hotel to the beloved Indian River Inlet. Up and over the bridge (gasp!) and down the steps. "I MADE IT!" It was exhilarating. A runner? I was a becoming a runner? Through training for 16 formal weeks (and many informal weeks preceding), I pushed and worked and logged miles and miles and miles. I escaped. I had my stress relief. I conquered my first marathon (goal: to finish....to cross the finish line before they closed the course) and I did just that. (Oh to go back to that....the comraderie at the Philly "stomp"). I continued to run and workout, though training for nothing in particular other than stress relief and weight loss. I entertained the idea of running the 06 marathon in Philly but ended up going to Pittsburgh for 7 weeks. I didn't even have time to think about the upcoming marathon in Philly in 07, but entertained the idea of running the NJM in 5/08. After spraining my ankle on my first training run, that slipped out of reach (rehabbing it without knowing the proper rehab was a problem). I started the summer with the intention of running Philly to qualify for Boston this year. I ran and worked out hard. 18 miles over Labor Day weekend, though, told me that I didn't work out quite hard enough. I was becoming comfortable...complacent?...with running. My love affair for running was stagnant. I stopped running with sacrifice. It stopped being a challenge. It stopped being hard. I stopped making it hard. I removed the sacrifice and started jogging. I wasn't a runner, I was a jogger. It was easy. My heart was pumping, but not hard. My legs weren't aching. Was it because I was just that good of a runner that it was easy? No. Running isn't easy. That's the whole point of this: Running isn't easy. Run easy? Great. Did you enjoy your jog? Run hard; run with sacrifice; run with discomfort (not near-death-pain-and-discomfort, just discomfort). I just got back from my first stomp since the ugly, easy, love-less, chore of 18miles and IT HURT! (yes I'm celebrating that pain!). My chest hurt. My heart was POUNDING! I was working hard for air. My legs hurt (not my joints though!!! WOOHOO!) My toes felt every step on the pavement. My knees were lifted and plowing through to the next push off and MY GOODNESS IT WAS AMAZING!!!! I am back!

I typed all that to tell you this: Run with purpose; run with pain; run till it hurts, then run farther; run harder; run faster. Whether you are able to do a half mile, a half hour, or a half marathon, run with all you have. Run so that you FEEL your heart beat EVERY SINGLE BEAT. If you can do a mile in 20 minutes, 12 minutes, or 8 minutes, do it with sacrifice. If you find yourself, like I did, finding excuses to slow down or *eek* stop, take a break from running, do some cross training (yoga is great! weights are amazing!). Take two [active] weeks off of running and go back to it with your heart back into it. You'll be glad you did. I was....my run today 6 miles <50 minutes Yippeeeeee!!!!! Now off to do my power90x workout. *grin* Run. Don't jog. :)