For me, running is a fate worse than death. At least in death I get to go to Heaven – where I imagine there is no running. There is a lot of sitting and singing with Jesus…but no running.
Everyone says “Run outside – Get off your dreadmill… It’s so much better…”
ok – ok. Message received.
The last couple of evenings have been so nice that I thought “well, maybe a night-time run wouldn’t be so bad”…
But if I’m going to torture myself like this – it is at least going to be fun.
So in addition to my hot pink running tank, I added a Flashing Mickey necklace and glow bracelets. Because, you know – I didn’t want to be run down by any cars. Or if I collapsed into a ditch I wanted someone to be able to find me.
And then of course I needed some sweet tunes to have in my ears. Figuring out what to listen to while running has been a great struggle for me. I’ve taken suggestions from all kinds of runners about what they like to listen to. I’ve tried praise and worship, hip hop, 90s, pop, but you know what I’ve discovered? My jam is totally Disney. I’m not even lying.
Having Disney songs playing in my head just makes me happy.
So with my glowsticks and princess music, off I went. And you know what I discovered? Outdoor running isn’t so terrible. In fact, it was actually kind of nice.
And guess what else?
I am totally faster outside. Wham. I did the entire 5K tonight in 24 minutes.
I had to slow down and catch my breath once because I was getting a cramp in my side and then once I tripped over a frog (yes, you read that right – a frog) but other than that I ran the entire time. Did the first 1.6 in 11 minutes. It was crazy. I couldn’t even believe it.
I measured out that it is .8 miles from my front door to my kid’s school – so to get the 5K I just needed to run to the school, then home, then back to the school, then home. It’s up hill on the way there and downhill on the way home. By the time I got around the curve on the second loop I felt like I was going to die. I was breathing like a whale about to burst air from its blowhole…
But then I saw my house…and I was like “YES”…so I kicked it into gear and thought about all the delicious things waiting for me at home.
Icecream.
My soft bed.
Motrin.
and I suddenly had the will to live again. I wasn’t going to let this run take me out.
When I hit the bottom of my driveway I collapsed.
But I was so happy. With the Disney Princesses still cheering me on, I couldn’t help smile at what I had done. My ever-encouraging neighbor congratulated me, but then said “well now what – you’ve done it already?”
And I was like – huh, maybe I need another mini-goal to shoot for – like shaving down my time.
And then she was like, “how about trying to be cute?” – like another super-awesome running lady we both know. Who always looks amazing and smiley and like she doesn’t even sweat when she runs…
So I thought about my whale and blowhole-like breathing and decided yes, that’s my next goal. I know I can run a 5K. But now I want to look like a normal person when I do it.
Challenge accepted.
And I guess I should stop saying such bad things about running…because I actually might have had a tiny bit of fun tonight while I was running…but don’t tell anyone ok? That’s our little secret.
I’ll completely deny it.
wordsofthewises 