Some days are going to suck. There, I said it. Yep, some days are going to leave you feeling quite miserable and on the verge of tears or like today, actually crying. Yep, I ran a measly 1.2 miles, sat down on my treadmill, and cried.No, I wasn't in pain. In fact, the reason itself made me want to cry more. The past couple of days I have been an emotional, irritable time bomb waiting to explode. I blame hormones. There is no proof that is what is the issue but my gut tells me they are to blame so I am sticking to that story. And yes, I cried and darling daughter came running to my side to check on me. After I told her my pathetic story she hugged me and then verified that my measly run was at least a mile. Yep, she was making sure I ran long enough to keep my streak alive. That made my heart smile.
Today is day 1300 of my running streak. I wanted to celebrate. I have been counting down the days to this next milestone and dreamed of running 13 miles today to celebrate but nope, it didn't happen. My treadmill was boring me so I tried its speed app and it just kept slowing down the pace. I got frustrated and pulled the plug...literally...I hit stop and pulled the plug out of the wall. Then I cried.But in 1300 days of running I also know that days like these don't happen much. They are few and far between. There are many, many normal days with a dose of very happy days that keep running fun. Very happy days often happen outside and for the past four days I have been running inside but Saturday, a treadmill day, was a very happy day.
My goal was to run 18 miles on the treadmill and I rocked those 18 miles. I added in GMP and incline so those 18 miles were made even tougher. Mile 17 was a killer at a 4% grade incline (my third at this grade) and as much as I wanted to quit I kept going. After 18 miles I added in one more very slow mile to ease my legs from running to not running. Total: 19 miles on the treadmill.Since then my legs are feeling AWESOME (a huge plus) but my head is out of the game. Perhaps I used up all my treadmill running mental endurance on Saturday. I need to run outside! I need to feel the breeze and smell the plumeria!! Hey, it can even rain on me. Let me out!!! And that is another lesson, you got to switch things up when running every day and running outside makes it easier to switch things up.
However, I am a running mom and often work, mom duties, etc get in the way of a run outside and that is okay. I can't have it all but I can run every day. Nothing can stop that. Even power going out. I will run circles around our house if necessary and yes, I have. And tropical storms won't stop me. I will run just after midnight to ensure I get my run in when weather predictions are predicting the worst. I did that too. The predictions were wrong. I ran another mile or so later in the day.
I have learned so much about myself in 1300 days of running - I am strong, determined, and flexible (at least in my scheduling of my runs if not in the hamstring flexibility). I also learned yoga is a good counterpart to running. It helps with that flexibility part even if you toss in poses throughout the day although it is nice to do a class when you can. There is an app for that. I have never been to a live yoga class but I feel being a self-motivated streak runner helps in self-teaching myself yoga. I am getting better at it. That makes me happy.
I have learned that marathon training is always tough but that is okay. Training is tough. Running is the easy part. Pushing yourself to go longer or further is the tough part but it is worth it. I have learned running with God makes it easier. He gave me my running feet and with Him all things are possible. And I have learned I can push forward and keep going even when others don't get it and even when they tell me to my face I am wrong.
But most importantly, I have learned to listen to MY body and to run MY race. I am done comparing myself to others. Others can motivate me but no longer will others make me feel I am not fast enough, strong enough, or run long enough. Time and distance don't really matter....okay, they don't matter beyond that I run at least a mile at a pace fast enough to get both feet off the ground.
God willing in 1300 days I will be able to tell you I learned in 2600 days of running!
Daily Gratitude: I am thankful for 1300 days of running regardless of the circumstances.
Daily Bible Verse: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. ~ Luke 6:27-28
