Monday, October 12, 2009

The RunBug

Well I ran my first Half Marathon yesterday (13.5 miles) it was invigorating. I started training in January, I took a longer than normal training period so I could progress nice and slow. I think I have an ankle condition called posterior tibia tendonitis or something. Basically from exercising too much. But the doc said just take the training slower. It has been cool seeing my ankles develop their stamina for longer periods of runs. Weather may have a bit to do with how they feel too. I began my run a bit fast and it was on concrete which is what pushed them into pain in the beginning, but after we got onto the towpath which is just dirt they began to feel better. 
The morning was a bit cloudy but dry at least, and the run ended up so beautiful. All the fall colors are starting to come out here, I just love this time of year. I was a bit surprised at how people did not pace themselves, I noticed them slow down a lot near the end because their bodies were giving out. Keeping yourself at a slow steady pace was the biggest advice I had read or herd so I was surprised. 

I have really enjoyed going through this process of learning bout myself and body. I have always hated running with a passion which is why I decided to face that issue head on. I was determined to love running and now I think I at least like it. The actual activity itself is still rough but I love how I feel afterwards. My favorite is surprising myself with how long my run was.  There is something ritualistic about running a new rout and then driving around in my car watching the trip clock how many miles I ran. So in all I guess I am just surprised to find that at nearly thirty I have a new found love. Not to say I will become a serious runner, but I have definitely caught the run bug.

2 comments:

Terry and Gail said...

The thing about moving our bodies is this: most of our body is on auto-pilot...that is, most of the systems of our body take care of themselves. Our heart beats, so blood pumps, we automatically breathe, our eyes just blink, our hormones just do what they do, our nervous system keeps plugging along (as your ankle pain testified to you)... we are responsible to move so little of the active parts of our body. But the more we neglect our responsibility to move and rest and feed( healthily- not perfectly- but mostly 95% healthily) the parts of our body that we are responsible to do that with (including how we exercise, feed and rest our brain), the more compromised we make the rest of the automatic systems of our body. And the older we get the more our automatic systems are compromised by our abuse and neglect. It is something to think about. Our bodies need to wiggle and wiggle alot. Kids usually do it naturally, but grown ups have learned how to be still and while being still has its place, wiggling should be more enjoyed by grown ups. You really know you are a grown up and have lost alot of zest for life when you quit wiggling. I think it is sad. And yes, exercise is a good type of wiggling. I just like calling it wiggling because wiggling bugs people and I guess I just naturally like to bug people. Love, Aunt Gail

Letty said...

Girl I'm so proud of you. It is amazing what our bodies have the capacity to do. More and more I'm convinced that I have very little understanding of my bodies potential.
I'm so glad you got to experience the feeling of doing something you never thought possible.
You Rock!!!