Saturday, March 5, 2011

15 Days Til The Marathon

With new shoes in tow, I was ready to get serious about this running thing. The church's 5k was on Saturday, and I remember heading out for a "long run" of 4 miles on Sunday after church to test the new footwear out. I continued on with 4 miles a day for a while and then ventured up to 5. I remember the first time I got 5 miles, and I did it in 45 minutes. That was a big improvement from my 10-11 minute miles when I started in March, and by this time it was the beginning of May. The bug was getting stronger and stronger. I couldn't believe it, but I was starting to love this thing!

Running quickly took hold of my daily schedule. I learned that this hobby, like any other thing you want to do, would require planning and time management to get it done. I had to take clothing to school so I could change and run afterward. I made appointments and conferences around running times. I even found myself getting up way earlier than normal so I could get the daily run in. I even delayed a trip out of town so I could the run done. I was so glad when school finally ended for the year and I could have all summer to run and get better!

When you start building your schedule around things people notice... Lots of people said I became obsessed right away... Many of you are saying that now. But, if we all scrutinized your lives, I am sure we would find something that is important to you that others would call you obsessed with... my thing was becoming running. At least it wasn't something like a unicorn collection or stamp trading. (No offense to those folks who do either!)

I can list lots of things that some of my friends are obsessed with but would never admit it... video games, college football, scrap booking, clothing, etc. I was happy to finally have something to add to the list. Running is great, and its very healthy for me. Every time someone gave/gives me some sort of weird look for running "so much," I would just grin in my head!

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