run run run

Happy Day Before Blizzard my Lovely Blog-o-readers! Here in the northeast they are calling for a notorious, awful snowstorm...something that does not bode well for runners like myself that LOVE to run outdoors. That said, I made the effort to get out there and do my long run yesterday after work. And I have to say, it was wonderful! I hit my 4 mile mark (just over actually!)...and feeling good that I'll be able to build back up to 5 within the next week and then further train for the 10K Jelly Bean Virtual Run that I am doing the end of March. I think the most difficult thing to accept about running is how QUICKLY you lose your endurance...I say this as a newbie runner, I would think runners who have done this for years are more adapt to picking back up...but for a newbie...oy! God help getting too sick to run! Regardless, my endurance is building back up and it felt amazing.

I also did something I'd never done before. I turned the nagging voice prompt on my runner app OFF. I will state right now, I can't take credit for doing this...my fellow newbie runner and bad ass blogger The Racy Redhead mentioned a few days ago in her blog that she had decided to turn the prompter voice off on her app...and I thought...YES!

So that's what I did. And it was SO freeing! I literally just ran and ran and started to be able to free myself from my pace obsession. Even my mindset changed...I was thinking more about how far I would go, how to conserve my energy...it really knocked a wall down for me...so a GIANT "you da' bomb!!!" goes out to Cyn the Racy Redhead for suggesting it. What I learned from this is that my "comfortable/slow" pace is just under 11 minutes a mile. Which means I can run anywhere at any given time as slow as an 11min mile and as fast as 9:58 a mile (my quickest to date :). My average is usally somewhere around 10:30 and I find that highly respectable. Now that I understand (finally!) what a comfortable run pace is for me...it will be easier to settle in to it.

Gee, i'm just going on and on, aren't i!? Ha! All I know is, yesterday was an epiphany of sorts...very grateful.

Oh! And one more thing that happened...while doing my laps around the hood, there was a group of 3-4 young boys (8-9 years) - and they were a ways up ahead of me on the street. Suddenly, they broke into a run, just for fun, because they could, because they were young, because they just wanted to. So there they were running all over the street, racing each other from post to post. And it struck me. We all used to run when we were kids - these boys weren't wearing the "right" shoes, they didn't have on socks with arch support...they didn't eat the right fuel foods or have to wear layers and insulated gloves and a moisture wicking hat. They were just running.

And I got all choked up as I watched them.

Because its innate. Running. Somewhere deep down we pretty much ALL loved to run when we were little. And somewhere between childhood and adulthood we lose it. And that makes me sad on one hand, because we lose so much when we "grow up" - lots of people leave their creative cravings in the shadow of their youth. As a person that has lived a bulk of her life as a highly creative person...that always frustrated me. And now with running, I have the same discovery.

Just because we "grow up" doesn't mean we have to forget who we were when we were young. If you liked to paint as a kid, paint as an adult...do it for yourself. And the same applies for running or biking or anything you adored as a child but let drift away from you.

I guess what I'm say is I'm a big BIG believer in the idea of our "inner child". Always have. Funny to me, that although I don't practice my creative talents as much as I used to (acting/filmmaking/theater) - running is now my time to create myself, to make me happy, to fill a void. It brings me such joy...and yes...makes me feel like a kid again. Yesterday's run was perfect because of the inspiration I gained from those 4 boys...just running...for fun.