Run 1 Done... Many To Go

March 14, 2012

I'm pretty sure when I get out of bed this morning, I'm going to hate myself for running (I'm writing this on Tuesday night).  I can already feel the stiffness setting in.  I'm pretty sure I'm going to be walking funny at work tomorrow too.

But... I did it.  I did Day 1 of the 5k plan, and I survived.

Let me walk you through it.
I strap on my Polar hear rate monitor .  I lace up my shoes.  The first 2 shirts I try on are way too small, at least I have stretchy pants that fit.  I eventually find a shirt that fits too.  I fire up the iPod and my Nike+ and find that miraculously all gadgets are in working order after a year of just sitting idle!  I'm thrilled... I know this is meant to be.

I head outside.  It is March 13th in Minnesota and it is pure sunshine and in the high 60s.  It is nothing but perfection for a run!  I start off walking.  I hear the Black Eyed Peas - "I Gotta Feeling".  I smile, I breathe in the perfect air, the perfect smell.  I tell myself I am probably looking like an idiot with that giant grin plastered across my face, then I tell myself I don't care.

I make it through my warm up and its go time.  Time to run for the first time in a year.  I brace myself for the horribleness of it, and before I can think too much I look and my 1 minute of running is over.  I walk a minute, I run another minute.  I think to myself I only have to do this 8 more times.  I wonder if I will live through it.

I turn another corner, and I think about all the times I've run down this street before.  I think about how things were so different then.  I slow to another walk.  "Don't Stop Believin'" comes on, and its time for me to run again.  I think about how every time I would hear that song on runs I would envision myself so super healthy, and pregnant, and having my dream come true with a perfect baby at the end.  I think about how I got every single thing I wanted... I got healthy, I got pregnant, and I got a perfect little girl at the end.  I gloss over the imperfect way of how we got there... that wasn't what I envisioned and today I don't actually care.

Today I am free, today I can run, and feel the air fill my lungs... but suddenly I feel a cramp in my side.  That doesn't feel too good.  I slow and walk again.  Just as it's time to run again, I look in front of me and I'm at a hill... of course, I would hit a running stretch at a hill... ugh!  I can't do this.  One.  Foot.  In.  Front.  Of.  The.  Other.  I think about how always hitting the hill exactly when I have to run is a metaphor for my life.

I see a scary dog with a muzzle.  I wonder why people actually have scary dogs as pets.

I see a place that was cleared of the old, scrubby, trees that used to be there late last summer, before Lily was born, when we used to take short family walks.  I think about how so much has changed since those walks.  I feel like cleared away dead trees is a good sign-the ground is already prepped for new life!

I round the last corner towards my house and realize that I only have to run for 1 more minute.  I break into a run and run like I mean it.  I hurt, but I will my legs to keep on moving.  I'm done.  I walk around for 5 minutes getting my heart rate back down, and I head into my driveway. 

I walk in my house.  I look at my husband and tell him that at least I'm not dead.  But secretly in my head I enjoyed the whole tortuous 30 minutes.  I remember what its like and even though I was slow, I remind myself that I'm still faster than the person that is still sitting on their couch.

Tomorrow, when I get out of bed and feel my jelly legs, I reserve the right to change my mind.

Run 1... Done!  And many, many more to go.

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4 comments

  1. I love this! Great post. I'm so glad you did the first run back out. Can't wait to hear the rest of your successes as well. Good luck with the jelly legs. (-:

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  2. Good for you. I am slow but I'll go running with you any time! Just give me a call!

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  3. Sarah, this is exactly how I felt when I jogged my first 1/10th of a mile, then 15/100ths, then 1/4th a mile. I was elated, and completely thrilled that no limbs fell off, I was still breathing, and that I was able to do it again if I wanted to!

    Keep it up! You're doing great!

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  4. Love, love, LOVE this!!! So proud of you!!!

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