Today I thought I'd take a little Saturday morning run. That shouldn't be too bad and I am suppossed to be resting for the rest of this week, so I'm avoiding the gym and it's temptations. I think to myself, "hey...i haven't taken one of my highway runs in a while...i'll get my ipod and run the shorter of my two highway routes. i won't rush...i'll just enjoy the sunshine and my tunes. should be a piece of cake!" WRONG! I started off at 10:05. I'm a little stressed because I have to be back to pick up Sydney from a sleepover @ 10:30. My friend won't mind if I'm 5 min late. I take off from my street and as I run down my street and turn on National pkwy, it starts. I can't get my breathing right. It feels like my butt weighs 200 lbs and I'm dragging it behind me. I just started and already I'm hitting a wall. That happens...I tell myself that the pain will subside and I continue to run past the golf course. I get to HWY 360 and go North on the South bound side so I can see what's coming towards me at 60mph. The shoulder is very wide so I never feel afraid. I AM DYING! What is wrong with me??? I feel like a novice runner that has never done this before. I HATE runs like this. I continue on. I pass a pile of "roadkill" (not sure what all it was) and notice a vulture circling overhead...waiting for me to pass so he can continue his disgusting meal...or maybe he's waiting on me to die so he can pick MY bones. Sounds dramatic, but felt like a real possibility at the time. I continue on and cross over the hwy at Broad St. and turn to go South on the North bound side...UPHILL!!! I force my body up the incline one painful step at a time and finally hit flat land. It never got easier...I suffered the entire run...even when I rounded the turn back onto my street...the homestretch if you will...it was hard. It was like starving and reaching for some food...your fingers can just graze the edge of the food...but the food is just barely out of your reach. It felt like I was so close and so far away. I just looked down, pressed forward, and made it home. It was a miserable...humbling experience. Just when you think you've got it down...you realize that you never really do. I am thankful for my strong will and my pride...my pride that won't allow me to stop even when it hurts. I'm thankful for the pain...the pain that teaches and refines me. Today's run was hard...the run from hell...but as hard as it was...I made it...and I know that if my friend were to call me right now and ask me to run "an easy 10", I would put back on my shoes and do it all again in a heartbeat...even if I had to crawl the last 9!
CARDIO
4.5 MILE RUN
asphalt -HWY
flat and hills
42 minutes-slow =(
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