Anyway, I wanted to write about training for the half. I've written here and there on Facebook about the music that inspires me to keep going, and several people have told me that I'm inspiring for being so dedicated and taking on such a hard thing. Well, I appreciate that. I'm glad that my hard work helps anyone feel inspired to do hard things in their life. Here are some of the things that I've learned along the way.
1. When I have a hard time getting started, there are always people there to support me and push me to get going. The other day I asked Facebookworld for any inspiration when I was feeling completely unmotivated to run 9 miles. I honestly considered not running that day because I simply didn't want to. However, with comments like, "You have a nice booty," "Look at where you came from," "Just one step at a time," and "Just run 1 mile. Nine times," I couldn't help but feel the love and the inspiration to go. Sometimes I feel so alone, but whenever I reach out, I'm overwhelmed with support and love.
2. With that being said, nobody can run the miles for me. I think this is why I like running (despite also hating it, but that's a different story): I feel proud of myself when I cross the finish line, because nobody did it for me. Every step is my choice to keep moving forward.
3. There are so many small things that make the miles a little bit more bearable. Music is by far at the top of the list; nothing compares to its influence on my running. However, here are some things that give me an extra boost along the way.
- Every time someone gives me a thumbs up or says something nice to me when I run, like,
"Wow, you're ambitious!" or "You're doing a good job!" - When I run with a cool breeze blowing on my face. The heat really takes a lot of energy out of me, so this rainy weather the last few days has been really nice.
- Stopping for a second to smell the lilacs that have been so beautiful this year. Lilacs remind me of my mom and my grandma. Not that I really knew my grandma very well before she died; I was only 2 at the time, but I hear that she really liked them. I haven't been able to resist the urge to stop and take in the beautiful smell when I run past a big bush of them. Seeing them reminds me of how loved I am. I know it's a really cheesy sentiment for a bunch of flowers, but it's true.
- Every time a driver stops their car and waves me forward at a crosswalk or whatever. I know most people are doing it because I'm a pedestrian and it's the law... but I like to think that some people are doing it so that I don't lose my momentum and can keep going. Kind of like they're rooting for me a little bit.
- Okay, this one is really silly. But every time I'm running and someone passes me in their car, I think to myself, "You know? The whole time that that person in the car has known me (the 30 seconds that they've seen me on the street), I've been a runner." There are a lot of cars on the road and it makes it so that I don't want to stop, because then the people in their cars will know me as the runner who stopped. For some reason that's motivating to me.
4. Breaks and rest days are important, and I'm not about to be hard on myself because I need them. Sometimes I truly can't keep running. If I try to run a hill, I promise you I will burn out within minutes, and I won't have the energy or the stamina to run the entire hill. Sometimes I have to walk. The other day, I hurt my ankle running. I walked about half of my miles that day, but I finished. Another day recently, I was scheduled to run 4 or 5 miles, and my legs were so sore from running and work the day before that I could hardly walk. So I took that day off. And you know what? The next day I was feeling great and was able to do the 7 miles that I was scheduled.
Sometimes I feel like we're all trying to be so perfect and do so much that we forget that breaks or rest days are essential to our health. Along the same vein, mistakes or mess ups don't mean that we're failures if we're trying to reach a goal. Just because I didn't run one day doesn't take away from the fact that I've run 4 days a week for 6 weeks up to this point. It doesn't mean I messed everything up and have to start all over. Goals are not an all-or-nothing deal.
5. I run really slowly. I'm sure there are plenty of people that could walk briskly at my pace. But even my slow pace is hard for me and I know I'm pushing myself to even go that fast. And you know what? I'm okay with that.
6. Boob sweat is a problem, y'all. I learned this a couple years ago when I ran a 5K and stuck my cell phone in my bra because for some reason workout pants don't have pockets. After the 5K I was horrified when I realized that my phone no longer worked due to "water" damage. That's no lie, folks. That actually happened to me. I had to buy a new phone after that. I wish there were a better solution for boob sweat than the current solution, which is nothing.
7. You guys, this next one is really important to me: when running is at its hardest for me, when my legs feel tight, my feet are aching, and my lungs are burning, the best thing for me to do is to lean into the run and keep going. This idea of leaning into the hard things has had a profound effect on other aspects of my life.
Don't forget that I'm a believer in breaks and rests. You have to find out for yourself when it's best for you to rest and when it's best for you to push yourself. But these moments of pushing myself past what I think my breaking point is have been the most rewarding and the moments of the most growth.
I have a love/hate relationship with running. It's hard, it takes so much time to train, I complain the whole time that I'm doing it. But I'm learning so much from it, and I'm so grateful to be healthy enough to actually be able to run.
