Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Morning Motivation

Remember how I was going to swim yesterday. Yeah. So that didn't happen. For me to have time to swim before work, I need to leave the house at 5:45. I don't think I rolled out of bed until 6:20. Oops. Swimming is back on the schedule for Thursday. Guess my swim motivation was missing.

Yesterday afternoon I talked to Coach. He wanted to know how the return to running was going. I told him about the knee incident on Friday and cancelling my run Saturday. Also about having success with some short runs. We agreed that frequent short runs was a good way to ease back into running. At the end of the discussion, I mentioned that I would like to try 3 miles (easy pace) in the morning, but would back off from that if my knee showed any signs of distress.

The nice thing about running vs. swimming is that I don't have to travel anywhere to do it. No problem rolling out of bed (again) at 6:20 and still having time for a short run. Even thought it wasn't exactly an early morning wake-up, I had plenty of motivation to get out there this morning. I queued up Matisyahu "Smash Lies" on my ipod and took off.

"Dream awake. Make no mistake.
Strive to be alive most every day"

I promise not to complain about how slow I am or how much of a struggle running even three miles is after taking 3 months. I am and it is; this is not a complaint, just a statement of fact. Rather than dwell on how running was before or how I want it to be, I'm really just trying to enjoy how it IS. What I love most about it is the feeling of being alive. What do you love most about running?

mile 1 11:24
mile 2 11:39
mile 3 11:29

Hey, if nothing else, my splits were more consistent than usual. That's gotta count for something!

15 comments:

  1. I love running for exactly those reasons. It brings clarity.

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  2. I love being able to just get up and go. I get a feeling from running that any other workout can't give me. Must be the endorphins.

    nice job on your run, girl!

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  3. Yes! Celebrate the positive... being able to roll out of bed and go for a run!

    Running makes me feel alive. It sounds cliche, but it's true!

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  4. I agree with Marlene. Celebrate the positive!
    What I like about running? I like knowing my legs can go the distance. I think after being less of a beginner runner, we get more and more consumed by pace and miles and totally forgotten the simple pleasure of running - "Feeling free when you run. Having legs that can actually do the running."

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  5. Lance Armstrong had a Matisyahu song (King without a Crown) on his iTunes running list.

    http://s0.ilike.com/play#Matisyahu:King+Without+a+Crown:13463:s300428.8120138.10200871.0.1.82%2Cstd_ffa965b9ed6a775323278884938fe326

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  6. This also shows where your heart truly is - running. ;)

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  7. see this is why i like to be a runner and not do tri's, I just walk out the door and go!! to ride my bike I have mess with getting a key for the bike room, carrying it down stairs, blah blah..not just walking out the door

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  8. Good for you! I've been running for over 6 months now and I'm running 11-minute miles, so it's not always about speed...it's about getting out there and doing it! :)

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  9. I'm at 10 weeks. I like the frequent short runs approach you're taking, but a quarter mile might not be what your coach meant ;)

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  10. Good job on the three miles. Hope the pain free recovery continues.

    Me, I can't live without running, so let's hope my knees can stay injury free.

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  11. Yay for 3 miles!

    Running helps me clear my mind. I seem to need an active body to have a quiet brain :)

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  12. How do I love running, let me count the ways...

    Running keeps me sane and I get to eat carbs. :)

    This post resonated with me, big time with the running vs swimming. Ditto!

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  13. That's my favorite thing about running too. I can go from anywhere and it doesn't really require much advance prep.

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  14. Running is like breathing to me. I can't go long without doing it!

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