The Key to Running

1:00pm: It felt really good to take the whole day off yesterday and just relax. I had to run errands and such, but to take a break from all exercise was much needed. I did however have a big itch to get back to the swing of things today. After church, breakfast, and a Good Will run, Mandi and I headed for the gym to work out our arms. As you know if you read this blog, arms may be my favorite day. Since my arms and legs aren't covered by anything while I'm at the gym, I can actually see "results" as I work out and it can be motivating. Don't get me wrong, it still looks like I have wet noodles for arms, but at least they're BIGGER wet noodles. Mandi's arms are also getting slightly bigger, but mostly more defined. While I do heavier weight and less reps, she does lower weight and more reps. I generally do 12,10,8 or 8, 6,4 with an increase in weight for each set. Mandi however usually does 3 sets of 12 all at the same weight. Soon, she'll be able to be a stand in for GI Jane! Maybe she could shave her head and do the sequel?

After the weight lifting portion we decided to head outside and go for a run/walk. We took off on our 3 mile loop and hoped for the best. I say that cause it was 100+ degrees outside, but I needed to push myself a bit after taking the day off yesterday. I of course was sweating almost instantly but we had water with us and I was also hydrating before and during our workout. In the very beginning my left foot hurt a bit and my right ankle had a bit of a kink in it. It only took my ankle about 5 minutes to feel normal, but my foot didn't feel better until the last bit of our walk/run. Just as we were making our way towards the last half a mile we decided to take a short cut to make it a 2.5 mile loop instead. We were both getting a little burned on the face and we certainly didn't want to test the sun in that regard. We ended up running the last .3 miles back to the car. I'm SOOO glad I was able to run, but let me tell you, it wasn't easy.

About 10 seconds after we took off all of the internal excuses started coming from my brain. "You're going to throw up" my brain said. "Seriously, just stop to cough out some of that flem you're choking on" he continued. "You haven't run for a while and certainly not in this type of heat" he shouted. Excuse after excuse just kept on coming out of me. I promise you this, I wanted to stop the entire time we were running. I wanted to run before and I was glad I ran after, but during, I wanted to quit. Running for me isn't easy. It's not easy for most. The key to running is to overcome that self doubt and just push through all of those internal voices and block out the pain. It's ALWAYS worth it in the end. I know it was only .3 miles, but it feels like I accomplished something much bigger. Current Weight: 187 lbs

Total Distance: 2.5 miles

Total Distance for Day: 2.5 miles