Personal Goals

Lately I have been having that urge to run.  Maybe it is because summer is over.  The pool is closed and swimming has been my main source of exercise these past four months.  Fall is in the air.  Along with the splendor of the season comes the dread of being cooped up more.  I want to run!

Last spring I walked 15-minute miles in a mini-marathon.  A friend who ran in the same marathon encouraged me to try the Couch-to-5K running plan.  Another friend on Facebook has been doing C25K.  That was enough motivation for me to give it a try.  I am getting tired of just wanting to be a runner and being inspired by all my friends who are runners.  I would like to join that community.  Have you noticed that people who run are generally happy people?  

Today was day four of my C25K experiment.  So far day three was the hardest for me.  Each day had been harder than the one before until today.  On day two I was sore from using all the new muscles on day one.  On day three I wanted to die by the end of the 20 minutes.  But that's just it.  It's only 20 minutes three days a week!  Anyone should be able to do that, right?  Today a mysterious thing happened.  Towards the end of the walking periods of the program, I was anxious to start running again.  I was ready to run!  It felt exhilarating.  

The biggest challenge of running for me is not the sore muscles.  I can deal with sore muscles.  The reason I have given up on running before is that after a certain point my lungs feel like they are on fire.  The C25K plan is appealing because of the rest periods that give my lungs a chance to recuperate and build up their tolerance.  

On day three, Kevin and I had a little spat.  He is a litigation attorney and so his job ebbs and flows in its busyness.  Mostly it seems that it flows.  He had been working late and getting up early to go to work.  He had set his alarm for 4:30 in the morning.  I had set mine for 5:30 so that I could get up and run before he left.  (A treadmill would probably save our marriage, right?  We need to invest in one!)  I think I actually said something like, "I just can't have any personal goals since I have small children!" or something ridiculous like that.  Finally we compromised and I set the alarm for 5:00, with the intention to take a nap later in the day, and told him I would be home by 5:30.    

There have been many times where I remember how disciplined I was during law school.  I worked full time and often studied all night.  Doing all that was a cake walk compared to being a stay at home mom.  Raising small children is the hardest thing I have ever done.  But no matter how tired I am, I want to translate that same determination to other goals, including physical fitness.  I don't want to be afraid of doing hard things.