Running is “easy”?

Thursday, March 27, 2014

At 7:30pm last night I was falling asleep on the couch and had only thoughts of going to bed. I don’t know if it was the late night of volleyball the day before that made me exhausted but all I wanted was my warm bed and the TV. I thought about my goals and seriously doubted that I’d make my 50 miles for March and really didn’t care. But then something sparked inside and I dragged my butt off the couch at 7:45pm. I dreaded every single step up the stairs to change into my clothes. I also dreaded the fact that I was going to be inside. But somehow I managed to motivate myself to go out the front door.

Running inside
14 laps at the community center equals one mile. I still needed 13 miles this month to reach my goal of 50 for March so I thought a 2 mile run was all I needed. It was a miracle I was there in the first place. But something changed in me. I’m not sure if it was watching the two extremely large guys walking around the track (which I know must have been hard for them…I was there once) or the fact that it was only me and these two guys. I love when there is very few people at the track. It had been a while since I was at the track as it has been somewhat warm enough to go outside. The last time I ran inside was the beginning of the month and my pace was over 13:30. I didn’t know what to expect last night since my pace has suddenly gotten faster over the last 2 weeks. I did the first half mile in less than 6 minutes. Where has this sudden speed come from? But the biggest thing I noticed last night was how easy it was to run!

Easy???
It is amazing that less than 30 minutes before I started my run last night, I was on the couch falling asleep. Then out of nowhere, I had a burst of energy. I felt fantastic the entire run, almost like I was looking down at me running laps and thinking who is that awesome runner? and like I said it all of a sudden felt easy. Wait, did I say that running was easy? I know some of my friends love running and say that it is so easy. I used to think they were crazy. But for the first time in my life, I began thinking the same thing. What was this weird feeling?  Was it that runners’ high that I hear so much about?  I’m not really sure but I do know I can’t wait to go running again.

42 laps later…
I ended up doing 42 laps which is 3 miles and I ran my last mile faster than my first. And I really thought at the end of lap 42 that I could keep going but it was getting close to closing time so I had to go. On the ride home, I felt really strange. I was so energetic and so happy it was a very interesting experience. My overall pace for the run was 12:30 which made me very excited. Again where did this faster pace come from?  I am enjoying it and hope I can get faster but I really don’t understand it. I have lost over a minute on my mile pace in 2 weeks. That is unbelievable. I can’t wait to hit the ground running again and maybe I can get to the 10 minute mile in no time. 

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