I've gotten super lazy with my running. Now that I run in the morning due to the afternoon heat, my motivation has reached pretty low levels. I LOVE to sleep. I'm one of those people who looks forward to going to sleep each night. It appears that I've passed this gene on to my daughter. I have great, vivid dreams and it just feels so darn good. Writing about it makes me miss my sheets and pillow right now! Anyway, because of this love of sleep, running has become my enemy. I talk about it like I like it, but in the back of my mind I'm resentful of losing that extra 45 minutes to an hour in the bed. Of course, this has made my running more sporadic, making it much more challenging and even less fun because it's harder and I'm resentful. Whew, doesn't sound like much fun to me and it's not a cycle I want to fall into. After two weeks of waning running, I decided to step back in the program a few weeks to an easier time (2.5 miles for 4 to 6 days a week) so that I can get back into the swing of things without the daily dread of 4 or 5 miles glaring at me.
Last night, I asked Mason to nudge me out of the bed in the morning. He knows he's taking his life into his hands with this request, but I assured him that I would only growl at him and not bite. He, lovingly nudged me out this morning (God bless his brave soul), I didn't growl at him, and ten minutes later I was slowly out the door.
It is so beautiful outside in the mornings. There is still a crispness in the air that makes me think about going on vacation for some reason. I think because we always used to leave early to go anywhere. The sun is just coming up, but the sky is bright enough to see blue. The birds are awake and chirping back and forth. The best part, there isn't a soul moving around me. It's like all of this is some super secret time on earth where only I get to spend. Not a bad start for a lazy runner. I started up my workout and hit the road with a quarter of the enthusiasm that I feel for running right now, but enough to get me going.
I have a new toy to run with after last week, the iPod + Nike attachment that allows me to run without paying attention to where. It keeps up with my mileage and time and average pace, etc. Have to give credit again to Mason, he surprised me with it. You have to smile for supportive and loving spouses. He my not like to run, but he's so excited for me that I like it.
But I diverge...
I wanted to quit through mile one. I still wanted to quit half way through my workout, but Danny's words (see other blogs on my site) about the body being a temple and how running is his mission for God started repeating in my mind. I lifted my posture, spread a silly grin on my face and kept on going. The grin helps....A LOT. Into Mile 2, people started coming out and joining me in my love of the morning, so, I smiled and waved. Then i started smiling and waving and then speaking as I passed. I actually began to have fun again and realized that it's much more fun to run with a happy disposition. In fact, it's not fun at all to run with dread, but man is it fun to run happy. I think I was initially using the running to make me happy and now I'm trying to be happy and run, too! I ran into two friends of mine who are just starting the Couch to 10K program and I met them with a smile (a sweaty and heavily breathing smile, but a smile). I hope that encourages them and I can't wait until we can all run together. Oh my gosh...before I knew it, the run was over and I felt great.
God is truly great. He gives us all of this ability to do things and then strengthens us when we want to quit. So, I started my day off with a bang and I hope that I continue to do it every day. It's not for weight loss, or for a race, or anything else. I want to do it because I enjoy it. I just needed to be reminded why I love it so much (and a good kick out of bed from a loving and brave husband)