First run of the new year. Face buried in pillow, grunting. Jack Johnson had just woken me up with “Banana Pancakes”. Tiredly, I complain to myself how tired I am from not having slept enough. No sleep = no run, on a normal day. I like to watch the sun rise as I race against myself and then all the energy makes it difficult to fall back asleep and I’m usually fairly productive.
However, this morning I said to myself “You’ll hate yourself if you don’t get enough sleep. You’ll hate yourself anyway if you don’t get up and freakin’ run. There’s no winning. You might as well do it.” So I grumbled out of bed, washed my mouth and slipped on all the necessary equipment — iPhone, earphones, shoes, what-have-you.
The run was short. About 2 and a half miles, going for about 25 minutes which equals about 10 minutes a mile. Considering that my current body content is made of mostly lazy and chicken wings, it wasn’t too bad. Considering that my body (like the rest of my Maniac Magee family) is made for running and that I set the kind of standard of myself that is 3 min./mile shorter than that, I was fairly disappointed. But hey, that’s what ya get when you haven’t done much the last year. I guess.
I need to try this new thing in which I actually feel accomplished for things that I do. Today wasn’t meant for speed, though. I used it to build my endurance and commitment to keep going. Mind/matter. I felt fairly good at the end. It wasn’t my best run, very far from it. BUT: I didn’t cramp, I didn’t die and I felt very refreshed. So I cooled down, drank some water and made some freakin’ pancakes.
I missed this. So much. And I’m loving myself for finally starting again. Let’s see where this takes me and hopefully by April, I’ll be fully ready to kick butt in the half marathon.
by the way: friends who are reading this, for my birthday I would like you all to do a run for the Guam International Marathon (at least the 5k) kntx
Ruzelle Almonds 