Running Journal

I want to record the efforts of one of the physically hardest things I've ever done: trying to run as a fitness activity. On June 12th, I ran the loop (0.54 km) at a local trail near the river cove for the first time ever without stopping. I didn't think I could even do that. It took me 4 minutes. Two days later, on June 14th, I came back and pushed myself to run two loops(1.1 km) and did it in a little over 8 minutes. As I drove over to the cove, I kept telling myself not to expect too much, it was likely a fluke that I could run like that and probably not repeatable. So when I ran the two loops, I felt relieved that maybe it wasn't a one-off but something I could do again without letting myself stop to walk. Three days later on June 17th, I came back and ran two loops again in just under 8 minutes. This time I reversed the loop and saved the steep bit for the end rather than starting going downhill. I wanted to challenge myself. It felt great to be able to run it either direction. Shane said not to worry about time, just practice running with stopping. Speed will come, he said. The next day, June 18th, I decided to stay in our neighborhood and try to run up to the traffic circle and back something that I hadn't been able to do yet. But with my new goal of only doing distances that I could run without having to stop and walk, I picked that 1km segment to work on. It took me just over 7 minutes to run. Running on the road is distracting and without the beauty of the nature trail, but it's easy to do logistically. The next day we left for Caton's Island so I didn't do any more running until the following week, on June 25th, when I returned to the cove to run two loops again in just under 8 minutes. I was wondering if I could still do it since I had taken a week off from this endeavor, but was pleased to accomplish it. The next day I came back and thought I should try for three loops(1.6 km/1 mile) and although it felt very tough, I managed to do it in a little over 13 minutes. Now I was starting to build confidence since I finally could run one mile without stopping even if the pace was quite slow. The rest of the week was busy prepping for the upcoming Yard Sale Day at my in-laws and also trying not to come down with the cold that was threatening. By the Tuesday afternoon of July 2nd, I came down with a sudden onset sinus cold that left me very tired and I could only manage walks with the girls that week and next. I felt discouraged that I was going to have start all over and I had no motivation to do any running. But finally on Saturday, July 13th, I just put on my sneakers and thought I would go over and see if I could do it after being sick. I ran really slow, but I did the three loops without stopping and it took me over 14 minutes. But I was happy that I hadn't lost the courage to do it. Two days later, on July 15th, I ran here in the neighborhood again because only Kate was awake and Shane had left on his own run. I decided to lengthen my traffic circle road run by coming back by a side loop with a bit of a hill and adding a bit more to the initial 1 km. The total ended up at 1.23km and I did it in under 9 minutes. It felt good to be running in places I had only walked. The next day, July 16th, I went back to the cove to see if I could improve my pace on three loops and maybe think about pushing for four. But it felt very hard to finish three in under 13 minutes, so I didn't push for more. Two days later, on July 18th, I left the house to drive to the cove and it was already raining quite steadily. Two people were out walking their dogs in the rain but the path wasn't very wet yet. I completed one loop and then the rain just turned to a downpour but it wasn't really bothering me. On the second loop as I ran, I kept being distracted by how hard it was raining and I knew I wasn't going to be getting very far. So I finished only two loops in over 8 minutes, but pleased that I had actually run in the rain and not given up for bad weather.

But today, on July 20th, I was able to push myself to do the four loops(2.17km). I did it in a little over 16 minutes. It seems unreal to me that I was actively running for a whole 16 minutes after never having run at all. I was very hot and very tired, but triumphant. A walker who came to the narrower footbridge at the same time I did, paused to let me run across so I thanked him. He said "You're doing a great job!" And I thanked him again and felt humbled that for the first time someone was cheering me on as the runner. That was in the middle of the third loop and maybe that's what I needed to attempt the fourth one, I don't know. But by just looking at the path right in front of me and not looking to see how far I had to go, I managed to start that fourth loop and then finish it knowing I had done something very hard for me. After stopping and sitting shakily with my water bottle and phone on the bench completely red-faced and exhausted, I got up to go visit the buck who kept crossing the path I was running on. He was eating the grass just over the first footbridge and he let me walk very close to him and take photos and a video of his fine antlers. Then after chatting with another dog owner, I remembered the raspberry patch I had found earlier this week and waded through the tall grass to pick some more. To be able to run and compete against myself in a place surrounded by beauty and created life really does give me the mental stamina to keep returning and keep trying to do my best. Here's my Strava post for today: