I ran six miles this week.
I mean, I ran 11.7 miles this week, but I ran six of those in a row. I’m really proud of that.
Two months ago, I was definitely not capable of running six miles, but now I can. I could probably do seven right now, but I’m all cozy and I don’t want to right this minute. Maybe tomorrow.
I’m decently on track for the half marathon, but I haven’t been following a plan with any kind of accuracy. I’ve been using the Nike+ Run Club app, but I haven’t followed it exactly because life is a thing that sometimes gets in the way of running.
It’s funny how running more and getting halfway okay at running changes the way you feel about two things: running and your body.
Running first, because that’s a lot easier than bodies.
When you first start running you are inevitably kind of garbage at it, and it’s hard, and you just kind of hate it. In my last year of college, I started running again, with plans to run a 5k, and I started running a fair amount, doing Couch to 5k, and my own program of running as far as I could, and increasing the time by one minute for every run.
It was awful! Western’s incredibly hilly campus didn’t help. I would cuss out loud while I was running because it made me feel marginally better about the awfulness of it all. The only good part of it was when I would lay down in the cool, moist grass for ten or 15 minutes after every run.
It has gotten better, by a lot. Now, I actually look forward to running, and while I am running, I am actually enjoying myself and in a generally good mood.
That’s an awesome and interesting transition to make, and I like it.
Body feelings are so complicated. I wouldn’t say that I have a bad body image, but also I am a woman living in 21st century America, so it’s not like I have always had a great body image either. The path I have found to a positive body image is focusing more on what my body can do rather than solely on how it looks, and running does help with that.
Sometimes it feels like, yes, my thighs jiggle but also, they are an integral part of me being able to run six miles, so who cares that they jiggle? And overall, who cares about my physical appearance when I can do hard things, and run for a long time, and push myself every day to do things I never thought I would be able to do?
I’ll see you at the half marathon.