SOL Day 3: Running

The past couple of weeks have been incredibly stressful with PARCC testing and snow days that have thrown off my teaching schedule. Stress at school has crept into every corner of my life, and one of the corners it had infiltrated is my motivation to run.

In October, I ran the Columbus Half Marathon, which was the first time I had ever participated in a half marathon. I trained for months beforehand, and even though it was tough, I was able to complete it. I am so proud of that accomplishment, and it motivated me to sign up for another.

In May, I will be running The Flying Pig Half Marathon in Cincinnati, Ohio. My brother, sister, cousin, and I will all be running this race, so I have a fantastic support group as I train. I’m nervous for this one though because the hills are legendary – and mountainous.

The race is exactly two months from today, and I am about a third of the way through my training. I am following a 14-week training plan (the same one that I did for my October race), but this time around it feels so much harder because most of my running so far has been inside.

One of my favorite parts about long runs (5+ miles) is coming up with a new and exciting route. When I run on the treadmill at the gym, I get bored. I usually listen to podcasts, but sometimes they just don’t do it for me. The monotony of the treadmill makes the run seem twice as long.

Today I had a great podcast ready (NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour was talking about Parks & Rec – one of my favorite shows), so I thought I would be golden as I started my three miles.

The first mile was fine, but after that, my limbs started to feel heavy. I felt sluggish, like my body was being weighed down with every step I took. My friends from PCHH helped nudge me along with their entertaining wit, but I was struggling.

When I hit mile two, I wanted to give up. Why was I doing this to myself? It’s too hard. I even lowered my running speed from 5.7 to 5.6 (not big drop, but it helped). I told myself I couldn’t finish. Unfortunately, I have been having these thoughts a little too often for my liking lately.

But I kept going.

I didn’t stop running, and when I finally hit three miles, I was glad I could slow to a walk. I finished listening to the podcast while walking, easing myself out of that rough run.

In the end, I finished the run. I stuck with it because that’s what I’m going to need to do when I continue to train and run the Pig in May. Some of these runs are going to be hard, like today, but some of them are going to feel incredible.

When I cross the finish line on May 3rd, I won’t care how hard the run was. I’ll be proud of myself that I’ve finished.