Running Ramble

Hello, friends! What a beautiful day it was — an amazing week, really. I think we’re supposed to get a couple days of inclement weather soon, but it’s been warm (around 40F) and is supposed to stay that way, so I can’t complain. I was outside with the cats this afternoon, and I realized I’ve probably never taken a picture of the (slightly crooked) weather vane on my garage. So now I have! I’m going to ramble on about running now…
I took a walk yesterday; I’m not really sure how far I went — it took fifty minutes, but there was a fair amount of carefully navigating icy patches. With that and my outside run on Wednesday, my quads were still the tiniest bit sore this morning. Funny, that — I never get tired legs from running on a treadmill, but tromping around outside obviously works them differently.
So I was a little bit nervous about my first long run in my 10k training schedule (technically, I started it last week, but the first ‘long’ run was three miles, which wasn’t new to me). Especially since my 2.5 miles on Monday (on the treadmill) had felt sort of off. As if I were running with my upper body instead of my legs, if that makes any sense. But, despite my quads, I could tell as soon as I started running this morning that everything felt great. I finished my 3.5 miles feeling like there was still fuel in the tank, which is fantastic.
Having a definite training goal is nice — I love having something to work towards. But it’s also the tiniest bit stressful. I generally go pretty easy on myself, psychologically, when I get on the treadmill. I’ll have a distance I’m aiming for, but I tend to say, ‘But if I only do two miles [or whatever], that’s okay, too.’ I’ll almost always still run the originally planned distance, but it’s nice to have that out if I’m just not feeling that particular run. But now, with my long runs once a week, I feel like I have to make each one count. Never mind that I can always just try again the next day!
I’m really looking forward to running longer distances in the future. Quitting every summer has meant that I never really build up endurance, which also means that I’ve not really been able to improve my time — and I’m pretty slow. So I want to run year-round from now on and try to make real progress. It’s the only exercise I really enjoy, but I only enjoy it when I run regularly.
After today’s successful run, I’m starting to see the sense in incorporating weight training for my legs. I’m going to brunch tomorrow morning, but I think I might hit the ladies-only gym afterward, bust out a quick mile on the treadmill, and then use the weight machines (it’s less scary doing that with only ladies around, see). It’s true — I like this so much that I want to indulge in a semi-spontaneous trip to the gym.
One last note: I read something on the Runner’s World website about the age-old question, ‘Am I a runner or a jogger?’ — if you worry about the distinction, you’re a runner.