Shin splints and persistence

About a mile into my run today I began to get shin splints very badly in my left leg and my left ankle also began to feel pretty unstable. I told myself that I would be able to run off the pain if I just kept running and didn't give up. Well, the pain did not go away until another mile and half. It was a grueling run until that last mile and a quarter when I began to feel very good. I have been thinking a lot lately about how my experiences in running can be related to life. Today's run and others like it teach me that life is going to suck sometimes. Things are going to be hard and there is no way to get around it, you have just got to plow through and know that no matter how hard things seem, they will become easier if persistence prevails. This reminds me of one of my favorite quotes of all time by Ralph Waldo Emerson: "That which we persist in doing becomes easier, not that the task itself has become easier, but that our ability to perform it has been improved." There are so many times in my recent life that I have faced challenges that seemed insurmountable. They were literally mountains that I felt I would never reach the summit. One of my problems lied in my own inability to ask for help when I so desperately needed it from others. I was trying to do everything alone and that is a very lonely state to be in. I also found myself lacking even the desire to work through the pain. Today was one of those days that I was busy cleaning all day and yet when I looked around I felt that I had accomplished so little. Then again, when I sit here taking inventory, I realize that I really did accomplish a lot of important things. However, during the day I kept plowing along and now I have arrived at the point where I am feeling better. It may also have something to do with my children all being asleep in their beds dreaming sweet dreams! Life is good, there is so much to be thankful for, even when things stink. Running is turning out to be one of the very best things for me. It is a therapy in its own right, and a very fulfilling one at that!

Six Miles in one hour!

Okay, I don't have anything insightful to say, or funny, but just want to say that I ran my 6 whole miles today in 1 hour! This is a personal best, and it wasn't even on the treadmill--it was on the road! I did think that I was going to die a couple of times, but I made it in the end. Life really can be compared to running in a slough of different ways....but that is another blog for another day!

A fun valentine's gift!

Marc got me an awesome present for Valentine's Day: an IPOD shuffle! It is wonderful to have when working out because it is so little and clips on to my shorts , shirt, etc. The sound is incredible and I just love that it is so tiny! Mine is purple and I have been loading very upbeat songs on it tonight. As I write this I have it on pretty loud and cannot hear myself plunk on the keys to type. Anyway, I know this is sounding like a commercial, but if you run or are very active in working out I would HIGHLY recommend it. It really beats having something hanging on your arm. In addition to the shuffle Marc also gave be beautiful roses! Isn't he a romantic??

Congress is ridiculous

When I run on the treadmill, I always turn on the TV in front of me to one of the news channels just have something to watch and listen to if I get bored with my music or Glenn Beck. Today I am working on my tempo run for the week and I turn the TV to Fox. Just a few minutes into my run, they switch to Capitol Hill where you think that perhaps something important to our national security might be happening, and it is! Yes, all of the news channels (I noticed that everyone else's news was focused on this very important congressional hearing) were tuned in to bring us the very latest about the steroids scandal in major league baseball. Excuse me, but when did it become the role of our government to waste their time investigating a sport--and a very boring one at that?? I was bewildered that at least an hour (that was the time I ran) of uninterrupted television was spent watching this ridiculous proceeding. The people "serving" in congress right now are for the most part TERRIBLE. If they ever need someone to explain why they have such a low approval rating, they need go no farther than call me and I will give them example after example of ways in which they push our national security aside (ie--issues that really need to be taken care such as using our own natural resources for fuel, ensuring that our food supply isn't farmed out to other countries, eliminating the illegal immigration problem, properly funding and supporting our Armed Services, etc) in favor of holding hearings on drugs in baseball. Ugh, they really make me sick to my stomach.

I can run!

I can't believe that I did it, but I really did! I ran 5.2 miles today actually running the entire time! I am pretty amazed that I was able to hang on that long, but at the end I felt like I could have kept running for a while longer. It was fun and I had such a "high" upon finishing. I can hardly wait to run again and have some more endorphins released into my blood! I am in the process of training to run my first 5K at the beginning of April. I am excited to be in a race and at the prospect of finishing at my personal best. Who knows, maybe there will eventually be a marathon in my future!