I Just Kept on Running

I am not the most athletic person you’ll ever meet. I’m not a total klutz, but I’m not training for the Olympics, either. I remember dreading the annual physical fitness tests in phys ed class for two reasons: the chinup and the mile run. I never had trouble with sit ups, push ups, or the sit and reach. I may have once been able to pull myself up on the bar, but in all my years of gym class, the BEST time I ever got on a mile run was 12 minutes. Keep in mind this was the time I was taking gymnastics class once a week and playing tennis 3-5 times per week.

Once I even “ran” the test mile in 17 minutes. 17 Minutes! I mean, really Kelli, you can walk it faster than that.

So I’ve never been a runner. Once when I was trying to get more healthy in preparation of a hoped (and then later, successful) first pregnancy, I joined the gym. I’ve always enjoyed walking, so I spent a reasonable amount of time on the treadmill. I decided to try to run for, like, two minutes, and made it. Then I increased to three and actually got myself down to something close to a 10-minute mile. Then I got pregnant and had to put a halt to the running because I (being the cardiovascular underachiever) could not keep my heart rate under the recommended limit past a brisk walk.

After my first baby I found myself pregnant again and the running was not top on my to-do list. But a funny thing had happened in that brief period – I actually enjoyed it.

All this to tell you I have joined the gym again, and I’ve been running for the past month. And yesterday I ran two miles. Two very, very slow miles (13 minutes each) – but it was two successive uninterrupted miles. And I loved it.

With a huge thanks to Mumford & Sons, Adele and Amos Lee, I was able to push my way through to the 2-mile marker on the treadmill. Turns out my music selections have a huge impact on my motivation, so I created a “Work It Out” playlist. I love the rhythm of it (and running along to the beat). I love looking down through the crack between the treadmill’s panel and bar and seeing my feet push one in front of the other over and over again. I like feeling the air fill my lungs fully and my legs pushing back and my back rising straight. Mostly, I like being able to do some that, for so long, I dreaded.

I am finding myself wanting to just go run. Today, because I had pushed myself so hard yesterday, I planned to just walk. But then Adele came on and I just could not help myself – I had to run for at least that song! (I fear I may be out in public and hear my Work It Out songs and through repeated conditioning take off jogging.) I’m not planning on running a 5K anytime soon (I mean, it is the middle of summer, and – let’s face it – I don’t like heat), but for now, it’s the one thing I can do where my head feels quiet, my midsection feels like it might someday shrink, and my goal is only keep going.