Doing Better

The last few times I've run, things have gone well. The experience has been pretty consistent:

• · The hardest part is putting on the running shoes and putting one foot in front of another.

• · I've learned to slow my natural running pace way down, especially at the beginning, until my legs get used to moving and supporting my weight as I move on down the road.

• · I'm making a conscious effort to get into a breathing rhythm which seems to help get me into a running rhythm, too.

• · Once I've got the breathing going and I concentrate on keeping my core stable and using my thighs more than my calves when pushing off, it's almost as if I'm a machine.

Tonight, after working in the garden most of the afternoon and attending a family graduation party (Congrats, Adrienne!), Romie and I decided to make a run. We started around 9:00 p.m., and it was perfect for running. It had been a pretty warm day (77° and sunny), but by this time of night, it's cooled off enough to make it pleasant.

We weren't sure how far we were going to go, or for how long, but we ran to the second stop sign north, which is about 1.3 miles, then turned around and ran back home. I continued on, because I wanted to run for the time I had run the 5K back in April, which was 33.11.

I was going to stop when my watch showed that time, but in order to make it easier to figure out the distance I had run, I wanted to go back to my starting point. When I got there, my watch said 36:30. I got in the car to see what I had run, and it was 3.3 miles. Except for a 30-second walk break at 14:30, I had run the entire distance, and it actually felt even better than when we'd run the 2.8 on Wednesday night.

Running seems to be becoming easier than I ever thought it would be. Oh, I know I'll still have some running days that don't go so well, but they're becoming fewer and farther between, and that's encouraging.