April Showers

Happy April everyone!

It seems that while this may not come as a shock, running is my new obsession. And obsession it is. If you've never run before consistently, you might not understand what I'm getting at. There's something about being dedicated and disciplined to the sport that pretty much takes up your whole life.

The first couple of months I started running, it was because some girls from my class were going to run a half marathon. I never to do anything half way, so once I decided I was gonna do it, that was it-training started. Training for a race like that and actually running it, are two very different experiences, ones that I highly recommend to anyone who has ever considered it. Anyways, the first few months, I felt obligated to run. I had to do it so I could finish the race. And once I went home for the summer, I was lucky to run once or twice a week. In fact, I never got above 8 miles before the half marathon before I ran it. And yes I did finish it without walking.

But after those feelings of dread (that are associated with running at first) go away, it becomes an obsession. I run all the time. If I see someone outside running, I think, I probably ran farther than you today or how come I'm not out there right now? I actually get a little bit jealous on a nice day when I see people running and I'm not. If I'm scheduled to run and I don't - well that day has pretty much gone to hell because that's the only thing on my mind for the rest of the day. I'm always competeing against myself too. Can I get a better time? Can I go farther today than I had planned? Can I even make it up the hill? And then of course, there's the competeing against other people I see running - can I pass them? How long is there run? etc.

So it really has become an obsession. So much in fact that I just finished another race on Sunday - The Washington D.C. Cherry Blossom 10 miler. It was actually a great race. I didn't hit a wall until about mile 8, and then I always play mental games with myself to make sure I finish it.

Yesterday didn't go as well as I would have liked, but I still did decently. My overall time was 1:31:53 giving me an average time of 9:12 per mile. I was hoping to be a little faster, but I'm pretty satisfied overall.

The best part about the weekend? Staying in D.C. and running with all of my fabulous friends.
Happy Monday!

P.S. Running has totally taken over my life. I even ran 3.2 miles today because it was on the schedule!