Run, run, as fast as you can

Race for Life Training: Day 1

Time to race: 2 months, 11 days

I started training today for the Race for Life that I’m running in just under two and a half months now. I remembered two things:

1. I do actually like running.

2. I suck at running.

(Race for Life is basically Relay for Life, but it’s a set distance. The one I’m doing is a 5K. I’m running with a friend of mine. I’ll put up a link to the fundraising page once we’ve tweaked it just a little bit.)

Getting in better shape has been a goal of mine for years, but I am lazy. I end up with this weird mental block about when I can do things and then inertia takes over and I just sit on my bed and watch videos and check Google Reader and check facebook and check my email and check Google Reader and check facebook….. Race for Life is my motivation. I know that in two and a half months, I have promised to run a 5K. Therefore, I have no choice.

It was great today. A really comfortable temperature for being outside – better than our house, at least. And it seems like I went at the perfect time, since now it’s getting dark and cloudy. I went twice around the lake at the park, jogging about a third of it. I probably could have done more, but I didn’t want to feel like collapsing on the way home. I met lots of cute dogs, too. I miss having a pet (I am a cat person but have no problems with dogs) so I always enjoy seeing the ones on walks, and feel kind of bad when their owner tries to pull them away.

And, even though I suck at running – like I said, I only jogged about a third of my distance today – I do enjoy it. I enjoy the endorphins. I enjoy the sense of accomplishment. I have just been brainwashed by a lot of different people to believe that I’m not athletic, that I am incompetent at physical activity. I had a great PE teacher in elementary school. Fourth grade on was a totally different story. This is an opportunity for me to rewrite that programming. I’m not the best athlete. I still can’t throw or catch and have a fear of spherical objects flying at my head. But I can run. I will run.