Today was supposed to be an interval workout. My legs are still sore from running Badger on Saturday. (!!!) I hoped the mile warm-up would be enough to convince them to bend to my will. My hopes were dashed.
Truth be told, I could have done it. If I wasn’t five days away from a half-marathon, I would have done the interval workout on tired legs. But with a race this close, whiny legs win over grit & determination. Gotta keep those pistons happy!
Here’s the thing with running for me: I almost always have to talk myself into doing it. No matter how “pumped” I am, I waver. I usually have to force myself to drive to wherever I’m running. I have to force myself through the first mile. Generally, once I make it through that first mile, I’m all-in.
This is also why I almost never run on a treadmill. Running is already unfathomably boring. If you’re one of those people that feel so alive while running you keep bursting into song, I don’t want to hear about it. Go write your own blog. For me, it’s work. I enjoy it, but every run is a means to an end, not a thing I do for the sake of doing it. I never understood why runners were always looking for new places to run. Geez – just walk out your front door and go running. Well, now I get it – it’s kinda dull. No, it’s crazy dull. Sweet Jesus’ favorite sweater vest is it dull.
The other reason I don’t run on the treadmill – as if the soul-crushing dullness wasn’t enough – is that when I’m running outside, I have to get back to where I started. If I could hit the pause button on my Garmin and be transported back to my home or my vehicle, I’d never finish a workout.
Tomorrow is a cross-training day. I’m hopeful doing dishes counts as cross-training. (Just kidding – I’m intending to go for a walk in the evening.) I’m trying to give my legs as much rest & recovery as I can. Wednesday’s workout is a four-mile run at an “easy” pace. I’m keeping my fingers crossed the legs will be less whiny.
hillslug98239 
I feel you on how running is a means to an end but I’ve realized that running just isn’t for me. The only unfortunate part about that is that I haven’t found what exercise is for me, besides the most expensive ones like skiing or hot yoga (although I quit because of a hip injury that has yet to subside). I do love to ski! Snowshoeing and hiking are also great exercises for me, especially because I can hike in my own neighborhood but there are some sketchy things that go on in urban woods.
That’s thrilling that you’re running a half marathon! It’s also exciting that you get exhilarated after the first mile because that’s usually when I throw in the towel. When did you get into running?
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Look on the bright side: you’ve figured something out about yourself. You’ve honored what your body tells you. (I’m a firm believer that we’re each the best judge of what’s right for us.) You haven’t tried to force yourself into someone else’s mold. Finding what you love is the smartest thing you can do. If you don’t like running, you’ll just be miserable the entire time, and then you’ll need to eat a lot of cookies to make it up to yourself.
I started running in college, but I only did it in the winter. I didn’t do anything except ski during law school. I took up running year-round because of triathlon. That trail run at Multnomah Falls opened my eyes to how much I enjoy trail running. It’s so much more fun than running on asphalt! There’s a few places around here I can trail run – and people question my sanity, because they can be kind of sketchy. You’re right – tree cover in urban areas screams “this is where we dump the bodies!” I do it because I trust my instincts, and sometimes those instincts say “Nope – this creeps me out and I am headed back to the car.”
For what it’s worth, I hate yoga. In college, it aggravated every old injury I had. (I always feel obligated to point out I was 36 at the time, not 20 – I had “old injuries.”) I tried again a few years ago. I modified the poses to protect my creaky joints and easily-offended connective tissue. After several months, I found I was in more pain than I had been. I wish my club had a stretching class at a time that works for me, because I’d really benefit from an hour-long focus on stretching.
I think you should try parkour. 😉
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