Good morning! I had an awesome run this morning and just realized that I FEEL GOOD.
Running has its ups and downs – which I always thought was just “something people said” my first year (or so) of running. Now I’m a few years in and realize that “improvement” (whatever you consider that to be) isn’t always a direct route. After the past few months, I’ve come to realize that running is truly a mysterious journey. And you don’t always (or ever?) know what will come next.
Thanks to Lifelong Endurance, I’ve always had someone on my side to decode the mystery. Even then, anything can happen – injury, nutrition, sickness, etc. But having my runs scheduled rather than playing the guessing game has been a game changer. Some days I think I could run further today… I could run faster… and some days I think No way in hell am I running today… This is going to be awful… and to my surprise, Coach always knows best.
For example, today.
My alarm goes off 4:05 AM… BZZZ… the silent alarm on my watch… This can’t be right… Oh Hell no. I’m not running today. Too tired. Bye Felicia. *Reality sets in* Ok. I’ll wake up and see what happens…
Yes, I wake up at a ridiculous hour to get my runs in early. I am just a morning person. WAKING UP is not easy (is it for anyone? ever?) but I feel better on my runs. Plus the thought of running AFTER working all day long, in the Texas heat, is enough to wake me up at practically any hour.
So, I get up, do my normal thing – click the ON button on the coffee pot, let Derby outside, feed her and tell her she’s a Good Girl. I relax (scroll Instagram) and drink my coffee for about 30 minutes. I just need this time. I slowly do one thing, then another. Put my running clothes on, back to the couch and put my shoes on.
It’s become a routine. A habit.
So. I’m back in the habit and I’m feeling good! I didn’t expect it today. I woke up thinking I’d be so tired my run would be terrible. Would I even hit my paces? I had a progression run planed:
2 miles easy (warm up), 2 x 10:00 progression from 8:45-8:15, 2 miles easy (cool down)
Before this run, I wondered if I could even hang in the 8’s – and, to my surprise, I could, indeed! In fact, I kept looking down to see paces in the 7’s and feeling good. Slow down, buddy!
It’s a good day when running feels so good.
How do you make running/your routines a habit?
Jenna runs 
I feel much the same when my alarm goes off. Right now I’m using a half-marathon plan to plan my runs. I feel convicted to stick to it, so that gives me a goal. As far as habit goes, I get up at 4:45 to 5:15ish I put on my running gear, head outside, do my stretches, set my watch, and take off. I keep running until my watch says I have to stop. Ok, I actually have to plan my route some so that I can get back home and be back in time to shower and get ready for work. I’ve lately started taking new trails away from the local park trails to keep things fresh. Running is fun, running is hard, but running feels great when you know you are accomplishing something. Thank you for your blog posts. Have a great day!
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Awesome! I can totally relate. Runing is a lot of different things, but in the end, it is what we’re meant to do and it’s amazing! The sense of accomplishment is great. I hope your training and running is going great!!
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Glad you’re feeling good! That’s a wonderful feeling that I’d love to have back for a while.
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