Wednesday, September 2, 2009

love/hate with running.

i love those new balance commercials- you know, the ones where they talk about having a love/hate relationship with running.

i love the one about the morning. it says:

the morning is jealous of your relationship with running. the bed whispers, "don't leave. what do you see in running anyway?" but somewhere in the back of your mind is the thought of the perfect mile politely telling the bed to shut up.

i feel that way about running a lot. they say it gets easier after the first couple of weeks.
and while the actual act of running does get easier and easier, the getting out of bed part causes huge mental battles with myself every. single. morning.

i have conversations with myself like this:

"i think i'm too sore. yes, that's it. i'm sore. i absolutely can't run this morning."
"i have a side-ache already. i know that if i start running, it's just going to get worse. better stay in the cozy covers. bummer."
"it won't matter if i stay in my bed just one morning."

but then, i debate with these follow-up retorts:
"running helps move that lactic acid around. it will only feel worse if you stay under these blasted covers."
"get up. brush your teeth. drink some water. and fight through the pain. pain makes you strong. how strong? too strong."
"it will matter if you stay in bed this one morning...because then, you won't go tomorrow, or the next day, and all of a sudden, you'll start looking like you have twinkies stuffed in all the wrong places."

does anyone else have these debates with his/herself?

and you know what, usually, i'm having debates/making deals with myself the whole time i'm running. like "run to the end of this street, and then you can walk." or "if you make it all the way with no walking, you'll get some frozen yogurt AND some gummie bears today." yeah, i'm pathetic.

i should admit.... its not always easy. in fact, this morning = brutal. half-way through my run, my ipod died. and then, i had to listen to the annoying cadence of my huffing and puffing and pitter-pattering. can you say annoying??? and then i tried to distract myself with my crazy thoughts.............yeah, not good. my brain is a scary place, people (hence, my crazy blog).

but even though it's not easy, it's worth it.
because i feel happier since i started.
i feel less guilty when i indulge (frequently) and have a snickers or a handful of gummie bears.
i feel healthy (even though i have a theory that my thighs and butt are actually expanding....but that could just be a result of those extra snickers and gummie bears that i feel justified in eating...one can't be sure).
and i feel good about myself every time i make it back to my house in the morning.

what a great, tiresome, way to start a day.

run run run as fast as you can!
i'll continue loving to hate...and hating to love running :)

4 comments:

{amy k.} said...

It could've been my writing this... except for the fact that I actually didn't run today... and haven't been doing so because that debate in my head gets the best of me! haha Seriously though, I can completely relate!

Courtney said...

I feel the same way, except that I mostly lose the battle with running. Especially now that I'm babysitting, I say, I'm too tired to go, I've been chasing 3 kids all day long. Well, today I decided I'm just going to have to get up early and go in the morning, even if it means watching the kids without my hair being done or something. I always feel better after I go. And I too make deals with myself, the whole time I think, just around that corner and I'm done, or if on the tredmill I count the minutes backwards until I finish.

Ashley Myntti said...

Keep it up Marci! I have fallen in love with running. In fact, I probably do it a little too much! Of course, I have other reasons that get me out of bed and to the track! :)

erin said...

hahahaha - I am the exact same way! I too make little deals with myself as I run. Its nice to know I'm not alone. Because I feel like there's so many people out there that say they LOVE TO RUN, that they get a RUSH. yeah right.