Sunday, November 20, 2011

Perfect Ten

This morning I left the house at 6:20. On a day that I didn't have to work. Dumb, right? But do you know what you missed if you were still in bed at 6:20? Well, you missed my angry seething rage at every house that I passed that was still dark and looked like it contained sleeping people (because of course, the tiniest person in my house thought 4 was a totally acceptable time to turn on his light and start playing with his trucks this morning oh, and EVERY MORNING THIS WEEK), but you also missed how the sky was this really cool dark grey and how over the next two hours, it slowly turned from dark grey to light grey with various shades in between.

I forgot how utterly quiet the world can be on a weekend morning before 7. I saw no one, aside from a group of guys in orange hats carrying guns into trucks. I hope they were hunters, otherwise I witnessed the forming of an early morning militia.

And then lost in the peace and quiet of it all, I ran this many miles...

Since I haven't begun my half-marathon training yet, I never really set out with an exact mileage in mind. I give myself a few different options, then just see how I feel. Today I felt great. At two miles, I thought, "Hmm... could I?" And I did. At 7 miles, I thought, "Just a 5k left!" Traffic was blissfully light this morning, so I managed to cross roads without having to stop, until I hit 8.5 miles. I lost my stride a little bit after that, but I still managed to finish at a sprint.

Today as I was running, I was thinking about how in gym class, I never even ran a mile (actually I was thinking about a lot of things, like how the Burger King sign was advertising cheese fries and how good that sounded or how warm my head was thanks to the magical Mizuno headband somehow turning my sweat into heat, magic, I tell you). In gym class, I walked a slow fifteen minute mile, running only when a gym teacher would glare at me. Part of that, I think, is that I don't remember them conditioning us, I just remember them being like, Okay, today we're running a mile. I never had a chance to prove to myself that I could run a mile, and I certainly never even let myself try, instead saying that I couldn't run. Plus I was intimidated by the boys who could run a five minute mile and man, gym class was DUMB. I do not miss that aspect of middle and high school at all.

But it's interesting how you can convince yourself of something for years and years, like that you can't run, and then one day, you decide to stop convincing and start doing and hey, imagine that. You can do it, after all.

19 comments:

V said...

You ROCK. Seriously. And I loved this post.

Lori @ Hit the Ground Running said...

What a happy post! (sans the 4am wake up call). You just rocked a 10 miler...seriously, that's pretty amazing!

Kate said...

This totally inspires me. So yes, maybe I'll start soon.

Sarah said...

TEN miles?!You are inspiring.

TheRedQueen said...

You are so awesome! Congrats on the 10 miler!

Emilie said...

Erin! OMG! That is SO awesome!!! =) Great job! I never ran a mile in high school for similar reasons and I thought, "Erin is just a runner, that's not me." I didn't realize that it was at all possible that I could. Suddenly I am starting to wonder if I could. Thank you for that!

*Lissa* said...

KICK ASS! Congrats on your first double-digits! Many more to come! :)

punkinmama said...

Yes, this. Exactly.

Except... 10 MILES?! Holy cow! Way to go! That's amazing!

Foursons said...

Woohoo, congrats!!! I got up that early last Sunday because hubby was going out of town and it was the only time to get a run in. I didn't like the idea to much either but once I got out there I loved it.

But your 4am wake-up call? Oh boy, that would not make me happy at all.

Crooked Eyebrow said...

I am so freaking proud of you. So proud. You are inspiring, I just hope you know that.

xoxox

Kirsten said...

It doesn't seem like it was that long ago that you thought C25K was unachievable. And *NOW* look at you, Erin! You are a runner. I've never run 10 miles without knowing I was going to run 10 miles. You freaking rawk. I'm so proud of you and so incredibly jealous.

I always question my sanity of getting up way too early on a weekend day just to run. But in the last two months I've missed it so much. I can.not.wait to get the all clear to go ahead and go for a run.

Lyndsay said...

AMAZING!

Becky said...

Wow. Just wow. You are an inspiration!!

Stephanie Wilson she/her @babysteph said...

Sooooooooo true. Oh my. You look adorable, too!

Steph

Bari said...

I am so proud of you!!!!

jaime said...

So excited for you (and maybe a little jealous, seeing how I haven't run more than 4 miles in quite some time.) Way to go!! :)

Stephanie said...

YES! I SO get this Erin! I spent my whole life thinking I CAN'T run, which was partly true for all the health problems I had as a kid...but when I was suddenly cleared of the health problems that held me back, I still didn't want to believe I could do it. And, part of me was afraid too - afraid of not being able to breathe (asthma will do that to you) and afraid of failing - of setting out to run a mile and not being able to do it - and afraid of looking like a fool. Pretty silly now that I think of it, because any person I see running, regardless of whether they're just starting out or can run a 5 minute mile, makes me stop and think - "wow! look at them running." and it never once crosses my mind that they might be thinking "what am i thinking? i can't do this? i must look like a fool." Because all I see is a runner, no matter how slow, no matter how new, they are a runner. And that is what I am - and I am pretty darn proud of it. :) And, I never thought I'd LOVE it so much. Also, gym class was most definitely dumb. And, TEN MILES!!! YOU GO, GIRL!

Corrina said...

Every time I run a fast mile or run a personal distance record...I'm still amazed. I used to hate running and it used to really mess my ankles up...but now I'm so addicted and can't imagine life without it. when you do train for a half marathon, you're going to rock it!!!

Kaycee said...

You ran TEN miles?? Oh man. You are my hero. I have vowed to get back on my elliptical this week. I actually love to run - no that's wrong, I love the feeling I get when I am done running... the accomplishment and soreness and overall "I worked it" sort of feeling. I was totally that kid in middle school who didn't think they could run too. I would love to run now. But I have bad knees, like really bad. Like I had major surgery to repair one of them and I would really rather not ever do that again for the other. So elliptical it is. But I need to get back to it.

Also, your kiddo and my kiddo need to trade sleep schedules. I am up that early anyway because of teaching that LOVELY zero hour. I am blessed with a good sleeper - and if we want to be serious about it I actually would really rather keep my girl's sleep schedule but I want your boy to sleep better too! ;)