The Short List

Yesterday was an extremely busy day. More so than usual for someone as unemployed as myself, but in my spare time I tried to come up with a list of reasons that I wanted to be a runner. The list got longer and longer and the more I looked at it the more I realized that a lot of these goals are not centered around becoming a better runner but about becoming a healthier person overall. Goals that I can reach with or without running. So the short list. The shortest list I've probably ever written. Two reasons. That's right, just two reasons I want to run that don't directly relate to overall health and that can't be accomplished by some other form of cardio.

First, I want to do the the color run. It just looks so fun! The claim it's "the happiest 5k on the planet." And I can't say that by looking at the pictures I disagree. All I know is that I want to do it. Once in my life.

Second, to prove to myself that I can. The last time I ran a mile was my senior year of high school in 2006. For pre-season volleyball training I had to run a mile in under 8 minutes. I did it. I hated every single minute of it, but I did it. The last time I ran more than a mile was in 2002. Dear God I feel old.  I had to run 1 1/2 miles in under 12 minutes to qualify to try out for junior varsity volleyball as an eighth grader. I did it. I can't remember my exact time but it was somewhere in the eleven minute range. Even when I was 12 years old I hated running.

Other reasons I wrote down about wanting to run were to be in better shape, to feel better about my body, to lose weight, to become more athletic. The thing is though, that every one of those reasons can be achieved through a different form of cardio, not just running.

So with all that my plan is going to continue to try and run, but go a little easier on myself and know that if I don't run, as long as I do another form of cardio that I'll still reach my goals. I'm also wondering if running on the treadmill has anything to do with my troubles. When Rogier and I walk outside we usually keep a 6km/h (3.8mph) pace, but on the treadmill I struggle to maintain 5km/h (3.1mph). I'm going to try sometime in the next week or so to run outside and see how that feels.

I did my usual Wednesday spin today and am enjoying the fact that when I finish I don't feel like I got run over by a train when I'm finished. My weight continues to frustrate me, but I'm doing all the right things: working out, restricting calories and eating healthy.

I just need to keep reminding myself that even if I'm not seeing the results I want everything I'm doing is improving my health. And that's the big goal. Get healthy.