Saturday, September 20, 2008

The life of a "pseudorunner"

So I woke up this morning and knew my mission, to run eight miles....after searching through several web sites I found a blog that someone started that mapped the Lancaster bike trail and I will try and post it below. Nonetheless, I must say that just thinking about running eight miles makes me a bit queasy and extremely tired. So, what kind of motivation do I need to complete this lengthy task? In the past few weeks, I have been building up and adding one more mile each Saturday. I can run comfortably for about 35 minutes, but once I hit that time limit I start feeling exhausted. There have been a few rare occasions where I could probably continue running and feel great, but again, very few. That's how I know I wasn't built to run. I know I was built to swim, but I thought I would give running a try. So, here I am $65 in the hole, all spent toward the Columbus half-marathon. I'm almost ready to quit but the only two things keeping me going are knowing that I spent that much and knowing the sense of accomplishment, after completing the half-marathon. So as I get ready and mentally prepare myself for this challenge today, I will try to focus on my ipod and not the time itself. If anyone else who is a runner reads this and has any suggestions please leave comments. I would love the advice!!



1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hey Amber! As a fellow runner and a Track participant here at ONU. The psychology of running is a difficult thing to overcome, I know. Let me first commend you on running 8 miles! WOW! and your off to a great start trying to find yourself in your ipod to take away from the exhaustion. Some helpful advice I can give is eat "good" carbs about 2 hours before your run and only a small amount. Make sure your completely highdrated as well. Stretch before and after. This will make the physical symptoms not seem so bad. Also, try breathing in your noise and out your mouth once per 3 or 4 steps, this will regulate your breathing. The best advice is something I think you have already figured out, keep going. It gets easier! It just takes time and dedication. I think your more than half way there! :)