This week, I had a bit of a scare. After a long day of walking and carrying groceries on Sunday, I developed excruciating back pain and numbness that ran down my leg. I've had similar issues before and they went away on their own with stretching, ibuprofen, and a little bit of light exercise--but this time it was so bad that I couldn't even walk down the stairs in my apartment building. So, I decided to go to a chiropractor, in Lincoln Square which I would highly recommend. When I met with the chiropractor, he informed me that my pelvis was rotated and did many wonderful chiropractor things that made me feel quite a bit better, but he also showed me some awesome things to improve my mobility (did you guys know about foam rollers?) and gave me running advice.
Anyway, chiropractor-tangent aside, the back pain scared me because I wasn't able to move regularly. I wasn't able to walk very easily, and I certainly wasn't able to run.
Today I went for a run. And as I ran, I thought about running. And here are some of the things I thought about.
1. Four years ago, I resolved to run the Boulder Bolder--a 10k race in Boulder, Colorado (for all you non-runners/non-Coloradoans). Admittedly, at the time much of my motivation was related to weight loss--I was not at a very healthy weight, I hated running, and I was getting married in six months. The first mile I ran on the journey, I ran in twelve minutes on a treadmill in a crowded rec center with my friend Kim about 25 minutes after I finished a pint of beer. I was shocked that I could still run a mile which I hadn't done since my junior year of high school, and I quickly learned never to drink a beer before running again. I never ran the Boulder Bolder, but I did discover that I actually like running.
2. Unlike four years ago, my motivations for running now have nothing to do with weight loss. Of course, I want to run to keep myself healthy, but I run because I enjoy it, it makes me feel good, and I love to conquer goals that I have set for myself.
3. I am so thankful that I am strong enough mentally and physically to push myself to run--even on hot days.
4. I have been troubled lately by people who treat exercise as penance for eating things. Sure, everyone needs balance in their lives but I like to enjoy my food without thinking about how much exercise I will need to do to "work it off." I ate a donut today. And I ran today. I did not run today because I ate a donut. I ate a donut because I like donuts, and I went for a run because I like runs.
5. I have been wearing the same outfit to run in for at least two and a half years. (Don't worry I wash it.) I like to think that is because I don't care too much what I look like when I run (shout out to Kelly Cook for planting this idea in ninth grade). In fact, I look really terrible when I run. My face gets really red and blotchy, if I run in the afternoon, my makeup from earlier in the day runs, and apparently I get crazy eyes, etc. etc. In fact here is a selfie:
Not my greatest look, but I am smiling because I don't care--I just went for a run that challenged me, and there were times I wanted to stop, and it wasn't my best time ever, and it was hot, and I smelled someone grilling, and I just wanted to stop and eat a hamburger, but I didn't. I went on a run which is something that I actually couldn't do on Monday.
So, looking back at the whole two blogs I have posted, I see that my number one goal for this year was to run a half marathon. And, I really do plan to keep that resolution.
