I both hate and completely adore running.
It’s painful. It’s HARD. And I’m really bad at it.
But it’s also time to be totally alone with no phone calls, no emails and no to-do lists, and it allows me to just BE and appreciate the beautiful nature around me. And when I’m done, the pride and feeling of accomplishment I have cannot be matched.
When I showed up at CrossFit on Thursday, I saw the following workout of the day (WOD) on the board:
Run 1,600 meters (that’s one mile) and rest 1:1 (meaning it takes 11 minutes, rest for 11 minutes)
Run 800 meters and rest 1:1
Run 600 meters and rest 1:1
Run 400 meters and rest
A million potential excuses as to why I must absolutely leave RIGHT NOW ran through my head, but I did my very best to shut them out. I saw that rowing was an alternative workout, and I considered doing that instead. And then I decided that I’d stop letting my mind get the best of me. I ran two 5Ks last year. I may have only run twice since September, but there’s no reason not to at least try.
What I DID do was scale it back because I wouldn’t have finished in the time allotted for class if I did the full workout. I ran 800 meters, 400 meters, 200 meters, 200 meters–a total of one mile. I finished in 13:25, which is on my pace for my typical miles. It should have been faster, given that it was broken into chunks, but I got a huge stitch in my side from gulping water (dumb idea) and that slowed me down quite a bit.
Regardless of my time, I was really proud. I hadn’t left, I hadn’t rowed, and I’d run a full mile without walking. Small things, to be sure, but small things add up to big things.
