Run with Passion

I like to revisit these pictures often to show myself I can do it, I have done it, and I can do it even better next time!I don't think this is the most flattering pose I have, but I'm doing it.

Verse Lyrics from "Chosen Generation" by Chris Tomlin
(This song goes through my mind continuously every time I run. I love the opportunity for quiet meditation that running affords me.)

We run with passion for your name we run
Freedom
you broken every chain we run
Our god will not be moved
Our god will never be shaken
We run to you we run

 Running Report (According to my Garmin and the Treadmill Computer):
Over the last 30 days I have Run: 122.69 miles at an average pace of  6.2 MPH
Burning around 14,575 running calories
Over the last 7 days I have Run: 28.62 miles at an average pace of 6.3 MPH
Burning around 3,361 running calories

We know that one pound is equal to 3,500 calories, so if I hadn't been running the last 7 days, I'd probably be up a pound. A pound doesn't seem too bad, until at the end of a year, when you notice you gained 20-50 pounds without even realizing it. Pounds have a way of creeping up with stealth until you have gained more than you can continue to control. This should be a great lesson to all of you that exercise matters. Every calorie torched is a calorie off your tush.

This week I've had 3 treadmill days. Monday and Tuesday were still snowy, icy, and slushy, so I hopped on the treadmill at the YMCA before doing my strength training routine. I will admit on Tuesday, I was pushed on to new speeds when I looked up and saw the Dr. Oz show on the YMCA TV about obese women who are paid by men to eat. It was the most bizarre thing I've ever seen or heard of. Apparently there is a sub-culture that is into something called "Feederism". One 600 pound plus lady said men pay her so that they can smell her fat armpits. I couldn't look at the screen and read the closed captioning any longer, because it was making me physically sick to watch. Don't let people steal your dignity like that. However, it did push me on and I'm sure that haunting image will keep me out of the ice cream tub on nights I don't have the calories banked for it.

Day 94 of my #runstreak was this week and I went 9.4 miles. (Sometimes I like to match my days and distances to entertain myself and mark my territory of accomplishment.) This is my longest distance since November, and it went well despite the extreme amount of slush, leftover snow, mud puddles, and overall wetness. The temperature was perfect for me, somewhere around 30 degrees. I'm probably the only person in Northern Ohio dreading summer. My runs are always so much stronger and more inspired in cold weather temperatures.  I am getting a blister on my little toe, from wet socks I presume, but sometimes in spring running you can't avoid it. The same thing happened last year when I first started frequent running in the rain. I figure you can't predict the weather in Cleveland and I'm not going to let an excuse block me. Generally I would choose outdoor running over treadmill running any day, including in rain and snow. Sometimes though, I just don't have the mental fortitude to deal with it, and on those days, I'm thankful for the YMCA.  

I can consider myself an official runner now because I had my first real experience with chaffing. I wore my Nathan hydration belt so I could carry water, and somehow my shirt had come out from under it and the belt rubbed my stomach the entire run. I came home to a hideous area of chaffing on my stomach from it. If I had been out much longer, I think it would've been bleeding because it looks like little open wounds. I know that is TMI, but there are quite a few ugly realities that exist in the world of middle to long distance running that are generally topics not covered by the "polite" population. When you are around runners, pretty much every socially taboo subject is acceptable fodder. (Including discussion on bladder and bowel functionality.)  I usually take really good precautions to avoid chaffing, but I had a wardrobe malfunction. I'm gearing up for a 10 mile run next week to celebrate hitting the 100 plus days of run streaking mark. 

So far my Achilles is doing fairly well. I wore Kineseo tape on it for my long run for the first time in probably over a month and it was more of a preventative measure. I am not getting ahead of myself though and am still taking my pace, and even distances, more slowly than I normally probably would. 

The #runstreak has really been a time of growing and self exploration for me. I never in 100 years would've dreamed that I would be obsessed with running and/or exercise in the way that I have become. Contrary to popular belief or opinion, all of this running and working out actually takes very little time from my schedule. You may want to believe that I am spending countless hours logging miles and that you don't have that kind of time, but in reality, you can start a fitness routine with 20-60 minutes a day. Unless I am training for a race, I almost never workout over an hour. If you watch even 1 to 2 TV shows a day, you have the time to workout. It is a matter of time management and prioritization. Get up earlier, eliminate a TV show, eliminate some social networking time, rearrange your lunch hour, and the possibilities are endless. Give up your excuses today. I gave mine up two years ago and everyday I'm improving, growing, building strength, building endurance, and just having an overall blast.