I have a heart monitor on right now that makes a lot of activity tedious and annoying.. I’ve been walking some, but running with the monitor is a nightmare. There’s no strap or anything that can conveniently account for the monitor while I run. Otherwise, it’s just flying by my side.
Thankfully only a few more days on the prescription, and then I really need to get back. I’m so restless.

I skirted out of my run yesterday because the day just got away from me. I decided to make it up today and go for a shorter run tomorrow to keep on track. I work ten-hour days, and since I only got three hours of sleep last night I caught up by taking a nap this morning after I got back from dropping the girls off at camp. That leaves all runs to occur post-ten pm. Which is what I did today.

Amanda is living with me for six weeks while she takes classes at Muhlenberg, but she had already gone on a run earlier. I called to invite her but she opted out. I’m less excited to run on my own after dark around here, so I called Sarah. She and I went on what we called the “hospital run”, looping around two of the three area hospitals near us. It was great.. a good solid run.

It drizzled as I got into the house, although I would have liked to spend some time running in the rain. I find it really refreshing. When I got back, it kind of felt like I was still running. What a great feeling — to feel like you’re moving even when you’re not.

Tonight’s run was pretty wiping since I was already so shattered from such little sleep last night, but after my run on Sunday I almost wanted to go back out again that night. It’s good.. I’m starting to crave it. Hopefully those cravings will hold through when it starts to get hard. Today after running I feel totally wiped.. probably will be sore tomorrow morning, but it’s a nice, invigorating kind of pain thankfully. I can work through that kind of burn when it feels like “peppermint gum, toothpaste, vicks rub” kind of burning. Like it’s clearing out my system and getting it in shape to need running.

Yeah, I’m fine with that.

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Today’s run: 10:30pm
Hospital run, around two hospitals, looping around the park and back over to drop off Sarah at her house. Walked back in bare feet. Wondered about bare feet running. Will tell Sarah to try it in Hawaii next week and let me know what she thinks when she comes back. I would like to try it out.. take it for a test run.

Next run: Tomorrow (Thursday).

Thanks for the great comments from Tom and Amy from http://blog.runnerslounge.com/. This is the reason I’ve started this blog and joined online runner’s communities. The support from other runners means a lot to me, and I love hearing about others’ enjoyment of the sport also.

It made me smile, thank you both!

So I took on a new running partner today — my (newly-turned) 3-year-old Golden Retriever, Hadley Jack. Named after the town in Massechusetts where we found him, he’s a complete bundle of energy at ALL times. Friendly, cheerful, and sometimes overbearing. It’s only because he wants to meet everyone in the world and he wants them all to love him. He’s the perfect example of charm and follow-up; he comes on strong, barrelling his way into people’s hearts, and then makes sure to dedicate adequate attention as maintainence to guarantee his spot. It can be construed as annoying or unnessecary, and yet he’s one of the happiest (I can’t say people, so I guess -) .. creatures I know.

 So I had this bright idea today, upon departing for my run, to take him with me. People have been suggesting that I take on a running partner, someone to hold me accountable for my new habit. If someone else is depending on my sticking with this, it’ll be harder to skip runs. I haven’t gotten to the point (after only two days, I guess it’s not saying much) that I want to skip. And I’m also not too crazy about taking on someone as a partner. I would always feel that they needed me to talk to them. Or tell them about my life. I would really like to keep running separate from the rest of my life. At least for now. So I was almost out the door.. actually I was sitting against the door putting on my shoes, when Mr. Happy-Nose here came and nuzzled in between my feet, intefering with the whole process. It struck me that he likes to be taken on long walks, or to the dog parks.. he likes to be “worn out” as it were. Get out some of that excess energy. So I invited him along on a whim. He accepted, obviously.

I put him on his extendable leash, took him out and stayed patient until this firecracker realized he couldn’t run like crazy the whole time. We walked through the park because there was a concert in the bandstand and a lot of people and dogs around. The sun was setting beautifully, and the late evening sun was a perfect shade of Hadley’s coat. Exactly like the sunset in Hadley, MA that we experienced right before finding him. Beautiful.

(He’s trying to lick my keyboard as we speak)

He’s a good running companion as soon as he realizes that he can keep up a steady trot. He recognizes the words “right” and “left”, making turning corners very easy to navigate. A little “hey!” whenever he’s about to get in my path, and we’re set to go.

We relaxed for a little sitting up against a tree, listening to the last medly in the set. It was nice to run in the blocks surrounding the park. Running to a soundtrack of band music is soothing.
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7:30 p.m. 
Hot today, not too long of a run because Hadley got overheated. A few blocks around the park, through the park a couple times.
Yesterday morning I woke up with sore rotator muscles in my hips, hopefully tomorrow will be better. I stretched out better today, I think. More of a warm-down.

Next run: Tuesday.

The decision to start running comes after many heartfelt attempts that didn’t carry-through into a habit. I swore to myself I would run a 5K last April, after finding out about it from a friend. I did about 3.5 weeks of the 8 week training schedule, following it to a T. And then school happened again. Stress, classes, sheer magnitude of new worries. And running took a backseat.

I’m picking it up again for a few reasons.
1. Because I would like to tone up a little. Not lose weight per se, I’m happy (relatively) where I am. But what’s the point of having long legs if they’re not sleek and toned?
2. I do, in fact, need to need something. I’m one of those people who wakes up wanting to have something that makes them get up. Something familiar, a routine, something to look forward to. Something to need. Rather than placing that on any other person, I decided to place it upon myself. I decided to seek out something that would leave me with lasting positive effects. Thus, I came back to running.
3. I’d like to know that I can follow through with it. That I can make it a habit, that I can make it routine. My brother’s girlfriend, Nichelle, says she doesn’t feel right if she doesn’t run every day. Nichelle, you are my motivation. I want that feeling.
4. I like to be alone, I like my quiet time. I get that quiet time reading books, but I would also really like to take it into a new setting, a new backdrop. Outdoors, maybe?
5. I’m also doing this to help my heart. I have MVP (not most valuable player.. I wish), bouts of SVT and I think steady conditioning will help my heart catch up with itself. I have a big heart, figuratively. I want it to be strong literally.

So all the reasons, all the motivations. I’ve been looking up and reading a lot (even about running barefoot! Seems interesting, but not yet. Maybe when I get to Edinburgh).

I’m setting very reasonable expectations. For the first months of this new habit, I’m going to run every other day. Give my body a chance to get used to the new stress. I’m going to hope that every-other-day becomes a habit within 51 days.. I’ll be leaving for Edinburgh for 10 months at that point. Then comes the crucial moment. I’ll be with my dad in London for ten days, which will be fun to run because he has a really nice park near his house, and he might even run with me. But then I’m up in Edinburgh, on my own, homesick up the wahzoo. The running will be at a crucial turning point — I either have to adamantly continue and make it happen, or it will just drop. I’m hoping that for the first few weeks, I’ll focus on keeping it up, maintaining it through the transition, and then WHAM. When it feels normal again, I will have gotten through the first few weeks completely on my own, living in a new country, with something concrete to focus on instead of homesickness.

That’s my plan.

I ran track and field in middle school, but I was always a sprinter. I’ve danced in the past (ballet, jazz, modern, bit of tap), but not every day. My goal is the long-term. To get to the point where I’m running every day. To where it feels weird not to run. To where I need it. What stamina. I’ll be so proud of myself.

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Run 10:30am.
A few circuits around the park and neighboring streets. Walk 1 min, jog 1 min. I felt surprisingly springy. Unexpected. Today I wanted to run.
Next run: Sunday.