I have discovered the joy of running

Up until yesterday, I've been going out and getting my training because I have to. It's part of this bigger commitment so I just did it. That's my nature, I'll set a goal and I will achieve it, no matter how hard the road gets.

Even though I have enjoyed the Saturday runs, the weekly training has been hard. For starters I train alone during the week so it gets tidious, and boring. Until yesterday.

I was having an off day yesterday, feeling twice my age and double my size by the time I got home. I got ready and after leaving food for everyone to chow down while I was gone, I headed out with my iPod and my hydration belt.
Since my watch does not vibrate to alert me of the intervals, I had to decide whether I wanted to listen to the iPod or the watch. iPod won.

I started walking to warm up, and then decided to run when I felt like it, and walk when I needed to rest. What a difference! At first it was difficult, but once I got into it, I realized I was running for longer periods than I normally do (I train in the same area so I know I can run from A to B in my given interval).

I was actually having FUN!! I don't know if it was the music, or the fact I wasn't timing my run, or a combination of both but the aches, and pains left me and I was actually running for the joy of it. Such an awesome feeling! I know I've heard Mark say "Have fun" before, but until now (sorry Mark) I kept thinking "yeah, right, whatever". How could anyone have fun while training for a marathon? I obviously had missed the point. We are training to complete the marathon, not to win, not for personal records (at least not me), not for a set finish time. This should be fun, and until now I had failed to see that.

This had become a chore in a never ending list of chores. It was right there along with bathing the kids, doing the laundry, cleaning the house. It was on the "Things I HAVE to do" list, not on the "Things I WANT to do" list.

Something happened out there yesterday. Maybe it was the music, or the fact I ignored my watch, but I truly enjoyed the time I was out there. all 50 minutes of it. I could have kept going but I didn't want my husband to panick since it was getting dark.

So I think I'm going to forget my intervals during the week. I know I can run 1:30 intervals without a problem, so I'm going to do that on Saturday. If I feel I can go faster, then I move up to the next step. But during the week, I'd like to stick with having fun. At least until having fun becomes the norm, and intervals become an added bonus.
(That is, unless Mark advises otherwise).