A "Rocky" Moment

I wrote about this on my Food & Exercise Log but I thought I would discuss it (& a bit more) here too.

I ran/walked to my grandmother's nursing facility today. I started out walking about 1/4 a mile then ran the rest of the way, about 1 mile. It took me about 17 min & my heart rate monitor averaged about 143.

The last 1/4 mile (this is probably a bit of an exaggeration but not by too much) is down hill. It is a pretty steep hill also. On the way back, I was planning on walking back up the hill then running the rest of the way home. But, once it was time to do that, I got a little ambitious, I wanted to see how far I could go. Halfway up, I was determined to go all the way. I could do this! And, I did! My heart, of course was pounding & I could hardly breathe but I did it. Amazingly enough my heart rate monitor only reached about 186, which isn't too bad for running up hill, for me.

Once at the top of the hill, I walked for about another 1/4 mile or less then ran for another 1/2 mi or so, then walked the last 1/4 mile for a "cool down." That took me about 23 min (due to me walking more on the way back than I did going) & my heart rate monitor read out about 143 again. Putting that into the online calories burned calculator that I use, it said that I burned about 536 calories. Not too bad. While I think this may be a bit of an over exaggeration, I really don't think it is too far off. So, yay!

The wind was blowing like crazy today. I considered not running at all, but it felt so nice out & it was perfectly overcast. I know we only get a few nice days a year where between the freezing cold & the sweltering heat, so I don't want to waste a single nice day. Tomorrow (now today, since I am writing this at 4:30 am) it was supposed to rain, so I wouldn't be running outside then. Well, now it isn't supposed to rain. I was planning on running again outside today but as the night has worn on, my shin splints are screaming at me. It hurts bad enough to walk, I can just imagine how bad it would hurt to run. I still haven't decided. I may run, who knows.

I would eventually like to get to where I run 3 miles every day. That no longer seems like a completely ridiculous idea. I still don't like running. I like the idea of it. I like that I feel victorious after doing it. But, I just don't find joy in it like some do. I like the stamina it has given me & the feeling that I am doing something I never, in a million years, would ever have thought possible or even practical. But, I don't like having to mentally fight for every step I take. I feel like I'm bargaining with a child, like I'm negotiating with a terrorist, like I'm talking a jumper down from a ledge. It's exhausting. The feeling afterwards is well worth it, but you can't tell someone "the ends will justify the means" when they are in the middle of pain. They don't care. They just want the pain to end.

I do like telling people I run. It makes me feel like I'm a part of some elite crowd, like an athlete. It doesn't matter that I can only run a mile or two without stopping & many others can knock out 10 like it is nothing. They don't know that. I'm sure at my size they assume I can't really run that far, in fact many probably can't believe that I can run as much as I can but, that is okay. I may not love the sport yet, but I hear that that is something that eventually comes. I still don't feel like I can call myself a runner. Perhaps that is because I am still fairly new at the sport or that I don't do it often enough or, & probably more likely, that I haven't found the "love" for it yet, but that's okay, I still am. Right?

So, today (now yesterday) I had a Rocky moment. I've never seen the film, but I know the scene where Rocky is running up those Philadelphian steps then turns back & raises his arms in victory. We all know that scene. I did not reenact that scene when I made it up my hill, because that would have been nuts. hehe But, I did on the inside. Maybe it wouldn't be a big deal to many & it may not be a big deal to me in a few months, but for today, for a few short minutes, I was Rocky.