Friday, January 23, 2015

I Love Morning Runs!!!

Morning Run Selfie. LOL
Ok, so that might be a little sarcasm in the title. The truth is, morning runs are going to take some getting used to. Thus far in my running journey, I have only ran in the afternoons. But since my training is going to have me running much more, my wife and I decided that it would be best if I did them in the morning so I wouldn't take as much time away from my family.
Speaking of my wife, she is amazing!!! I was a little nervous when I told her my desire to run a marathon and how much time I would need to train to acomplish it. We have been super busy lately and she has had some health problems that have been a challenge for her as she can't do as much housework as she's used to. But, even with her health problems still on the mend, she was 100% behind me and immediately sat down with me to come up with an action plan!
So about my run this morning. I'm really catching on to this being a mental game. I woke up this morning telling myself I was running, no excuses. Then I walked out the door and my mind instantly went to, "it's so dark...it's so cold...you're still sore from yesterday..." and I might have given in, but then my heart took over and said, "dude...it's 3 miles today...shut up!" and my brain was all like, "yes sir!" And then off I went.
When you set a distance, the feeling of the miles change with the perspective distance you're planning
to run. When I ran 6 miles, the first 3 miles felt like nothing, it was the second that was the roughest. But since I only ran 3 miles this morning, I felt every bit of those 3 miles. I also have a few pointers for any beginners who are reading this. If you have a device that monitors your distance, the miles are going to feel ridiculously long if you continously look at it. I have a watch that monitors my distance. Well, my OCD will kick right in and I will look at it every 1/10th of a mile if I don't challenge myself. I learned to pinpoint a stationary object that seems far in the distance and then I'll only look at my watch at those pinpoints if I have to look at it at all.
I thought of a lot more to write while I was running but I forgot it already, so I guess I'll leave  you all with this. Thanks so much to those who are following this journey and encouraging me. You're words and thoughts and prayers mean so much to me. My prayer with this journey is that in some way, God would be glorified. After all, He is the creator of our bodies and I believe He's also the reason we reach for the stars! God bless ya'll this fine Friday morning!
1/8th of a Marathon. :-)

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5 comments:

  1. SheilaJanuary 23, 2015 at 6:22 AM

    Keep up the good work, Josh! I am trying to get running back in my daily routine. I did the couch to 5K program a few years ago and my goal was to run 30 minutes every day. I used to have my alarm set to go off every 5 minutes to let me know where i was in my time but at some point i just decided to set it for 15 minutes and I'd run that far and then turn around when the timer went off. It set me free! I don't know that i'll ever have the desire to be a long distance runner but i know the mental benefits from running and how deep in depression i sink if i don't run. You have inspired me to keep going. so keep going! I love that you're sharing this journey with us!

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    1. UnknownJanuary 23, 2015 at 6:53 AM

      That's a good idea Sheila. And yes, I agree, the longer you wait to check yourself, the more freeing it is. You just reminded me of a thought I had while running. Long distance is kind of like sleeping. If you think about how you're going to fall asleep and you just keep telling yourself, "sleep now!", it's not going to happen. You just have to let your mind go.
      The same goes for long distance, you have to be aware of your surroundings, obviously, but you kind of have to just fall into a rythm. You focus on the rythm of your feet hitting the pavement. Focus on your posture, but do not...DO NOT focus on how far you've gone. It's a good way to make a mile seem like 10 miles. Thanks for the encouragement!!!

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  2. kailanJanuary 23, 2015 at 6:34 AM

    I'm really disappointed that there isn't a sunrise picture here. Better get on that! These posts are going to be interesting! So proud of you. Love you so much.

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    1. UnknownJanuary 23, 2015 at 6:54 AM

      1 reason...the sun still wasn't up when I got done. Hopefully I'll catch one tomorrow. I love you babe!!!

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  3. SheilaJanuary 23, 2015 at 8:11 AM

    one more thing...i've gotten very handy at whipping out my phone and making a note of some cool thought i had or a song i wanna try to learn....any old thing that pops into my pea brain because i seem to have so many excellent ideas on the trail that i seem to forget the minute i get back home. :)

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