simply running

We've had some hurdles come up in my family's life. The last three weeks have been filled with frustration, disappointment, anger, hope... pretty much every emotion out there. It's been a rollercoaster, to say the least. But again this month, I've been reminded what a blessing it is to be able to run. It's been there for me throughout the years, whenever those tough times come up and I need an outlet it's been there for me. And, right now, I need it more than anything. My miles have ramped up these last few weeks, my runs have been at a faster pace and I actually find my body responding very nicely to the increases in distance, pace and frequency. This is all very good for me because I have a tendency to eat nonstop during stressful periods. The increased running and nonstop eating have balanced each other.

Due to the recent hurdles, I'm holding off on actually registering for any races. This freedom has also been very good for my running. I'm not following a training schedule so I'm free to run whenever and whatever I want. This has been a really good three weeks for my running. I've been running long runs on the weekend with a friend who is training for Boston, so it would make sense to sign up for a marathon around that same time since I'm putting in the miles. But I haven't, yet. It just feels really good right now to do the longer runs without any pressure or race commitment looming.

If it weren't for running, I'd have been a mess this month. Actually, I probably would have been the whack-o in spin class pedaling like a lunatic every single day.