Wanna hear an embarrassing (true) story?

Who am I asking? Of course you do.

One time, when I was in high school, the gym teacher actually made us run at the beginning of class (as opposed to the heart-healthy ping pong playing that formed our usual in-class activity). So out into the chilly fall air we (unwillingly) trotted, and ran our laps.

Given what’s coming next, I’d love to tell you that we had to run a mile that day. And, you know, could’ve been a mile. But I kinda think it may have been just one lap. As in, a quarter of a mile.

And, lungs burning as I made my way back inside, I started making excuses. “This can’t be normal,” said I. “Maybe I have asthma,” I told my asthmatic friends (one of whom was frequently hospitalized as a young child for asthma attacks; both of whom were breathing just fine, at that moment, thank you very much). “I just can’t be this out of shape. I’m young and healthy!”

Y’all? I was that out of shape.

Okay, we’ll get back to that, but first let’s jump to the more recent past. After last Tuessday’s looooong and hilly run, I woke up at the next morning to give it another go. I didn’t post about it because it sucked even more than the first try, for a variety of reasons (one of which was assuredly NOT the bottle of wine I split at dinner the night before). The relevant reason is this: my lungs are in much better shape than my legs. After Tuesday’s run, I was sore and tired, but I ignored that and ran even farther anyway. (Actually, I didn’t intend to run quite so far, but that’s a different and far more annoying story.)

Anyway, based on my previous history, with large amounts of laziness and inactivity (yeah, see above), I find it shocking that my lungs are in any kind of shape. And I find it even more astounding that my motivation is so strong. In the past, the tiniest ache was enough to park me on my couch for a week, until the memory of exercise had faded into a distant, dreamlike thing.

The point is not to say, look how very hard core I am (“I laugh in the face of pain!”) because, like I said, Wednesday’s run sucked, and I probably should have taken a break and run on Thursday. But still. Look at how very hard core I am!

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In other news, on Saturday, I had my first run with Team in Training, which was lovely and fantastic. First we learned all about shoes, and nutrition, and injury prevention, and then we had an easy three-mile run, which was made even easier as I ran with a nice girl whose car I didn’t hit while I was parking (no really, I didn’t hit it. I don’t care how close I got).

I also made an appointment with the sports rehab people to look at my feet (the arch-less wonders) as my knees are still not happy, even with my spiff-tastic new shoes. That’s tonight, so we’ll see what new ways the running hobby can cost me money. Good thing I’m so hard core.

And finally, a thank you to all who are reading (and even commenting sometimes!) I wouldn’t have guessed how very besotted I would become with this running thing. And when I post about it here, I feel less of a compulsion to talk about it all day long, which is a mercy for the people who know me in real life. And some of them read this journal, but that’s their choice, so I don’t feel bad being so very boring and obsessed.