A running saga

Running was my ultimate least favorite thing to do when I was younger. I would have rather lost an arm than run the mile in gym class. That whole day (the 'mile' day) was completely ruined. I ended up with a headache from over-exertion, I was completely sweaty for the rest of the day (hey, nobody showered), but I was overjoyed that, because it was over, it meant one less time that I would ever have to run it again.

Turn the clock ahead 4 years. I became friends with someone I shall name.....Rita. Rita used to run in cross country and track in high school and loved it. The thought of such a thing just made me wince when she would talk about it. When I first started to hang out with her, she was preparing herself for an impending knee surgery (the cause of which was incredibly shocking) but didn't want to quit running for enjoyment. Shudder. A while after the surgery, we started running together, she played the role of invalid, whilst I made a splendid lardass. We started out at running 2 minutes, walking 8 for thirty minutes total. Each week we added a minute to the run for each segment, until we finally ran for a full thirty minutes. Granted, we only did the thirty minute run once. But still. It was like 2.4 miles.

Today I pretend to like running. I believe myself wholeheartedly after I am done running, or while I am telling people how far I ran today. I am not sure if I actually like it while I am doing it though. It's like.... cleaning your really dirty bathroom. Or donating to a charity. You really don't want to do it at the time, but you know it is the 'right' thing to do and you will feel better afterwards. It's pretty much exactly as the saying, 'Like pulling teeth'.

Hopefully I can change this sentiment. Motivation for post-running euphoria doesn't last too much while actually running.