Running Revelation!

I have been running on a regular basis for a little over a year and a half now. I have tried to be a "runner" on several other occasions and always gave up. I was running the other day and had several moments that really blew me away and made me realize that maybe I am really going to be able to do this!

First thing, I was approaching an intersection and a car was coming up on the stop sign on the road I had to cross. I did the normal slow down and see if they are going to run me over, and he waved me on. For the first time ever I didn't silently curse him in my head because I love that little 10 second stop in a run. I didn't need it!

Next thing was when I was running up a killer hill in Montclair, going up Waterway towards Cardinal for those of you who know it. I HATE this hill, but I realized the question wasn't if I was going to stop and walk, but just how slowly I was going to run up the hill. My little mini-goals that I give myself throughout a run (I can make it to that street sign, I can make it to that trash can) aren't about if I will have to stop and walk, but about just getting there and keeping on running.

The last thing that happened was that I realized I hadn't gotten that awful burning feeling in my chest, you know the one where it feels like it's on fire? All last year I got that feeling during the colder weather runs, and I haven't gotten it once this winter.

On this same run I got passed by my 14-year-old neigbhor, but I still felt good in the end. A 14-year-old should really be faster than me anyway, right? So I guess the moral of the story is if I can keep going, the slowest runner in the world, we all can!