Running

Today I've been thinking about something I've had a love/hate relationship with my entire life: Running. 

This morning I decided to go for a run, so I put on my running shoes and headed outside.

Some people are just born to run. I get it. The wind in your hair. The outdoor scenery. The Britney Spears workout music bumpin'. It's a time just for yourself. As I took off down my street this morning and looked up at the beautiful clouds, this is exactly how I was feeling, but then...

I started getting really hot. It's a humid day in St. Louis, but I continued on. I was stupid and took the wrong way for my mile run because I put the big hill towards the end. 

It started getting hard to breath. "In through your nose, out through your mouth," I repeated in my head like a mantra. I had to convince myself to continue every single step for the last 1/4 mile. Pure and unnecessary torture. 

But then, my friends, I was home. The whole mile without stopping to walk. I felt victorious, out of breath, and happy. So as I said before...it's a love/hate relationship. 

This picture I saw on Pinterest exactly describes the constant battle going on in my head during running:

I just came across this "how to run" information when I got home. Allow me to embarrass myself. When I used to play select soccer, my coach told me that my running form was incorrect (which is why I was so slow even when I was in good shape). They brought in a running coach to teach me the correct way to run. I felt like a real winner that day!

So here's to more running in the next few weeks!