A New Blog

If you're reading this, you probably know (or could guess) that I'm in training to run my first marathon.  Throughout four years at GWU, I always kind of itched to do the Marine Corps Marathon, easily the biggest marathon run in the DC region.  It's supposed to be a great race - running around the monuments with arguably some of the best energy in supporting crowds.  I'm running with the Run for Vocations team, which is to raise money for seminarians...but more on that later.

I'd like this blog to be more about running, training, what works, what doesn't, running shoes (you know me and shoes!), the right music, running with and without music.

I started running in high school when I joined the tennis team.  Although I thought she was crazy at the time, our coach made us run hills, distance, and do intense strength training before we even started tennis drills.  Then in college, I started off with a semester of rowing, at which I was very bad.  Although I failed miserably at rowing, I could still keep up with the speed training.  A spring break trip to Argentina meant that I quit rowing, but I never quit running.  But I never really did it for anything more than pure enjoyment - stress relief, to stay in shape, etc, etc...then this past March, my friend Julie suggested that we do the Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Run.  

The thing about running is, once you start, nothing else gives you the same feeling.  It doesn't matter if you go to the gym all day, play frisbee or soccer, go for a bike ride - you still don't feel like you've gotten a work-out unless you've clocked in those miles.  I think there's a stereotype that running can get boring, that it's totally an individual sport, but I've learned that running is more exciting than most sports I've done.  It's great because it IS individual - it's completely up to you, you make or break your time, you're the one who pushes yourself, but at the same time it creates this incredible bond between you and other runners.  Just today, I saw a lady while I was running - I did 14 miles, I'm pretty sure she was struggling to get out 2.  But she gave me the thumbs up, I told her she was looking good, and for the next half mile or so, I was re-energized by that human contact (of course, another great thing about running is that if the world is really pissing you off, you just keep your eyes in front of you and push it away).  

Also, running is NEVER boring.  At times, it's painful.  Sometimes a mile feels like twelve.  But it's never boring.

Hopefully, it'll be un-boring enough for me to actually maintain a blog about it!