I realized it's been awhile since I talked about running. (unless you know me in real life...then all I'm talking about is running...or house hunting...or how I'm desperately wanting my luck of the Irish grey cloud of despair to float away)
After running my first half marathon last October in Columbus, I got the itch to train for a full marathon. A little crazy, I know, especially considering that in the past two years, I've had serious ankle injuries. But if there's one thing I'm not, it's a quitter. I hope to be ready to go in time for the Cleveland Marathon this May. I'd like to run my first marathon here in Cleveland so that my friends and family can root me on. One of the things that helped to keep me going during my first half marathon was crowd support. Seeing people who I know would be even more encouraging.
This upcoming weekend, my marathon training plan calls for a 13 mile run...so I've decided to run a half marathon in Youngstown. Called the Mill Creek Park Distance Classic, the course allegedly has 19 hills in 13 miles. (how is that even possible?) So needless to say, it's going to be a bit of a challenge. But it's a challenge that I welcome. In the past few months, I've endured quite a lot of emotional rollercoasters, and the thing that's helped to keep me going (besides my mother and uber supportive friends) is running. (did you know it's pretty much impossible to run and cry without hyperventilating? try it sometime - I don't think it's physically possible) So whenever I'm feeling sad or stressed out or lonely, I put my feet to the streets and just go. With my ipod as my companion, I've run up and down the streets in my neighborhood, looking at the snow, and houses, and snowmen, thinking about the things going on in my life and dealing with my grief over losing a life I'd become accustomed to and wasn't prepared to lose.
Ironically, one of the staples of my running playlist as of late is a Pearl Jam song called "Just Breathe." Why ironically? Because hearing just one note from most other Pearl Jam songs makes me want to smash something, a la "Animal House" guitar smashing.
Music is subjective, and although this is technically a love song, I think it's helping me to deal with the "death" of my long-term relationship and the mistakes that were made. It also reinforces the concept that I'm very fortunate to have a small army of people in my life who are willing to help me deal with this kind of unhappy time in my life. Plus, it's a pretty awesome song to run to. Spring is just around the corner, and with it comes better running weather, happier times, and hopefully new beginnings. I look forward to feeling the sun on my neck and smelling spring flowers while listening to this song...
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