June 23, 2010

Rewards Taste So Sweet

So this is it...in 4 days I will be on the starting line (and hopefully eventually on the finish line). My friend / training partner, Cat, and I are going on our last long run together before the race. Well, 6-7 miles. We don't want to overdo it, but we also don't want to feel too weak come race day. Cat and I have learned an amazing running lesson: The best thing about running is the reward you give yourself when you finish. So, after every long run we do, we go get ourselves a reward. Our reward is always ice cream, simply because there's nothing better after a long run in the summertime. Being able to sit on the hood of a car or a park bench or a beach and truly enjoy a cold, sweet, delicious ice cream is the greatest experience.

I cannot wait for our run tonight! I know we'll power through it and I know we'll feel even more prepared and excited for race day, and I know we'll be thinking about that scrumptious reward the entire run. Or, at least I will. I have no problem admitting that these days I run to eat ice cream. Hey, at least I'm running :)
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Welcome to Head Over Heels!

Like many 20-something women, I woke up one morning exasperated. It seemed like every day I would find a new passion, a new dream, and get excited about yet another project, just to find that they would all crash and burn. I wanted something that I could control and that would be all mine.

Because our 20s are a time of exploration and discovery, it's very hard to find that path that directs us exactly to our dreams, especially because our dreams have the habit of evolving overnight. I had worn myself into a tizzy of exhaustion, disappointment, and an overwhelming sense of having no control over my own life. And that's when I went for that first run.

Two minutes later, I arrived back at my apartment steps, panting. As long and as torturous as those two minutes felt, they also gave me a sense of liberation, a feeling that had been severely lacking in my life. The next day, pathetically still sore, I again put on my sneakers. Three minutes, yes! This routine was repeated daily throughout the summer and now, I'm a half-marathoner! My ultimate goal, a marathon, still looms in the distant future, but the even bigger goal is one I can actively work on every day: learning to gain control over my own life and learning to fall in love with myself one step at a time.